Outdoors

Just Confiscate Those Screens… and Take a Hike

November 11, 2019COMtnMom

Life is busy. Here in Colorado my family lives in a beautiful valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. I savor the site of the horizon every single day. But before I know it… weeks can pass, and we haven’t been up in those mountains to hike even once.

So one recent Saturday, I found myself and my kids laying around the house, doing nothing. Ok, that’s a lot of our Saturdays. But I’m talking about this one in particular, a couple of weeks ago, when it was sunny and 62 degrees outside. That’s right, people. The perfect day!! And we were laying around the house! Seriously…??

My husband was at work, and we were just relaxing. I think it’s ok to do that, to recharge on the weekends. But this was ridiculous. We each had a screen we were staring at. And it was gorgeous and sunny outside, and the absolute perfect temperature to go hiking. And we are 15 minutes from a trail.

Time to Take a Hike, err…. “Walk”

“That’s it. Put the tablets down. We’re gonna get out for a bit.”

I didn’t even call it a “hike”, cause I didn’t want to scare off my lazy bones kids, or have them start whining. I said we’d go for “a little walk”.

I was so convinced of this ruse, that I deliberately did NOT bring along a backpack. Apparently I was playing the mind game with my lazy bones self, too. We’ll just find a nice trail, and walk for awhile. Breathe in that crisp Fall air. Only go as long as we want, a few minutes, then turn back.

Turns out, it was FANTASTIC. Nature wins again!

Take your kids for a hike — 1000 x better than streaming Netflix on the couch

Cool rock sculpture in Colorado National Monument — Cool “sculpture” we found on the trail, in Colorado National Monument

Bring a Backpack, For the Love…

My kids enjoyed it so much, that they didn’t want to turn back. We could have gone much farther that day, if I had been better prepared. That high altitude sun is quite intense, and although I had one water bottle… I didn’t bring nearly enough for a prolonged hike. WHY DIDN’T I BRING A BACKPACK, AGAIN? Seriously. I’m such a gear review brat, that I’ve got like 137 of them laying around my house.

I talk all this smack about being “THE COLORADO MOUNTAIN MOM”, and I don’t bring a backpack with snacks and water on a hike??? Sheesh. Ridiculous.

I was super proud of my daughter, cause at least she brought a backpack. And had supplies for herself, so I only had to share my water with her little brother.

Anyways…. it was a terrific little outing, that actually turned into a legit hike. So fun!

But again, we did have to literally force ourselves to go do this. So that’s my message to you today: Just go! Force yourself out of the house, and find a trail with your kids.

Just be smarter than me, and sneak a backpack along.

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