Nature

As a child, my family often went camping.  We also went hiking and fishing.  As teenagers, my dad took my brother and I hunting and dirt biking.  Although admittedly, that was during my very early teen years.  I took a long break from all of these activities once I got busy in high school.  I lived and went to college in New England and definitely went on some beautiful Autumn hikes while there.  Later, once I met my husband, I started hiking and camping again with him.  Not all of our camping trips were succesful; once we nearly froze in Northern California in October.  What were we thinking? I admit that I really do want a bathroom nearby, too.  We did (and do) enjoy being in the outdoors together.  In fact, we got teased quite a bit about our wedding registry because of the camping gear we had placed upon it.

Now we have children of our own.  While they were infants and toddlers the idea of going camping with them just did not sit well with me.  We have taken them on hikes though, and they love that.  Now that our children are well beyond the toddler stage, my husband and I want to take them camping.  I love fishing and one child wants to do that while the other absolutely does not. 

All of this being said, we are on the hunt for wonderful places that are relatively local to fish, hike and camp this summer - with a nearby bathroom, of course.  I am also trying to locate some books on the topic in order to immerse the imaginations of my children into the possibilities of nature vacations.  I am excited about this and hope it all comes together the way we'd like it to.