We had relatives up from South Carolina this weekend. They stayed at our house and were actually on a mission to try and find some work so that they can eventually move back up here and get to enjoy the out-of-door experiences that Michigan has to offer. I’m not knocking SC, but this is where they were raised and they are just looking forward to coming back home.

The cousin that was here has two young kids; one daughter who is 3 and a son who is 20 months. In the spirit that we have established here at SimplyOutdoors, of getting kids involved in our outdoor pursuits, we decided that it would be fun to head down to a semi-local outdoor show and see what it had to offer.

The kids had a good time and got a chance to try their luck in the trout pond. That didn’t go quite as well as we would of liked, but I think if they had had better teachers (a stab at my brother and cousin) they might have actually landed fish. The up-side is that they got to see some fish and try their luck at catching them. The fish didn’t cooperate but that is okay.

The show also had a Wildlife Encounters exhibit and the kids were pretty interested in that. They had live snakes and turtles, as well as quite a few different bird species. They even had a bald eagle. All of the animals were very cool and the kids enjoyed seeing them. All of these particular animals were either rescued or found injured, so not only are they being rehabilitated, but they are also educating kids at the same time. I thought that was a pretty neat idea.

We left the show and then headed out to my parents place for dinner. My parents live on a very large lake in the southern part of our state. I couldn’t believe the number of people and VEHICLES that were out on the ice when we got there. I am not an ice fishing type of guy, but I figured it was safe to go out on it since they were driving vehicles on the ice. I’m guessing that there was about a foot of good ice, so we ventured down and took the kids out on it so they could play in the snow and take in the scenery. It was fun and the little ones really enjoyed it, although a snow ball attack that I planned with one of them backfired when the snowball that was meant for their dad crumbled in their hand as they threw it, and it subsequently ended up in my face and down my shirt. That was pretty funny and the kids absolutely loved it. Mission accomplished and we headed back up to the house for dinner.

Now everyone is on their way back home, but hopefully the kids had a good time. The outdoor show was a pretty decent, and watching the kids play in the snow out on the ice was a riot. A very good outdoor oriented weekend and getting kids involved is always a good idea.

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