A Day at the Beach

Today at the beach we:

~Enjoyed the little waves provided by a very windy day, making our lakeside swim beach seem more like a “real” beach–even if it was a bit harder to keep our hats on.

~Appreciated the ability of the natural world to provide hours of fun with so little effort (the baby could have thrown handfuls of rocks into the water all day)

-Realized that we don’t need to go buy special sand toys, when the children’s gardening tools work just fine at the beach as well.

-Noticed that there was a lot less crying, whining, or bickering than normal while we were out at the beach.  A great day for all.

What Makes Me an Urban Pioneer?

Yesterday we took our boys down to the swimming beach at the local state park. It’s mostly too cold for swimming, but they waded and played in the sand and had a glorious time. I thought about how much more sense it made to come here than to the overpriced public pools in town. Not to mention the pools are more crowded, and I just loved the feeling of being out in nature in the water. On the way out we bought an annual vehicle pass so that we can return frequently this summer. And I was so excited.

In the evening we were out for family dinner, and were close to the plaza of a new public regional ecological education center that is opening soon. We remembered having seen the fountains on previously this week when driving by, so we took the boys to check it out. There was a fountain spring, and a river of water with jumping fountains all along the edges, ending in a splash pad whirlpool with LED-lighted water spouts. Every 15 minutes or so music would begin and the fountains would start interacting with the music. My boys had a ball. They were in and out of the water, and by the time we left they were soaked up to their waists, and we were all talking about attending the grand opening of the center. And I was so excited.

This is why I am an urban pioneer. I love the ability to commune with nature in a one-on-one fashion, and I also love well-designed public urban spaces that exist to enrich the masses.

In the same vein, the other day I watched my son playing with our wooden blocks.

Our blocks are a collection of new and old, homemade and factory made, purchased and thrift-ed.   I could be a purist and make them all at home.  I could be a purist, and buy them all second hand.  I could be a purist, and only keep natural/unpainted wood blocks.  But the truth is, I like the collection all together.

I like that blocks are an open-play toy.  I like that the blocks are made of a natural material that feels good in the hands.  And then, I like the pops of color, and I like the shapes of some of the machine-hewn blocks that I never would have been able to create on my own.

And so it is that I am a walking contradiction.  I love the good things designed by God, and I love the good things designed by man.  I am an urban pioneer.

 

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What makes you an urban pioneer?

Letterboxing

Sometimes our kids need a little extra motivation to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. One thing that really interests them is letterbox hunting.

Letterboxing is sort of like geocaching but involves good old fashioned clues (and sometimes compass directions) but no electronic GPS units–because we don’t have one of those.

It’s a hike with a treasure hunt included and the boys love it.

Unfortunately sometimes spoilsports will remove the letterboxes and we can’t find what we’re looking for.  This one was hidden on a hook up in the tree.  It’s a camouflaged peanut butter jar.  It had an eye bolt screwed into the lid to hang from.  We’ve decided that this is a much better idea than hiding the letterbox in a hole in the trunk of a tree.  It just seems like everyone (not just letterboxers) notices holes in the trunks of trees and the letterboxes end up missing.  Luckily we found this one, and enjoyed a great afternoon outside in this unseasonably beautiful weather as well.