the great outdoors

Henry's new obsession is "OUTSIDE". When he wakes up in the morning? He gets out of bed, and goes straight to the door. He then proceeds to push on it, bang on it, and attempt to open it. Finally, he resorts to coming to me and saying, "Ah? Ah?" Which, I've gathered to mean, "Hey, Mom. You look beautiful this morning. Could we please open this door and start an adventure?" He's such a sweetheart.

It's freezing now, but lately, we've been going outside right after breakfast. We jump into the wagon, round up the dogs and take off:

We then round our way through the trails on the property. My father-in-law has been lining all the trails with rocks, and installing bird feeders and houses. The property is starting to look like a park. It's really a slice of heaven here. Henry points to different things, asking me to tell him what he's looking at, "Well, Hen, that's coyote poop! That's a tree branch that could take out your eye!"

Henry is an explorer. He picks EVERYTHING UP. Sometimes, he lays out on the ground and scoops up the dirt beneath him. He is unafraid and a true BOY.

If I can be honest, I don't know what it is about myself that has been avoiding the outdoors. Maybe it's from living in the city the past few years? I used to be a camp lifeguard. I would drag kids half a mile through the woods to go canoeing on a little murky pond. But, lately, I've been a homebody, only going outside when it was necessary, or when food was involved. I think Henry's put an end to that old game.