The Nature Day

To me, childhood is about exploration and imagination. It's about magical worlds that exist only for you. My childhood took place almost entirely outside. We didn't have television, and so our days were filled entertaining ourselves. Growing up in Hawaii, there was no change in season to drive us indoors, and so we played year-round in nature's playground.

This is not the case for my kids. I struggle constantly with how much TV is too much, and how to motivate my kids to entertain themselves in the age of instant everything. It is also challenging to find ways to get Christian enough outside play. I can't jut send him out to play, although I look forward to the day that I can. During the summer I try to get them outside as much a I can. In the winter, especially when temperatures don't rise above freezing for months, it's nearly impossible.

So you can imagine that one of my favorite things about bringing the kids to Hawaii, is getting them outside. We played outside all day long today. We drove to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and have been hiking around in the rainforest all day. Watching my kids be entertained by the outdoors was amazing. They didn't ask to put on a movie, or play on my phone. Instead they asked the names of plants, and listened to the birds.

The pinnical of our nature day came after dinner. We all ate hurriedly, and packed back into the car, to head to the main event; watching the volcano erupt at night. It was spectacular. What was just a plume of smoke during the day, was lit up and glowing red at night. The kids were in awe, as was I. Tessie has been talking about seeing the volcano for months, and it did not disappoint. She stared and stared, and made us stay much longer than we would have otherwise. Christian pointed and shouted "lava!" as soon as he saw it, and later added "it's so pretty."

It was the ultimate entertainment that nature can provide, and I feel like the kids appreciated that. Tessie especially understood that she was witnessing something very special, something many people will never see. As soon as we drove away she asked to go back first thing in the morning. We are staying in a cabin in the park, and so it was a quick trip back. I made up Tessie's bed, and she was snoring minutes later. It was a day we will never be able to top, and a beautiful one at that.