Planning Our Friday Adventures

The snow is gone! The mud is almost dried up!  That means we're able to get outside again as a family.  Last fall, I started doing a Friday adventure with the kids.  Winter's cold and snow halted those expeditions.  But now?

Time to start again!

My rules for our Friday fun...

1.  Must take place on the property.  I don't want to drive all over when the Lord has blessed us with all of this amazing land.
2. Must allow for all of us to participate.  That means Owen's wheelchair needs to be able to get there since he doesn't walk well outside yet.  It means it has to be close enough for the little ones to walk.  Or have logging road access that isn't too scary for me to drive with the Suburban. 
3. Must be suitable for all ages--engage my 12 year old and my littles (and me!!!)
4. Must be simple.  Simple is good.  Learning to be content with simple can be hard!
4.  Must be fun!  Nough said.

Last fall, we did a Pirate adventure and a Cowboy adventure. We also swam at the creek, fished and built a fort. 

Grouse Creek provides hours of summer fun!  We are so blessed to have it running through our land.

Here are some of my ideas for this year.  Some are simple and will be repeated.  Some require more planning.

1. Walk to the waterfall and have a picnic
2. Walk to the cedar grove and play house in the young trees
3. Picnic at the creek & splash play
4. Beaver Adventure (walk to beaver pond & examine the abandoned dam; look for chewed trees & shavings, beaver poo...)
5. Bird Adventure (checklist with different birds to find, listen for bird calls, look for nests, look for Canadian geese tracks in field)
6.  Swimming Fun in the Creek (we'll go to a shallow spot where Owen is fairly safe).
7. Hide and Seek in the back woods (away from roads and the creek for safety)
8. Inventor Game at the junk pile--lots of building material to use! We'll bring a simple tool box and some nails and screws and see what happens.  Owen and Sydney will love climbing on the simple tire structure we'll make for them first. 
9. Go on a knight adventure (look for sword sticks & bark shields, and have a great battle)
10.  Play orphans at the mountain fort when the service berries are ripe so we have food to gather
11. Go wild berry picking and race to fill the containers; look for wild strawberries to go with the service berries.  We have wild raspberries at the creek too--maybe we'll find them. 
12. Gather different wild plants & make a salad at the creek--plantain, dandelion,lambs quarter, etc.
13. Scavenger Quest--Each person goes to a different spot and makes a list (or picture list) of 5 things they see.  Bring all lists to the base, and put lists on the ground.  Go grab a list that isn't yours and get hunting. First one/team back wins.
14. Wild Wolf Adventure--go to the waterfall cave & turn it into our den, play wolf
15. BBQ Fish Adventure--bring the BBQ down to the creek and cook what we catch.  Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout swim through Grouse Creek. 
16. Lunch & Quiet Time Camp-out-- put up tent in the yard, roast hot-dogs in the firepit,eat some s'mores, 'rest' in tent, & sing campfire songs.  

I've never actually camped before.  This will be a true adventure!  I'm too much of a chicken to actually sleep outside at nighttime right now.  Too many bears, cougars and bobcats...oh my! But, I know that people survive camping all the time.  So...maybe someday....

Do you have any adventures planned for the warmer season?