Family hiking grows as your children age!
If you begin hiking when your children are babies, your family hiking grows with your kids. Of course, hiking can be something which draws couples together in the first place. My husband and I went hiking on our first date together – and have spent many happy days together in family outdoor activities. 
Our son D was born at the end of April, and we had a warm and early spring that year. My husband is also a mountain biker, and he struggled to put off spring biking adventures while waiting for D to arrive. We traveled to Moab (Family Fun Utah) twice when I was eight months along – and then, one beautiful Saturday, we, along with my mom, couldn’t wait any longer. We went to a nearby
state park,
and C rode while my mom and I hiked.
My water broke after that hike, and D was born (safely in a hospital) a few hours later – so you can see that our family outdoor activities began quite early! (Of course, if you've only recently discovered family hiking, don't feel that it's too late to build family bonding through outdoor recreation -- families can learn to love hiking together, regardless of their ages!) 
Since D was a young baby during the rest of spring and into summer, I was able to hike with him pretty easily. We ventured out often with our handy carrier (you can find them at Babies 'R Us),
stopping only when he began to grow big enough to make my shoulders ache. Our family hiking grew along with him!
When E came along, so did winter, and we couldn’t hike with her until she was already big enough for us to need two backpack carriers (Kelty has some, as does Child Carriers). We hiked almost to the top of the Continental Divide, each of us with a baby/toddler on our back that summer! I have to admit, however, that hiking is much more fun now that they’re older. Family hiking grows with your kiddos – and experiencing that first hand is the best in family bonding activities! 
Using open space parks and easy paths near home, we helped our kids build their endurance. As we did so, we didn’t hesitate to explore other areas, as well – always with the goal in mind. We wanted our kids to enjoy outdoor recreation as much as we do!
Every year, we’d add a little more difficulty to the chosen hikes, always on the lookout for new and exciting family adventures. 
My parents taught me that family hiking grows with the family -- they did the same thing with my brother and me. We started hiking when we were very small, and we continued throughout our time in their home. One of my favorite trips down memory lane involves looking through a series of family pictures we took in a common hiking spot – in the first one, my brother and I are still in elementary school. By the last one, we were both in college. This picture was taken at the beginning of that hike, when he was in his senior year and I was in college.
I feel very fortunate that our family hiking grew as I grew – and sharing those family bonding activities with my children is a great blessing!
Return from Family Hiking Grows to Family Hiking
|
