For Family and Friends, a Blog

I took my oldest two kids, Matthias and Alethea, camping last week. It was Matthias’ third time and Alethea’s second camping adventure here in Texas. So far, we have visited three different state parks; we’re hoping to visit a different park each camping trip. To prove my commitment, I am now the proud owner of a state park pass—hopefully this encourages a few extra outings. Camping is a special time. Somehow time seems to slow so that at eleven a.m., when we finished our first hike together, we were all convinced we had missed lunch and were approaching mid-afternoon. It is also an ideal time for reflection. Which prompted me to consider the shift from myself as a child participant camper to a parent facilitator. As the Child I grew up in a camping family. There was even a year in which my parents took me and my brothers tent camping once a month for a full year—for any southerners reading along, the significance of this is that half of Wisconsin’s year is winter (the kin