"Oooh! That water sounds beautiful!" Apollo exclaims, as the trail nears a section of stream where the water is babbling and bubbling over a collection of river rocks protruding from the water, "That's my favorite water sound."
It is in these moments where a parents return-on-investment far exceeds their greatest expectations. At least for me it does. I am fortunate enough to have a wife that shares my love for the outdoors, loves to explore, camp, hike, search tide pools, turn over logs and rocks, all in the name of finding critters and sharing knowledge of the world with Apollo and Orion. Did I mention she (Melanie) is nearly an expert in all things bugs?
This summer has been one of the best in quite some time for all the aforementioned reasons. I am not sure if we have had more adventures than normal, or that the boys are old enough to actually enjoy them, allowing us as parents to enjoy ourselves. The past month has been even more extraordinary as we have been camping nearly every weekend. It seems that we have been on a roll of endless adventures. I can't remember the last time I sat in front of the tv, watched a movie, or even worked on a blog or book for that matter. I am not complaining though, as the memories we make, give my life true purpose and meaning while enriching the lives of our boys.
Somehow, we have also managed to turn our adventures and active lives into a lifestyle that the boys see as normal, and that is an accomplishment to be proud of. I love that we can get on our bikes and ride over 30 miles, pulling the boys the entire way, and they see it as a normal day. Hiking and turning over logs and rocks looking for bugs, lizards, frogs, salamanders, and scorpions...it's just what we do. I think the boys assume everyone does the same things that we do.
Apollo and Orion don't lament not being able to spend the day on the couch watching cartoons and playing video games. They just accept that we spend our family days together... outside. If it's warm weather, we usually end our day at the pool, swimming. But first we may check the boys into the clubs' day care while Melanie and I sneak off for a run or to swim some laps, returning to collect the them before they had a chance to miss us. They get some socializing and play time with other kids, and we get our adult time and a workout in. In the end, we look like heroes by finishing the day in the pool with them...a perfect way to cool down after a day of bike riding or hiking.
Apollo has become very aware of nature husbandry, so-much-so, that he has gotten upset when someone throws rocks into the water, worried that a fish will get hurt. I have had to explain to him on more than one occasion that the odds of that happening are pretty slim.
Somehow, we have also managed to turn our adventures and active lives into a lifestyle that the boys see as normal, and that is an accomplishment to be proud of. I love that we can get on our bikes and ride over 30 miles, pulling the boys the entire way, and they see it as a normal day. Hiking and turning over logs and rocks looking for bugs, lizards, frogs, salamanders, and scorpions...it's just what we do. I think the boys assume everyone does the same things that we do.
As part of exploring, we also teach our boys how to respect nature; returning the critters unharmed where we found them, placing the logs and rocks back in place, and leaving the area looking like we found it.
The boys will randomly recall moments from our adventures and their faces will completely light up as they recount them to me. I feel an overwhelming amount of satisfaction in those moments, however, my best memories come from the times when the boys made me laugh the hardest. A favorite moment (captured in a photo in this post) is when an alligator lizard latched onto Melanie's thumb and Apollo and Orion burst into laughter at the carnage. Another favorite memory of mine has to do with Apollo's personality manifesting in such a way as to make his dad very proud. I found an exoskeleton of a cicada (thanks for the bug ID Melanie). Both boys wanted to hold it, and since Orion asked first, I placed it in his hand. Apollo became impatient and kept trying to take the exoskeleton from Orion, which started an argument of course:
"Apollo! Your going to hurt him!"
"He's not even alive Orion."
"Yes he is!"
"No he isn't!"
"Yes! he IS alive, Apollo!"
In a glowing instance of part genius, part smart ass, and 100% Apollo, Apollo furls his brow and spouts off to Orion, "Wake him up then, Orion!"
I'm not touching any salamanders or bugs.
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