We visited Chiricahua National Monument in eastern Arizona. It was a mountain oasis in a desert of grass. The landscape was pretty cool. And there were TREES. We hadn’t seen trees in a month – just cactus. Mom and dad decided that we were going to hike. A long one! I didn’t really want to…
With all the outdoor activities in our life, clothes take it pretty hard. For example, we went through cheap Payless tennis shoes in about 2 months. I no longer think that if I buy something for Rachel it’ll last long enough for Cara to be able to wear it. Usually the article of clothing (pants,…
We were just talking about this today. Patrick wore through his school tennis shoes and we were buying him a new pair. I eyed the hiking shoes wistfully. I agree with the rubber toes. I won’t buy regular tennis shoes without at least a leather/rubber toe, for sure hiking boots will need rubber!ReplyCancel
I totally know how you feel! I think it depends on your feet, the type of shoes and how long of a hike. For longer hikes, shoes can definitely give you better support while not having straps rub in all the wrong places. 🙂 Both Keen & Chaco make really great sandals, and if we are doing something short (1-2 miles) and the terrain isn’t rough we’ll totally just throw on our Chacos and walk in those. Hope that helps!!ReplyCancel
I’ll admit that life can get a little rough sometimes around here. Most days between road school, cooking, laundry, exploring, cleaning up, and managing daily life I rarely get any “me” time. I viciously guard my 30-40 minutes of exercise everyday since that is my one time I get to plug my earphones in and…
Thanks!! I’ll have to look up Sands Alive. I’ve never heard of it! We do have Lego’s and my kids play a lot. We’ve just discovered that if I’m on my computer AT ALL during the day, I end up grumpy and yelling at everyone since they keep interrupting. 🙂 Sam will take the kids out for a couple of hours just to give me some space and that’s great too!ReplyCancel
Do the kids have audio books they can listen to? My older kids will listen for hours to a good story. It sounds like you’re looking for productive things for them to do so you can be more productive?
The more uninterrupted work time you get, the better. Every time you have to switch or multitask that will cut down your effectiveness. It’s not easy with kids. I sometimes have to celebrate 30 mins, without an interruption.
It’s also helpful to find ways to quickly pick up where you left off. On my most productive days, I have a short, reasonable list of the things I want to get done that day. This is outside of the daily life list that will happen, like food, dishes, etc. I only write down the priorities that will not happen without some effort on my part.
How would your mother or her mother answer this? They never entertained us, we were left to our own devices (but there were no devices – ha – I’m so funny). There are a few places where you guys park where this isn’t possible due to the crowd that is there, but most places they can wander a bit. Being bored is a good thing. It brings our their creativity.
Just like you guys have trained them up to HUGE hikes, you have to train them to spend time alone entertaining themselves. It will take training though. Baby steps, rewards for not bothering you, etc. Good luck. In a month you will be writing a “how to” guide.
Saying all that though – 4 years old is still a hard one. One of the rules will have to be that they must stick together.ReplyCancel
I knew I would homeschool before I even had kids so when naps started to go I knew I needed some time for myself to recharge. We have 1hr quiet time every school day and some weekends. Usually right after lunch. My boys have to read for one hour, without coming and asking me anything. They get ten mins extra for each time they break quiet time. It was hard at first but now it is just a normal part of our day! I like wild kratts on Netflix and the magic school bus. Lots of good documentaries also like “raccoon nation”ReplyCancel
We don’t have Netflix, so I’m not sure what kinds of shows are available, but as a teacher, I buy a lot of Bill Nye, Reading Rainbow, and Magic School Bus for our classrooms. Educational and fun! Scholastic makes some great DVD video series that are available fairly cheaply on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Storybook-Classics-Dinosaurs Scholastic/dp/B001NKWLCQ/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_1_0
Do your children play Minecraft? My kids can play that for hours, and I consider it educational since there’s so much problem solving involved. There’s a mode with the Creeper that might be scary for younger kids, but the sandbox mode is great for any age. Also, have they tried any of the introductory coding websites? We use Scratch a lot at school. It’s created by MIT and lets kids create comics, games, and more. You can also Google to find instructional videos.
There are some great websites that read stories aloud. We love storylineonline.net at school. There’s also wegivebooks.org, but I am not sure if the website reads those aloud.
When all else fails, there’s always incentives! I’ve paid my kids by the hour to behave on a 10-hour car ride, and one time, I challenged them to go 10 days in a row without fighting on our car ride home from school, with the promise of a trip to the movies or something after they met the challenge. If they fought any day, the 10 days started over. Maybe a small treat or trip to the playground at the end of your “me time” would work.ReplyCancel
Thanks Kerri!! This is SO incredible helpful. We do play Minecraft, and although its super creative it counts as their “tablet” time and they have a limit of 30 minutes 4x per week. Any more than that and we just had cranky children. They are much happier with limits!
We also have tried http://studio.code.org/ which we found while visiting a Science Museum. We’ve talked about also giving them an hour a week of “computer” time where they can write stories for the blog, code, or even Cara has found she likes to draw shapes in Google Docs. That would increase some screen time (free time for me) but not crazily so.
Storyonline looks amazing!! Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for telling me about this. I’m really excited!! 🙂 🙂ReplyCancel
No trip through south eastern Arizona would be complete without visiting Tombstone. The town is the location of a famous gunfight, some mining, and plenty of ‘trades’ practiced in the old west. We were staying a few miles south of town on public land, and ventured in for the experience. When We Visited: February 25, 2015 Ages of Kids: 9. 7….
Last year when we came through Phoenix, we only spent 3 days at Usery Regional Park. We knew there were a few other parks in the area that other traveling friends loved, but we couldn’t get in as they were ALL full! Every day. Ridiculous. Since we were on a mission to get to Disneyland, it…
We definitely understand your feelings about the Phoenix area parks. Through a combination of spending time camping with friends and having to be close to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport for a business trip we will have spent 6 of the last 8 weeks in the Phoenix area. Each park is beautiful in its own way but they are so far away from other stuff. Running errands or visiting attractions outside of each park is such a trek. Every GPS direction seems to be “make a turn and stay on this road for 8 miles”. This place is so spread out!
We have been in Lost Dutchman, McDowell Mountain, detoured to Catalina State Park near Tucson and finally White Tank back in Phoenix. Lost Dutchman is definitely our favorite of the four. We will be back but for a shorter visit the next time. Almost two weeks in each park was way too long.
We’re heading early next week to Prescott and Cottonwood for a change of scenery. See you down the road.ReplyCancel
This was such a timely piece for me! We had been struggling with the idea to head back South to warm up or stay in the beautiful scenery outside Cottonwood. You definitely spoke to some of the same things I felt while in the Phoenix area. I think we will stay up around here. So much to see and do!ReplyCancel
Great post, Rachel! Now, I want to take my kids (5 and 2) on this adventure.
I really liked reading your post, Rachel! You made me really want to visit and do that hike. And nice job on going to the bathroom by yourself in the woods – that’s really hard for us girls! 🙂
Fun post! I love the photos and I must say it takes a brave girl to pee in the woods! Kudos!
Great post! You guys are super hikers! That is awesome!
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