Yep, it’s cabin fever season! And so I’m starting a new challenge – an adventure a week.
My four year old daughter drew an adorable valentine card for me with a picture on it of us driving in the car. I asked her what it was a picture of, and she said “You and me going on adventures!” She often talks about how much she loves our “adventures”, and I realized that we haven’t been have enough of those lately. And especially this time of year we are itching to be getting back outside again!
So I told her today we’re going to start going on an adventure every week. Wow, she was thrilled! And I thought it would be fun to share the idea with all of you here. :)
I think that in our society, when people think of having special memories-in-the-making time with their kids, it often involves buying gifts, spending money on expensive vacations, or purchases at restaurants … but, unfortunately, while those expensive occasions might make the kids excited at the time, those special bonding moments seem to elude us. Personally, going to an expensive hotel where we all go our separate ways or watch the tv just doesn’t cut it for special family time. I’d rather go hiking in the woods, and see my kids eyes light up as I explain how the spider wove that delicate web. Or visit a museum that encourages life-long learning. Or all sing really loud in the car. Or sit and watch a sunset and talk about how good our God is. These types of activities don’t take much money … but they do take time, lack of distraction and being available to pick up the special moment whenever it may be. And lately I feel like I’ve been too busy with a lot of stuff that just doesn’t matter as much, and missing out on those times.
And so, my challenge. We are going to go on an adventure every week for the next two months!
What constitutes an adventure, you ask? Here are my rules for myself during this challenge:
A few examples of ideas … going geocaching, visiting an art museum, a nature hike to a waterfall, a scavenger hunt, getting a behind-the-scenes tour of a pizzeria, etc.
So, we will begin next week and for the next two months (through April 21st) we are going to go on a little adventure every week, Lord willing. I think it will be a little harder in the new area we moved to because it is a small town with fewer of the types of “adventure” activities I would typically look for, so I’ll have to think outside the box a little more. But I’m excited! And each week I will blog about our adventure. They won’t be elaborate or expensive, but they will be wonderful because my four year old will definitely consider them to be adventures. :)
For a list of all the Adventure-a-Week Challenge posts so far, just click here.
What kinds of adventures do you like? Please post your thoughts and ideas in the comments, below!
(And anyone is welcome to join the challenge, as well! Be sure to send me your blog links if you do!)
Boring is not on the menu of my life. This is all about making home a more flourishing place - no more ho-hum, let’s do extraordinary! Let’s turn off the tv, and turn on life. Let’s go exploring, let’s experiment in the kitchen, let’s play, let’s flourish!
24 Comments
We did this last year! We call it an “Explore” based upon the original Winnie the Pooh book and our Littles LOVE them! Ours were nearly always outdoors, and we basically just packed a picnic lunch and went different places to hike every week. We have some unforgettable family memories from our little Explores. Need to do this again in the spring. Enjoy your adventures!!
Oooh, I love it! I’m a big fan of the original Winnie the Pooh. :) Yes, it’ll definitely be a little different since its still winter … but by April there should start to be changes in the scenery, and it will be fun to take it in. :) And picnics are such a great idea … fun, special, and low cost to boot, haha. :) Thanks for sharing!
My husband and I were just talking about wanting to get out of the house and do SOMETHING! I’d love to visit Lake Michigan and hike at our favorite park. I’ve lived 10 minutes away for over 5 years, and I’ve never seen it in the winter! I’d also like to go to the local library and do a search on our house. I’d love to find more about the history of this 96 year old gem!
Have fun on your adventures!
Wow, great ideas!! Isn’t it funny how close by activities sometimes get passed over? We moved to Gettysburg when I was a kid, and I remember being amazed at how many of the people who lived close by hadn’t taken the opportunity to explore the battlefield. I think we all do that, though – if something is always there, I don’t feel that I need to go at any particular time. Hope you enjoy the winter visit! It’s amazing how different places look in different seasons. And your house sounds amazing! :)
It really is amazing what we can find in our own “backyards”! I call my house a gem- but some might say err, it has character! It’s for sure a work in progress. :)
Hey, I love houses with “character”! :)
Oooh, sounds like fun! But I submit that not all adventures have to occur outside of the house… I embarked on a culinary adventure this evening- made dinner from what I remembered of a recipe from my childhood. Quite a gamble, but it turned out well!
Still, this sounds like great fun. I hope all participants enjoy themselves!
Oh, yes, I completely agree that not all adventures have to be out of the house! Just for this particular venture I put that qualifier on it because this time of year we’re inside so much, I want to get out an about more for our adventures. But I certainly agree that there plenty of adventures families can enjoy at home. :)
We plan to take the challenge! I am brainstorming adventure ideas in our area:) Thanks for the push!
Bertina (mamalady)
WooT!! :D I hope you’ll post pictures! :)
I am super excited that we have planned a new adventure scheduled for April! We are kind of home-boddies so once a week would be pushing it for us but this upcoming adventure is going to be awesome.
One of our favorite shows – American Pickers – has their home base about 4 hours from us in LeClaire, Iowa and we are going! I am so exited to be able to see their shop and the cool things they find. We are also planning to visit several other antique shops and attractions there. I haven’t been this excited about a road trip in forever!!!
Have a wonderful weekend April – Brandi
Oooh, how fun!!! What a great road trip – you’ll have to let us know how your American Pickers adventure goes, Brandi! :D
That’s wonderful! When our kids were small we would do creek hopping through the woods, camping, petting zoos, science museums or other kids-hands-on type activities. Plus as a military family, we spent several years in Germany and Turkey. We did a lot of exploring while living there.
We are retired now and volunteering at a Nature Conservancy Preserve. Kids are free and we have a small area setup with wildlife feathers, furs, bones, nests, and other items for touching. It is fun to watch the little ones explore through our collection.
You might want to checkout the National Forest and Parks for kids. They have some excellent programs to help parents teach their little ones about our wonderful world and how to help keep it alive and healthy.
I can’t wait to read about your adventures with your daughter!
So many great ideas! Yes, I love state and national parks, and that is something we do have around here!
How neat that you lived overseas too! That definitely is a whole adventure in itself! We lived in the Czech Republic for a couple years growing up (my dad was a preacher), and it was experience I am so glad I was able to have. Turkey – wow! I bet you had a lot of delicious food there!
Thanks for all the great ideas, Sandy! :)
Love this! We have started doing this and I really look forward to what our Saturday brings.
Fun! You’ll have to let us know what kinds of adventures you have! :)
Sounds like fun, I do try to take myself on a field trip a few times a month, but the under $15 including gas might be tough.
Well, you can always adjust the limit to fit your particular needs. The basic idea of having a limit is to make you think outside the box, and create your own adventures instead of paying someone else who has already put something together, like an amusement park or something like that. But if $15 is too low for where you are, of course you can feel free to scoot it to something that better fits your situation. :) Thanks for stopping by my blog!
I am doing a similar thing with my kids this year. We call them New Experiences. Can’t wait to read about all of yours (and maybe get some ideas for mine!)
How fun! Love challenges/projects like that – I’ll have to check out your experiences :)
Great Idea! I will also plan our family adventure but it should be twice or once a week only.
Have fun with it! You can certainly do it more often if you choose … we went with once a week to fit our schedule, but go with whatever fits your own schedule. :)
Where are the printables for each week?
Some weeks have printables, some weeks do not. Here are all the posts: http://www.theflourishingabode.com/category/adventure-a-week
The ones that have printables have the printable available in that post.
You can also access posts with printables from the “Printables” button right under my blog header.