Dear Subscriber,

It is hard to believe it's already Thursday night! I hope you have had a good week so far, and are looking forward to a great Father's Day!

This last weekend, Alison and I took our 23-month-old girls, Ainsley and Sierra, on their first overnight hiking trip in the Sandia Mountains overlooking Albuquerque (skip below for links to photos of our excursion). It was a beautiful weekend except for a thunderstorm that serenaded us for a couple of hours around bedtime, and we certainly didn't mind the soothing pitter-patter of raindrops on the tent as we were drifting off to sleep. All in all, it was a wonderful little adventure out in nature, and the girls had a blast.

Alison and I are strong believers in the idea that getting children out in nature is important to their growing understanding of the world. Most of the world is, after all, "outdoors," and when you are out there you have a chance to get back to your roots a bit. Only 100 years ago, most Americans lived in the country, and if you go back 1000 years better than 90% of everyone in the world did. Modern, urban civilization has its pros and cons, but I think it is fair to say that a child who never gets the chance to experience the wilderness is lacking a key element of the human experience.

Besides, a little adventure, a breath of fresh air, a dip in a mountain stream, and snuggling close together in a tent on a cool night are often just what the doctor ordered for us all.

You might think I'm crazy... when Alison and I headed back east to hike the Appalachian Trail (which we hiked from Maine to West Virginia over an unforgettable four months in 2002), we usually got one of two responses from people. They either said "wow, I have always wanted to do that," or something along the lines of "yuck, you know there's no air conditioning out there!" If you are one of the latter group, then please feel free to skip down to the links to photos of our girls on their first camping trip... absolutely adorable. But if you, too, feel the call of the wild from time to time and are interested in taking your little ones into the great outdoors, you won't want to miss the next few paragraphs.

First, a question. Does the idea of taking twin 23-month-olds on an overnight camping trip in the mountains scare you? It scares a lot of people. Alison and I are very experienced hikers, and we were still hesitant at first, considering how hard it was just taking them to REI to buy their gear. But as with most things, a little preparation and determination went a long way. These were the keys to our success:

1) We got the right gear for the job. When you are buying equipment for a pasttime you will be enjoying for years, it doesn't pay to skimp. We bought the baby-carrier backpacks that were big enough, light enough, strong enough, and comfortable enough to meet our needs. Carrying a toddler in addition to all the normal gear you need is pretty tough, and nobody will have a good time if you kill yourself trying to do it with a sub-standard pack.

2) We got the girls accustomed to hiking with us. Over the past few months, we have been taking Ainsley and Sierra on day-hikes on the weekend, anywhere from 2 to 5 miles, nothing very long. Most of the time they sit in their backpacks (at first they got tired of it, but now they are always peaceful up there), but we also let them get out and hike beside us holding our hands from time to time, which they enjoy a great deal.

3) We got the girls accustomed to sleeping in the tent with us. 2 of the 3 weeks before our first outing, we spent Saturday night in the back yard in the tent. They had no idea what to think of it the first time, but by the second time it was already old-hat to them.

Follow those three points, keep a positive attitude, and go with the flow when necessary (it's wild out there!), and you can have a great time in the outdoors with children of almost any age. Spending time in the great outdoors is good for both body and spirit, and is one of the best bonding experiences a family can share. And nobody enjoys it more than a child.

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Photos from our Hiking Trip

1) Ainsley and Sierra have just fallen asleep in the tent.
2) Still very asleep after we slip their fleece jackets on.
3) Early next morning with our headlights on.
4) With big smiles.
5) Observing a bug on a stick next to our tent.
6) Ainsley takes a spill down the hill.
7) Then brushes the dirt off her hands.
8) Ainsley leaving the breakfast boulder.
9) Walking sticks in hand, the girls are ready to break camp.
10) Then again, Sierra would rather drive her car on daddy's back.
11) They finally get to touch the stream.
12) Sierra is all saddled up, but without a horse.
13) Ainsley has the same problem.
14) Ainsley and Daddy heading back down the mountain.

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God Bless, and have a great Father's Day weekend!

Sincerely,
Paul

Paul & Alison Martin
Noss Galen Baby LLC
www.NossGalenBaby.com

Copyright, Noss Galen Baby LLC 2005