I have created a short vlog on my YouTube channel. It is footage I have taken throughout the winter this year. If you need a few minutes to relax this should help. Enjoy
E
winter
Getting Outdoors
The winter time is the time of year where most people are just like nope see you in the spring (way to cold out). Getting outside to me as important as basic needs such as water or food. I make time out of our daily day to day to make sure that my kids get some much needed fresh air. The great thing about the fresh air is it seems to make them even sleep better. Old man winter shouldn’t keep you for getting out there. Today was a cold day with same big time gusts. We still have snow from the other week and more to come ( it snows here a lot). We usually bundle the kids up and sometimes we grab our sleds, or do snow art or even just make snow people. The best part about sledding today was the hill was very icy so it made the sleds go even faster. By the time they were done and the sun was setting everyone had very red cheeks and big smiles. Making memories to me is just as important as learning math. It’s part of what makes childhood wonderful. When you grow up and look back you will think do you remember that time we did this or that. The sunset today was a vibrant peach that stretched for miles and even though it closed our adventure for that day it shines the hope that tomorrow there will be a new adventure to come.
So we bundle up and wear extra socks and we get outside. We get the little bit of vitamin D that the winter sun has to offer. We take a good deep breath and get those lungs full of cold air. We dream of longer and warmer days but we also remember that come summer we will miss our cold air and snowy hills. It’s nice to embrace every season whether that be actual seasons or seasons of life. Each season has something different to offer. Each is a unique experience that comes with its own exciting journey. So when you feel like it is to cold outside bundle up and go have some fun.
E
Check out my YouTube video of a winter’s sunset for some 10 minutes of me time.
The Winter Forest
If you have read any of my blogs you know that we as a family hike a lot (Hiking with Kids). No matter what the season we usually pack a lunch to eat so that way we are no rush to leave. When you have hungry kids you have a tendency to rush everything. Our solution has always been to pack a lunch for the day. That way when we spend our day in nature its not a rushed event.
We took another winter hike the other day. It was a day before another snow storm so there wasn’t fresh snow but still snow everywhere. It’s calming in the winter because not a lot of people are out when it’s a certain temperature and as I like to say a lot, the forest is even taking her winter slumber. The few animals and birds you do see are nothing compared to when spring has arrived. Where we hike there is a man made waiting pool they had built to help gather run off from the mountain and give wildlife a small habitat. It was frozen with small ice crystals creating a swirling design. In the spring you will see hundred of frog eggs and newts swimming. The flowers and lilies will be coming back up to greet the sun. For now though they are hidden beneath snow and ice. The winter nights are long and the days are short but now since the winter solstice you can slowly see the daylight returning.
The forest where we hiked had a stillness to it. It’s a interesting feeling you get when you are secluded and since there is no one for miles it can make the stillness even more exaggerated. We tracked on though. The kids you could tell had needed a good walk and at some points were running on the flatter parts. Getting everyone some much needed outdoor time.There is nothing quiet like the fresh crisp winter air to help clear the mind and relax the soul.
E
The Promise of Spring
For us Spring is not really near but I can be positive, instead of saying months, I will say weeks. I look forward to spring all the gardening that I worked hard on the year before becomes even more mature and beautiful. I love seeing trees I had planted years before be big enough to actually use for shade. My children love helping me tend the garden. I think it is an important lesson to teach children. That you plant for the hope of the future. Yes today it might just be a seed but in a few weeks it becomes something until one day you can pick that vegetable to eat.
I love winter and all that the season has to offer. It is natures time to rest, we celebrate the joy that winter brings to us. As I am typing this it is gently snowing outside. The silence…… (if I listen carefully I can hear snowflakes being blown onto my window). The promise of spring though is the energy that wakes the Earth up from her slumber. Even though my whole yard is covered in snow I can look beneath it and see glimpse of what the future months will bring. Life and rebirth. The once slumbering trees will slowly have opened up their buds and show new leaf. The grass will slowly green and all my carefully planted gardens will awaken. The night won’t be as dark and the air won’t be as cold. Even though I will miss my comfort of snow and dark nights I look forward to new season of change and all the amazing wonders it has to offer.
E
My picture was taken the day earlier, it really was the clam before the storm. A bright sunny day though cold still had patches of snow on the ground. I was able to find a small little plant attempting to peak through the leaf floor.
Tips for Winter Fun with Kids
Where we live it is colder more of the year than warm. We try to spend as much time outdoors with our children. That is hard to do though when someone is cold or gets wet etc. I have some tips and tricks to help get your kids outside to enjoy the weather year round.
- Don’t make a fuss about the whole thing. If you fret about every little detail you will most likely just irritate your child than help them. Children are more resilient than their parents. Growing up it would be freezing outside but you would have to bribe me to get inside since I wasn’t coming in willingly.
- Dress to be prepared. What I mean is you can always take off layers, but you can’t put on more layers than you have. We are a family of winter lovers. We do a lot of recreational sports outside. Growing up I use to run a small team of sled dogs. I also use to cross country ski and do skijoring. My kids if they could would live in the snow. My sons one dream is to stay in an ice hotel at some point. We dress for the weather. We put a lot of layers on, we start with thermal layers under our jeans and sweaters. Than we put on our current outfit which usually has a polar fleece zip up. Then its snow pants ( wind and water proof) and winter jacket ( also wind and water proof). Then its the layers of fleece for our necks, hats and two pairs of mittens or gloves. First layer is always a knit and the top is water proof snow gloves. If we get over heated from running etc than we take off a layer.
- Next is my distraction technique. Sometimes with toddlers after what feels like 100 years getting ready to go outside they are instantly board and want to go back in. This is when I use my distraction technique. All it is , is you try to stimulate the imagination by showing them a cool thing. For my daughter we usually show her little cut outs in the tree and tell her I wonder if fairies live in there. Then she goes on these missions to find more cool trees and hidings.
- Compromise….in the end what you are trying to accomplish is fresh air and a change of scenery. Sometimes the day is just a bust but I always look at it that they got X amount of time outdoors. Sometimes we spend almost all day on adventures and sometimes they are done after 30 minutes. The fact is I feel getting children outside and into nature is more of an accomplishment than a defeat, even when the day doesn’t go as planned. Now that my youngest is 4 yes he tires before the other two but he still tries to keep up with them. I can see his little mind at work while he figures out how to climb that tree or get over that rock. That is something that he learns on his own with very little assistance. I know when I had two under two our days spent outdoors were limited. The thing is though we still went out and gave it a try.
Whatever adventure your family goes on make it a fun experience so that next time everyone is just as excited as you are.
E
