Picnics

I am not one of those moms who carries around a bag full of stuff for my kids when we go out. I believe that travelling light is a good lesson to teach kids. It's fun to see how whatever surroundings you are in can provide you with the things you need, and I also like having a built in end time, for example, when hunger strikes and we have to go home.

However, I am a huge fan of the picnic lunch (or the picnic dinner for that matter). Having a picnic can make the ordinary act of eating a little special for the kids, and it gives me greater flexibility in the times available for our adventures.

Yesterday, I spent the morning making pickles (Pickles!), and by the time I finished, it was already 11:30. We've been having a great stretch of weather up here and I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time outdoors, too, so I packed a simple picnic lunch and we headed to Dodge Nature Center. In fact, the added enticement of the picnic made Charlie more enthusiastic about taking a nature walk, which was not the adventure he wanted to take. If it were up to Charlie, all our adventures would be focused on procuring gumballs.