Afternoon Adventures with the Kids

I had the bright idea to write about summer afternoon adventures. The concept was you don’t have to go far or spend lots of money to have fun. The problem is you can’t write about something that hasn’t happened. So I woke up this morning and said to myself, we are doing it. We are having an adventure THIS afternoon. One, because we are overdue and two, I have an adventure blog due Friday.

Sitting in my workspace I hear my nineteen-year-old son walk in the door. “SON, come in here, I need help!” He opens the door yelling “WHAT?” The conversation went like this:

“Son, be ready at three today, we need to have an afternoon adventure, any ideas?” he looked exasperated.

“Mom, you can’t PLAN an adventure, they just have to happen, that’s why they are adventures.”

“Okay, fine.” I’m not annoyed yet. “Be here by three and we will go out and let an adventure happen. I have to write about summer afternoon adventures and we haven’t had any.”

“Mom, there are no more adventures, adventures are dead, JUST LIKE LOVE,” and he slammed the door.

I’m pretty sure he was kidding…

However, he did not go on our adventure, but my sixteen-year-old daughter and my two little boys, ages eight and nine, did. We grabbed some snacks and headed for the forest. We took the windows out of our jeep, but fortunately left the top up, as dark clouds gathered in the distance. As we drove, the little boys kept asking “Where are we going?”, “Why are we doing this?”, “Is THIS the adventure?” I replied “Buckle up, because I said so, and YES THIS IS THE ADVENTURE NOW HAVE FUN.”

When we got to the dirt roads in the forest, I changed seats with my daughter (the new driver) and I have to say, thoroughly enjoyed riding along as we wound around one road and another. The little boys and I looked out for good photo spots, and then the road hit a dead end at some railroad tracks and a little ditch. With camera in hand, we jumped out and played around for a bit before jumping back in and heading for town. It began to rain and by the time we got home, it was a torrential downpour. So as adventures go, it wasn’t the most adventurous, but the kids and I had a great time, and with no agenda and no other motive than to just go out and see what we could see, we had one of the most relaxing afternoons we have had in a while.

I also enjoyed the conversation between the kids. It’s amazing the things you learn from them and about them while on an adventure, even a short afternoon one.

Here are my tips for “afternoon adventures:”

• Don’t think to hard about where to go or what to do. Look around and see what’s in a twenty mile radius of where you live.
• You don’t need to spend hours and hours either. I think our whole time was about two hours or so.
• Be flexible and limit your expectations. Adventures are about the moment and where the road takes you. (Another good reason to not stray too far unless you prepare for a more involved activity or trip.)
• Adventures are not just for those with kids. I am sure your friends or spouse would be up for one too.
• You never know what you’ll discover, so make sure you write down any ideas you get for longer more involved adventures for a later date.

All too soon friends move on, children grow up, and work consumes us. Grab those you love and take them on afternoon adventures before they PCS or the kids hit the “adventures and love are dead” phase of their life!