New outdoor adventures day!

We got outside today and checked out some new spots. We were able to hike on some cliffs along the water in Beloit. Big Hill park is now on our permanent rotation for outdoor fun! It was so reminiscent of some hikes we loved in Tennessee and we were 2 towns over. 

Did you know that there's a nature area in South Beloit? It's a nice little walk with a stream educational signs and play areas. An Eagle Scout created a nature area with sticks, bark, benches and more so little kids can build and create with nature. It's only a bike ride away for us, so I see a lot of this area in our future. We stopped by here on the way home from Beloit to check it out. 

Between Rock Cut State park and all the hiking places in between, this summer is going to be great. I don't care about face masks, social distancing, e-learning, or anything else. We can have meaningful outdoor experiences. We can bike, hike, fish, camp, sleep in hammocks, enjoy. 

Retraining my brain to enjoy quiet time, nature, crafting, and relaxing is the plan. I don't mind as long as the days are long and the weather is pleasant. We have 2 hammocks hanging in the yard and a variety of beverages available:)

This is how we do... gifts

You know how you spend a TON of money on that one gift that just turns out to be a novelty item your kids discard shortly after? I felt the same way when we bought our Xbox Kinect. It was great at first. My stepson loved the graphics and all the cool features. Then the weather got warm and it became a glorified DVD player.

Now that my smallest is bigger, she LOVES this thing! Not only do I work out from home a lot (Biggest Loser, Zumba, and Dance Central are my favorites), we can use it for so much more. On snow days when we can't really go anywhere we have bowling marathons. We dance when we are bored. We play Twister the really cool, really fun way if friends come over.

Depending on your kids, you can get lots of different games. The ninja game was NOT a big hit, but Disney is. My daughter can walk around Disney, get autographs, play games with individual characters and so much more. Since she is like me and definitely likes to move, we use the Kinect a LOT when it is too hot, too cold, too rainy.

I doubt that we will invest in many more games now that my stepson has gone off to college. My daughter seems pleased with the games that we actually have. I am sure some day, they will come up with something new to draw her attention in. For now, we really like to do Xbox adventures. Our favorite feature is the snapshots of you in live action. You can save them to your account to laugh at yourselves in all that free time that's lying around...

Featured here is my daughter attempting to smack my bottom during an intense game of Xbox adventures. We were trying to plug the holes in a ship and I am pretty sure we laughed more than played, but for 20 minutes, we were together. Laughing. Creating memories. Having a grand ol' time.