Everyone who reads this blog knows that our main passion here at SimplyOutdoors is getting kids involved in nature.  We don’t care if they want to sled, have a snowball fight, hunt and fish, catch fireflies or whatever – we just want them to be outside.

And this year I’m going to be able to help little Abby do those kinds of things………and I can’t wait.  Since she was born, I’ve never shied away from getting her outside; we’ve had her camping multiple times, and she’s already played outside this year too.  But this year will be the first year that I can teach her to fish, or chase bugs, and actually have her somewhat comprehend what’s going on.

And I’m excited.

For the last ten years or so, a big dream of mine has been to teach one of my kids about the outdoors; to teach them about life.  And, finally, after a few years of thinking that having our own kids wasn’t going to be a reality, this year that dream is finally going to come true for the wife and I.  We can’t wait to teach Abby all about baiting and setting a hook;  we can’t wait to show her what a lightning bug is while teaching her how to catch one; and we can’t wait to be able to share our love of the outdoors with her (I’m sure our camping trips will never be the same).

Of course, showing Abby all of the things that nature has to offer will also remind us about the wonders that nature holds; it will allow us to look at the outdoor world through kid eyes.

She’ll be able to discover nature while allowing Jenn and I, as we teach her what we know, to discover nature again.

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It’s been one heck of a month here at SimplyOutdoors, and it just keeps getting better.  I’m very proud and pleased to announce that we have our first sponsor – Cottage Craft Works.

Cottage Craft Works make all kinds of unique things – hand-made furniture, fishing lures, custom gun stocks, toys and, of course, my personal favorite, hunting calls.  They make box calls, slate calls, owl hoots, grunt calls, and duck calls.  And many of their craftsmen work in small home-based shops across the United States, and some of their products come from deep within the Amish community and are made without the help of modern machinery or electricity.  How is that for a unique product?

We received our first calls this week, and to say that we were pleased would be an understatement.  The calls are gorgeous, they’re very unique, and they sound awesome.  I’m sure they will definitely help us to persuade a wary tom to head for our setup this spring.

And, in the true SimplyOutdoors’ spirit, we got the kids involved with the calls as well.  My little Abby gave the slate call a try with Uncle Jeff’s direction, and then later on, she gave the box call a try with some help from daddy.  I’m happy to report that she approved of both calls, and had a blast giving them a try (as you can see in the picture to the right).

We are very happy with the calls, and we can’t wait to take them into the field and put them to the test.  I know that they are going to help immensely in our turkey hunting pursuits.

And we’re proud to have Cottage Craft Works supporting us.

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This video features some highlights from a hunt that Jeff and his son, Tyler, went on last year.  They definitely have some close encounters, but you’ll have to watch to see if Tyler fills his tag or not.

I just love seeing the kids involved in the outdoors.  It’s too cool!

Click the picture to watch.

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Most of my readers know that I have a young daughter, and many of them have previously read posts in which I alluded to the fact that I plan – in some capacity or another – to have her involved in the outdoors.  My hope is that she enjoys hunting and fishing along with the rest of us, but I would be more than happy if she developed any sort of love of the outdoors – whether it be hiking, cross country skiing, or camping just to name a few.

I’ve thought about this subject many times, and have pondered how I would help to instill a love of the outdoor world within her.  And in the spirit of Kristine’s challenge she posted on the OBS site, I thought I would lay out a few ways I plan to get my daughter into the outdoors.  Of course, these ideas could also apply to getting any child in the outdoors, which is the whole idea behind Kristine’s post in the first place. And without further ado:

1. First, we’ve always included her in any outdoor-related event we’ve been involved in since she was very young.  At only 16 months of age we’ve had her camping multiple times, fishing quite a few times, and just all around hanging out outside as often as we can.  We want being outside, and enjoying nature to be an every day type of thing; we want it to be expected.
2. Second, we plan to provide her with plenty of outdoor-related variety.  As I alluded to in the start of this post, I would love nothing more than to have her involved in hunting and fishing, but more so, I want her to be involved in the outdoors in one way or another.  The only way to truly do that is to provide her with as many outdoor opportunities as possible.  I want her to be exposed to fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, skiing, sledding, and a host of many other outdoor activities early and often.  Having her exposed to a variety of outdoor activities will allow her to have more choices, and increase the likelihood that she will possess some sort of outdoor love far into the future.
3. Third, I plan to have the love of the outdoors to be a non-pressured choice.  I want her to want to be in the outdoors and enjoying nature, rather than forcing her to be an outdoor lover.  I want to show her the many different things the outdoors has to offer, and then let her choose what outdoor-related activity fits her best.  I will not shove the outdoors down her throat, or make her feel pressured to enjoy any particular style of outdoor enjoyment; I will simply show her many different types of outdoor activities, and let her decide which ones she likes best.
4. Fourth, I will always make sure to take time to share the outdoors with her.  All of us have many demands that are put on us every day, and that makes it very easy to make excuses for why we didn’t get outside and spend time with our kids.  Despite those demands, I will always do my best to spend time with her in nature; after all that is the foundation that starts a love of nature that will last a lifetime.
5. And the most important thing you can do to instill a love of nature in young children?  Allow them to be kids – let ‘em make mud pies, chase lightning bugs, play flashlight tag, and have some fun while keeping the video games and television watching to a minimum.  Trust me, they’ll never miss ‘em.

I believe these five points are excellent starting points that will help to instill a love of nature in young children.  And I hope they do their part to instill a love of nature into my daughter.  I hope we enjoy the outdoors together in some capacity, and I hope that the points I listed above help us to do just that.

I want a love of nature to be a natural thing in Abby’s life, and to not be forced.  I think the points I listed above will help in that endeavor, and I look forward to sharing every minute I get with her outside.

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I checked weather.com to find out it would be 25 degrees for a high, and only 14 if you figured in the wind chill.  But that didn’t stop any of us from heading outside this weekend.  We were part of the brave crowd.

And it was fun.

It started with a chilly quad ride.  Normally this time of year everyone would be riding snowmobiles, but luckily for me the snow hasn’t cooperated and the snowmobile trails were a mess; I don’t own a snowmobile, so I would have had to sit at the cottage and let everyone else ride their sleds.  I do own a quad, though, so three of us took those and tore down some trails and a few of the roads, all the while taking in the awesome scenery.  I love the laws that allow us to ride all the secondary roads in the county.  It’s awesome.

The ice-cold wind was finding its way through my helmet, and the 8 layers I had on weren’t preventing it from smacking me right in the chest.  But I was still in heaven.  The trails and roads were lightly snow-covered, and the scenery was something that could only be found in North Country such as this.  It was awesome.  I ignored the icicles hanging from my nose, my frozen thumb that was operating the throttle, and drove on.  It was perfect.

After a few hours of that, we headed back to all of our families who were waiting at the cottage.  They had come in order to visit Tip Up Town USA.  Houghton Lake is a smorgasbord for anything ice or snow-related this time of year, and the annual two week festival was to provide many things for the kids to do: They rode fair rides, fed a llama that I thought might eat their clothes off, and slid down the ice slide.  Honestly, the ice slide was one of the highlights of the trip – If you could have only seen the smiles on the kids’ faces as they slid down that thing – all bundled up in snow pants and winter coats – with a grin on their face all the way to the bottom.

The adults had a good time, too.  I loved watching the kids experiencing everything, including my little Abby who looked somewhat like the I-can’t-put-my-arms-down kid from A Christmas Story; she was so bundled up I’m not sure how she managed to fall asleep in her stroller through most of the experience.

I even managed to do something that most of the group was amazed by:  walk on the ice.  I hate ice fishing, and I hate standing on the ice; it is just a strange feeling for me.  But when there are vehicles out on the ice, I figure it’s safe to step on out.  Jeff relished in the moment and managed to capture a few pictures for proof.  Heck, it was so much fun, if the weather cooperates; I might even ice fish with him this weekend on a local lake.

Cabin fever tends to settle in for a lot of people this time of year, but I’m glad that hasn’t happened to any of us.  There is just something invigorating and refreshing about being outside………..even if you have to wear 8 layers to stay warm.

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