June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor Fun

Welcome to the June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared their stories and tips for playing outside with kids. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

***

I fell out of the Carnival of Natural Parenting while I was extremely busy doing a few other things with my bloggy time (like detailing my elimination diet) but it seemed time to jump back in to it.

This month's topic is "Outdoor Fun". I'll be honest: part of me felt a little dismayed about this topic. I'm not going to be some sort of fountain of information about fun outdoors activities. If I had my druthers, I'd be curled up on the couch, even on the sunniest of days.

But! We do live in Seattle, and I do have to admit that probably the number one thing that makes the cost of living here even slightly bearable is the natural beauty that surrounds and envelops us. I may not be outside basking in its glory every day, but not a day goes by where I don't thank my lucky stars that I live in the most beautiful place in the entire country. And maybe the world, but I can't say for sure being that I've never left the US (sad, I know).

Carrying on. So what do we do for outdoor fun? Up until June 2009 my family of four (and dog and cat) was cramped in to a small second floor apartment without a yard. Our outdoor activities included countless trips to local parks, school playgrounds, beaches on the Puget Sound, dog parks, walking paths, wading pools and open green space, all within about five miles of our apartment.

Since moving to our house, however, we now have a decent sized yard (for city living standards) that we're really starting to enjoy. Hobo Mama (you know her, right?) and her adorable family have taken the reins on putting in garden beds in our yard. Long story short, her family needed a space to garden, we had space that needed to be gardened. Or wait, I guess that really is the whole story. Anyways, my kids haven't been too involved in the whole set-up part of this process yet, but I am envisioning them having fun watching all of the food growing up out of the beds and working in the kitchen to prepare meals from some of the garden's eventual bounty.

Hobo Mama and our collective children planting gobs of pea vines.

We also put in a brand-spankin' new deck in May 2010. It was like adding on another room to our house. If the weather is nice, which it is right now maybe 50% of the time, we're out there. Relaxing, eating, playing, you name it.

Our house is nicely situated close to a playground that has a wading pool. We are at said playground maybe 3-5 times a week. When the pool re-opens for the summer we will be down there every day we can splashing in the water.

The other beautiful thing is that any resident of Seattle, including us, is very close to "beaches" of the Puget Sound. I say "beaches" because if you are a reader from, say Florida or Michigan, what you are thinking of as a beach is not what we have. Ours are rocky and cold. Yours are sandy and warm. While our beaches don't lend themselves to slathering oneself with cocoa butter and frying in the sun all afternoon, they do nicely lend themselves to amazing exploratory expeditions. Recently the tides have been getting quite low and the girls and I have found ourselves splashing though tide pools in our boots. We turn over rocks to look for starfish and crab. We find moon shells and jellyfish. It's so much fun.

Playing keep-away with a starfish.

All of our time on the beach is spent with a backdrop of islands, mountains, water and ferries.

Iris and a friend at the Lincoln Park beach.

We don't ride the ferries as much as I would like to-- they really are so much fun-- but we do occasionally. Earlier this Spring when the girls were finally on the mend from the chicken pox we took a day trip to Vashon Island. Once there we explored two different beaches and played on a fun playground at Dockton Beach Park overlooking Quartermaster Harbor and Lisabuela Park overlooking the Puget Sound on the the west side of the island. At Lisabuela, especially, the girls played for a very long time with just rocks and sticks as I sat on a log and took in the peacefulness. At one point they constructed a whole drum set and microphone stands and put on a show. Clear evidence that kids don't need fancy toys to entertain themselves!

The band on the beach.

While I may occasionally be heard griping about the rain, the truth is, Seattle's weather is my absolute favorite. Does it rain a lot? Yes, it does. But! It very rarely rains so much that we can't be out in it. We all own rain boots and rain jackets. The girls have rain pants. At school and at home, the girls are outside rain or shine and they don't seem to mind it either way. The rain provides for lots of puddle jumping, after all!

I could write on and on. I could write about vacationing on Orcas Island. About driving up to the mountains to go sledding when it's about 50 degrees at our house back in the city. About going apple picking in central Washington. About visiting Snoqualmie Falls. I'm not even an outdoor aficionado and I swear there is just so much to do it makes even the laziest couch potato sound like they could write an adventure travel guide.

***

Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• Garden Treats — Asha at Mom Costume has once again been bitten by the gardening bug — and this time her baby's tagging along for some fresh air and dirt exploration. (@titbagsandsnoot)
• Outdoor Free Roam — Mamapoekie at Authentic Parenting follows her daughter's lead whenever they go outside. (@mamapoekie)
• Summer fun in Austin with a toddler — Jessica at This Is Worthwhile is brainstorming ways to beat the heat in Texas. (@tisworthwhile)
• summer fun… — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children is looking forward to spending the summer outside with her children the way she used to spend summers with her mother.
• Outdoor Fun for Pre-Walkers — Maman A Droit has figured out ways to let her pre-walker enjoy the outdoors. (@MamanADroit)
• Summer Homeschool Fun at Camp Review — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now discusses how Camp Review motivated and captivated her homeschooling family. (@DebChitwood)
• Digging, Tree Climbing and Puddle Jumping — Laura at Laura's Blog bemoans the loss of her girls' climbing tree but knows they'll find something else just as naturally tempting.
• The Sweet Smells of Summer — Erin at A Beatnik's Beat on Life is looking forward to the many smells of summer she and her daughters enjoy and identify. (@babybeatnik)
• June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor Fun — Sybil at Musings of a Milk Maker is a confirmed couch potato who can't help but be inspired by the outdoor opportunities Seattle offers her family. (@sybilryan)
• Take a Hike — Michelle at The Parent Vortex connects with her family and the Earth on frequent hikes in their Pacific wilderness. (@TheParentVortex)
• Following Paul — Julie at Simple Life gives her kids unstructured time to dig in the dirt and pick mulberries. (@homemakerjulie)
• Instilling a Love of the Outdoors in Your Baby/Toddler — Tessasdad at Stay At Home Dad in Lansing offers a photo book of tips for helping your little ones enjoy the outdoors. (@tessasdad)
• Camping, baby! — Jen at Grow With Graces has easy tips for tent camping with a little one. (@growwithgraces)
• Think Outside the Easel for Summertime Fun — Acacia at Be Present Mama finds several ways to bring art fun to the outdoors.
• Outdoor Learning in our Urban Environment — Andrea at Ella-Bean & Co. has found ways to get grass between her daughter's toes, even in the city.
• Outdoor Education — Alison at BluebirdMama offers parents tips and resources for making each outdoor excursion a learning experience. (@childbearing)
• Turning Inside Out — Christie of Childhood 101 finds kids get a kick out of taking indoor toys outside. (@Childhood101)
• Watching Peas Sprout — Deb at Science@home combines fun with purpose in this educational outdoor activity. (@ScienceMum)
• How To Create a Pirate Treasure Hunt & Other Easy Outdoor Pirate Activities (June Carnival of Natural Parenting) — Dionna at Code Name: Mama has pirate-themed play ideas for ye scurvy landlubbers. (@CodeNameMama)
• What We Do — Luschka at Diary of a First Child has managed to expose her 8-month-old to a wide variety of outdoor fun, even with the notoriously dreary UK weather. (@diaryfirstchild)
• Summer Fun — Darcel at The Mahogany Way finds her family's visits to the beach refreshing in so many ways. (@MahoganyWayMama)
• Playing outside without a backyard — Sheryl at Little Snowflakes doesn't let the lack of a backyard stop her family from enjoying the outdoors. There are plenty of things to do outside of your yard! (@sheryljesin)
• Having Fun Outdoors, Playset Free — Guavalicious at They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping has resisted a backyard playset in favor of the regular backyard. (@guavalicious)
• Moon Gazing with your Toddler — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries is keeping her toddler up at night, but it's for a good reason: to share the wonders of the night sky! (@babydust)
• the great outdoors — The grumbles at grumbles and grunts wonders whether her urban child can experience the same free-range childhood she enjoyed. (@thegrumbles)
• Let's Take It Outside! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing is looking for ideas: how can she spend time with her pre-walker outside this summer? (@BlkWmnDoBF)
• A home by the sea: June Carnival of Natural Parenting: Outdoor fun — Lauren at Hobo Mama is living her dream of a home near the beach, and taking full advantage of it. (@Hobo_Mama)
• An Outside Girl — Zoey at Good Goog moved her family to (almost) the middle of nowhere so that her outdoor-loving girl could have more grass and less concrete. (@zoeyspeak)
• Neighborhood Nature — Kelly at Kelly Naturally has learned to connect with the nature she has instead of mourning the nature she misses. (@kellynaturally)
• Building Lovely Memories of Swimming, Spiders and Gravestones — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch and her family are simply outdoorsy people. (@kitchenwitch)
• "Buh-Bye" Season — Danielle at born.in.japan must leave laundry behind and follow her son's call to the outdoors. (@borninjp)
• Backyard Camping — Becoming Mamas took her family camping very close to home! (@becomingmamas)
• The Color of Dreams — Seeking Mother at Woman Seeking Mother makes gardening magical by teaching her son that each flower is a faery. (@seekingmother)