A Birthday Campout

What makes a birthday fun?  Is it the cake and ice cream?  How about the surprise of opening a present?  Maybe it’s just that one day that you seemingly get to yourself as YOUR special day.  All of these things definitely make birthdays fun but I want to let you in on what my family is figuring out about birthdays…it’s about the people…the time you spend with family and friends that help you celebrate.  

My youngest son just turned 6 and for the first time we gave the option of having a birthday party (like we do every year) or spending the day doing something he wanted to do.  You see, his birthday happens to be on Fall break.  The kids are out of school for a few days and it's challenging to have a party when everyone is going on vacations.  So he chose camping.  I couldn’t have been more happy.  In fact, this camping trip was something the whole family looked forward to.

As a mom and someone who loves birthdays, I wanted to make this camping trip a little more special than the usual.  So I bought extra glow sticks so we could try making glow-in-the-dark bubbles (which didn’t work but it did make my fingers glow) and go glow bowling by putting glow sticks in water bottles which acted as the bowling pins.  They simply used a soccer ball to bowl them over.  
  

My parents went with us in their RV which made it all the more special.  On a side note we were glad to have the RV as a wind block because it was crazy windy the whole time!  We let the birthday boy open a few presents (Legos and books) and I made a cake that looked like a campsite with a stream running through.  The candles were the campfire.

The kids rode bikes and we took them on walks both individually for one-on-one time and in groups.  We went by the water and explored nature, finding treasures such as shells and rocks. 

There was a hill right by us that the kids used for kicking their soccer balls.  The ball would come right back down for them to kick again. 

We tried fishing at the dam but I think it was a bit too windy for us.  We didn’t last long.  

One of my favorite things was watching the kids learn how to whittle sticks.  They watched their Papa whittle an old cedar walking stick (that he has been whittling for years) and got to try it out themselves.  

Each time we would get away from camp for some activity they always looked forward to getting back to camp to whittle.  And I loved watching them!  They learned how to be safe with knives (only requiring reminders here and there to not run with an open knife as they would get excited about how well they had done and would run to show Papa their whittled stick).

As I think about all that occurred on this camping trip I believe whole-heartedly that you could have taken away the cake and presents and even the glow-sticks and we would have had just as much fun celebrating the little guy’s birthday.  He was surrounded by people that love and care for him and that alone made his birthday fun.  In fact, he was pretty sad that it all ended. 

Learning how to "dump" the RV.

My Take-Aways:

1. Birthdays are worth celebrating.  It shows that person that they are special and worth having their very own day (or camping trip).  
2. It’s not about the stuff.  Don’t get caught up in all the tangible items of a typical birthday party.  Create a time that people can come together and celebrate just by spending time together.
3. Tent stakes are vital to camping in a tent when the wind is 20+ mph with gusts up to 40 mph.  I am surprised they held as well as they did!

Fishing Frenzy

Fishing.  It’s something I have done as a kid and only a few times as an adult.  I never really picked up the fishing bug so to speak.  My husband on the other hand has always loved fishing.  He has so much more experience and has looked forward to the day that he could take his kids fishing and teach them all they need to know about getting those evasive little creatures on (and off) the hook.

This year we have been very intentional about planning family activities and one in particular…camping.  Camping and fishing seem to go hand-in-hand.  Both get you out in nature and cause you to slow down from the fast-paced life of which we all seem to live.  

What I didn’t see coming with this hobby was how much my husband would thrive in being able to teach our kids about the subject.  The kids in return have been very excited to learn.  I have watched as my husband baits each hook and helps them cast it into the water.  Inevitably, before he can even get his fishing pole ready, one of the kids needs help getting unstuck from something in the water, reeling in a fish and taking it off the hook, or replacing the bait that one sneaky fish managed to get from the hook.

My husband has enjoyed sharing his love of fishing with all of us.  He even bought me a new fishing pole and gets me all set to fish right there with the kids.  How do I know he loves this?  In all the times we have gone fishing this summer, he himself rarely gets to fish.  He never gets upset when he has to put his pole down to help one of us and yet he keeps scheduling time to go again. 

Many of you may know how challenging it can be to go fishing with kids.  As much as I love our kids and am always proud of their good behavior, they are still impatient and selfish at times.  Our youngest is about to turn 6 and he can’t sit still.  He is usually running around and throwing rocks or sticks into the water (and wonders why we don’t catch more fish).  He, however, is the one that has caught the most.  Our twins are 7 and have a little more patience to sit and watch the bobber but they tend to get bored as well.  I say all this to reassure you that we are normal.  I don’t want to paint a picture of perfection and mislead you to think everything always goes smoothly.  We work through challenges and are intentional about creating more time to bond over things like fishing.  As we look back at each event, we see the positive…a time of growth and learning…a time to be a family.

My Take-Aways:

1. It’s not about the fishing.  It’s about family time.  Find whatever it is that gets your family together and do it!
2. Learn new skills.  Fishing may not have been on my list of things to learn but I am learning.  Maybe the next time we go fishing I will be baiting my own hook and taking the fish off on my own!  (Someone needs to help my husband after all!)
3. Nature, nature, nature…it’s beautiful!  Get outside, take a deep breath and enjoy your surroundings!