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What’s Your Role When Your Kids are Outside? – Life Outside

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Now that the Life Outdoors – Fall Challenge has been going on for a couple of weeks, I’ve noticed another set of expectations that I have for outdoor play that makes it seem like more work than just staying in.

I have no problem reading a book or writing a blog post while Gordie is happily playing by himself inside. But to take a book outside just seems so… deliberate. Like I am planning on ignoring my child.

It doesn’t really make sense does it? Just because I bring a book out, doesn’t mean I have to read it. And if it’s there, and Gordie is happily playing by himself, I’m going to have a much better time out there reading my book instead of tapping my foot until we go back in.

If the point is for Gordie to get outside, it doesn’t really matter what I’m doing does it? It’s about him, not me.

I think that being able to play independently is a really good skill for kids to have – both inside and outside. It’s not that I’m never going to play with him. I do and I will continue to do so all time. But letting him or even encouraging him to play by himself isn’t an inferior form of play.

So, this week I’m going to try to worry less about whether I’m being a good enough mom outside and just feel good that we are outside.

Blueberry Banana Yogurt Pancakes

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I almost never make pancakes. I made some off hand comment that used the word pancakes (what on earth could that be? I cannot for the life of me figure out how you use the word pancakes without saying something like “let’s have pancakes”). Regardless, Gordie thought this was the best idea he had ever heard. I managed to get out of making pancakes for lunch but promised he could have them for dinner.

I put this together so I could feel like even though we were having pancakes for dinner, we were getting some decent nutrition too. Whole wheat pancakes always seem to be lacking something so I decided to add things to the pancakes instead. Plain yogurt, a banana and blueberries make these a lot more nutrient dense than your average pancake as well as sweet and moist.

Blueberry Banana Yogurt Pancakes

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Blueberry Banana Yogurt Pancakes
 
(Adapted from Bed & Breakfast Inns Online)
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ½ Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 Cup Plain Yogurt (Balkan is nice)
  • 1 Ripe Banana Mashed
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
  • 2 Handfuls of Blueberries
Instructions
  1. Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
  2. In a large bowl, beat eggs, add yogurt, melted butter and mash in the banana. You can do this by breaking it into pieces and then mashing it up with the whisk or you can mash them first. They need to be small but do not need to be completely mashed. If you hate mashing you could even just slice them thinly.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet (half the time I do this backwards, but this way you don’t have flour mixture stuck to the bottom). Mix just enough so that you no longer see any dry flour.
  4. Add the blueberries and gently fold them in.
  5. Cook the pancakes on a medium-high heat for about 2 minutes per side. If you haven’t cooked them before try doing a test pancake before making a whole bunch.

 

Life Outside–What Does it Take to Say You Went Outside Today?

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After starting the Life Outside Fall Challenge I started to think aDSC_0230bout how I would decide whether we had achieved success for that day. How will I define “going outside” with Gordie?

Time

Although I can’t see counting the amount of time it takes to go from the house to the car, on really busy days, or days with bad weather, I’m not sure that requiring a minimum amount of time is going to be helpful. I think even if it’s a short time any time outside is a win, particularly if you don’t feel like going out in the first place.

Activity

At first I was thinking that this would be about playing outside. But that’s really just part of what we can do outside. Going for a walk is still good time, so is raking the leaves or watering the garden. I’m going to try to do some different things and make it fun for me and for Gordie, but just being outside is enough.

What I’ve Realized

It turns out that I have more expectations and “rules” for outside time than I thought I did. Unfortunately this makes it so we go outside less. It makes it seem like a lot of work. Instead of spending whatever amount of time doing whatever outside, it seems easier to just stay in. This is something that I’m really going to try to work on this Fall – taking advantage of time outside no matter how short and not worrying so much about what we are doing once we are there.

How do you define spending time outside with your kids? Are your expectations making it so you don’t go out as much as you’d like?

Easy Roasted Beets

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I starting making these when we had a community garden plot. I had planted things like beets and turnips that I read grown well in Siberia. I figured it they grew well there, I  shouldn’t have a problem. And it totally worked, they were awesome. This year, I tried a square foot garden and had no luck whatsoever with my beets or turnips. I’m not entirely sure why, but if you had more luck than I did, this recipe is great.

Easy Roasted Beets

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Easy Roasted Beets
 
Ingredients
  • Beets trimmed and washed
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Aluminum foil
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Line a baking tray and wrap each beet with aluminum foil.
  3. Roast beets for approximately 40 minutes. Longer if you have big beets, less if you have small beets.
  4. When the beets are cooked through, take them out of the oven. I recommend covering your hands when you work with the beets, gloves are good, but I hate now they make my hands smell so I usually just use two sandwich sized ziplock bags.
  5. Peel the beets. If the beets have been cooked long enough, the skin should slide right off with your fingers.
  6. Cut each beet in half and then slice into half moons. It looks pretty to have full circles but the beets can be pretty slippery. Halving them first can really save your fingers.
  7. Put the beets into a bowl and toss with the olive oil, vinegar and pepper. If you think they need a bit more flavor, add more vinegar. You only need enough olive oil to coat and the pepper can get to be too much pretty quickly.

 

Note: Beets contain quite a lot of natural dye. When you eat them this goes through your body with predictable purple/red results. This is perfectly harmless but can look a little alarming if you are not prepared. 🙂

8 Things I Love About Cooler Weather

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I can be a bit of a weather whiner – I don’t like it too hot, or too cold, or too windy. Luckily Calgary weather provides a lot of opportunities for people who like to complain about the weather. If you’re not unhappy with the weather right now, just wait, it’ll change soon enough. To shake things up a bit, instead of complaining I thought I’d write a list of things I look forward to with the cooling temperatures.

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1. My Winter Duvet – there is nothing better than snuggling into a big fluffy duvet.

2. My Oven – Most of my favorite recipes involve my oven. Cooking is so much more fun when you don’t melt while you do it.

3. No Bugs! – The best thing about freezing cold weather – it kills off all the bugs.

4. Hot Drinks – I love warming my hands on a hot mug of tea.

5. Jackets – my seatbelt always sits better when I’m wearing a jacket, I hate it rubbing against my skin.

6. No sunscreen – I don’t have to worry about Gordie getting a sunburn while we are playing outside.

7. You can always put on more clothes but there is a limit to how much you can take off.

8. Fall TV – What can I say? I love my TV shows.

I was going for 10 things but I still really miss summer. Maybe I’ll have to read my list again.

Fall Sensory Box

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While Gordie and I were out on a walk, we picked up leave, pinecones and sticks to use for a Fall sensory box. It was a little harder than I had expected to get the leaves, most of the trees still hadn’t started to drop them, but it was still fun. We also used some other items from around the house.

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What’s inside?

  • leaves
  • pinecones (check them for sticky sap)
  • sticks
  • fork (rake)
  • small bowl
  • small gourds
  • decorative corn
  • large rock

This bin wasn’t as bit a hit as the last one. The process of creating it was a lot more engaging for him than the bin itself. I also think it would have been better with a larger quantify of leaves so you could really run your fingers through them and rake them around.  I think we’ll try it again when more leaves have fallen.

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I’m Finding Myself Unable to Resist a Good Challenge–Outdoor Play Challenge

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My friend Misty wrote a post called “Life Outside – Making Myself Responsible” where she challenges herself to take her son outside everyday.

I’ve decided to take up the challenge with her. During the summer, this was not something I had much trouble with, but this month, I’ve been kind of bad. Even though the weather has often been lovely, I haven’t felt like going anywhere. We’re expecting another baby in March and pregnancy makes me feel soooo tired.

Although I’m starting to feel a bit more energetic now that I’m in my 2nd trimester, the weather is not going to be making it more attractive for me to go outside as it gets colder.

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I think outdoor play is so important for kids. I also think it makes it easier to care for them too. Way less mess to clean up, less to get into and they love it so much!

Today was the first day of our challenge and happily it was successful. We went for a walk to the grocery store (at which I was an impulsive sucker, buying a halloween cup, mini pumpkin, decorative corn and monkey stickers) and collected leaves and pinecones along the way.

Although the walk isn’t far, our neighborhood is VERY hilly. Getting to the store isn’t bad, but getting back is basically uphill the whole way. I had to take a lot of breaks. I have a feeling that perhaps there is some middle ground between doing nothing and trying to kill myself. Is it just me that has this problem?

We stopped off at a playground on the way home (Mama needed a break) and saw a woodpecker a couple blocks from home.

I’m sure most of our outdoor play won’t take all morning, especially when it gets cold, but I’m excited to try to keep it up and make it fun.

Anyone interested in taking the challenge too?

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Construction Site: Sensory Bin

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Gordie loves construction vehicles. We go around spotting them whenever we drive around. I can now identify all kinds of different vehicles by name instead of calling them all “diggers”. So I decided to use that as the theme for our first sensory bin.

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What’s Inside

  • Base – Mixed dry beans
  • Construction trucks and figures
  • Small cups
  • 2 spoons (shovels)

That was it, but it held his attention for a long time. I had to be right there with him but he was actually pretty good about the “keeping the beans in the bin” rule.

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Just Call Me Mother of the Year

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This is why I think I should be awarded the title of Mother of the Year.

Reason #1 – Gordie didn’t do any kind of art all summer including coloring. My Calgary Playground Review blog showed all the outdoor activity we did, but what it didn’t show was that was ALL we did. We went out in the morning to a playground and the most impressive thing we did after that was having a nap.

Reason #2 – This month Gordie and I have hardly left the house. Although I finally did get some art supplies, we’ve hardly gone anywhere. I don’t think we’ve gone to a single playground, and even on the really nice days we often just stay home. Kids don’t need sunlight and fresh air do they?

Reason #3 – Gordie often wears pajamas from nap time until bed time. Gordie often asks to wear pajamas for nap – and anything that is going to make him sleep better I’m all for. But seriously, how often am I supposed to change his clothes? If we’re not going anywhere, he is likely to wear them until he goes to bed.

Reason #4 – I think I spend more time looking for fun things to do with Gordie than actually doing them. But I have an awesome board on pinterest filled with ideas – it’s almost as good right?

Reason #5 – I hate singing Gordie his bedtime song. I know some lullabies that I really love, Douglas Mountain, Morningtime Ride, Baby’s Boat. But I end up singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, every single night and for every nap. Really, the song is just not that great.

Reason #6 – I’m finding it really difficult to get my energy together to make good food. One time Gordie ate Kraft Dinner for lunch, dinner and lunch again the next day.

Those are just a few of the reasons why I think I deserve the title of Mother of the Year. How about you? Any confessions to make?

Badlands National Park

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The Badlands weren’t in our original itinerary. We squeezed them in at the end of a very long day (after seeing the Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore) and unfortunately the lighting wasn’t great by the time we got there and we didn’t have a lot of energy left to get out and walk around.

Nonetheless I’m really glad we went. If you have made it to Rapid City it is only 88 more miles to get to the Badlands and the Highway 240 Loop Road through the park only takes an extra 60 minutes if you don’t stop.

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Passport Stamp: Inside the Visitor Centre mid way through the park.
Accommodations: There are campgrounds inside the park as well as Cedar Pass Lodge (located by the visitor center). Rapid City is the closest large-ish city.
Approximate Time: 60 minutes – half a day.
Worth the Trip: Absolutely.
Jr. Ranger Program: Available in the Visitor Centre give yourself about an hour to complete it
Admission: $15 for 7 days.

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If we were to go again, I’d try to make sure we had enough time to get out and do a few short walks.

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It’s amazing how fast the scenery changes while you go through. Similar to Drumheller in Alberta, this area is also a large fossil bed. It is considered to be one of the richest mammal fossil beds in the world.

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There are two stops (one on each end of the loop road) that I would also recommend.

The Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is on the Badlands Loop and is located south of I-90 at exit 131. It closes at 4:30pm so it unfortunately wasn’t open while we passed through. At the site is a underground launch control centre and a missile silo from the cold war. The visitor centre gives you some insight into the cold war period and gives information about what the missile sites were really like as opposed to what you see in the movies.

You can see the Missile Silo May 2 – October 31 with no reservations. You can also get a tour of the launch control centre. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they offer short tours in the morning for the first 200 visitors. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday and Saturdays you can get a formal tour but you need to make reservations in advance. See the Minuteman Missile website for more information.

You can also get a stamp for your passport book at the visitor centre and they offer a Junior ranger program for kids 7 and up.

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The 2nd stop is located in Wall South Dakota at the West end of the Badlands Loop. It’s pretty hard to miss Wall Drug. There are billboards along the way starting miles away. Offering things like free ice water, homemade doughnuts and 5 cent coffee. By the time we saw our 50th sign, we knew we had to go see what it was. It was pretty much what we had expected. It’s a large building complex that feels like a cross between a flea market and a mom and pop store. This was our last stop of the day.image

They have a lot of souvenir areas, as well as a kids play space, a large western art gallery along the walls of the cafe and half a T-Rex up on the wall that moves and roars a few times an hour. Gordie was not fond of the T-Rex. If you have a kid would might also find it scary, I would suggest taking a look at the map and being very careful going into the back building. We we at the opposite end of the building and it still made Gordie burst into tears. You can find more about Wall Drug at http://walldrug.com

If you missed Mount Rushmore, the Devils Tower,Yellowstone or my tips for taking kids to National Parks/Monuments be sure to check them out too.