Most kids would give anything to have a sprawling tree house of their own in the backyard. But if they can’t, the next best thing is to play in someone else’s tree house. At the Huntsville Botanical Garden, the Tremendous Treehouses exhibit is just the place for kids to adopt a tree house for a [...]
Planting the garden has never been one of my favorite activities. But a few weeks ago, on a warm spring day, it was time to get most of our seeds in the ground. We were all itching to get outside in the sun, and instead of a dreaded chore, planting the garden turned into a [...]
Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with Sarah Palin. Whether you like her or not, we can all get on board with getting outside. And in Palin’s home state of Alaska, both dogs and people are taking to the outdoors this week for the opening of the Iditarod, the iconic dogsled race. The race [...]
We parents knew that spending time outside did something positive for our kids (besides making them take a better nap). And now a new study shows that people who spend more time in the natural environment, as opposed to manmade environments, place greater value on personal relationships and community, and are more generous with money, [...]
Our Big Boy was sent home early from preschool one day last week. He wasn’t sick. He wasn’t biting other kids. He just couldn’t stop scratching. He’d clawed his arms and legs to the point of drawing blood in some places. What I’d thought were a few bug bites that morning turned out to be [...]
This morning my four-year-old and I were discussing what birthday gift to buy for his almost-five friend.
My Boy #1: “He’s really into dinosaurs.”
Me: “I thought he liked rockets.”
Boy #1: “Yes, he loves rockets and space too. And he’s into superheroes.”
Me: “What are you into?”
Boy #1: “I’m into fishing and hiking and farming. [...]
