#guentheradventures

Celebration!! How do you celebrate your birthday? E turns FOUR this September. His birthday is usually the same weekend as our family reunion (which is did this year) so we celebrated on the camper! Simple, but cute we hung up a Happy Birthday banner, put a tablecloth on the table, and hung up a confetti banner. We also celebrated with special cups from the dollar store - fish bowls! From a kid's point of view, a birthday is the ultimate day of excitement and anticipation. It's a day filled with magic and wonder, where they feel like the center of the universe. The excitement often starts building days or even weeks in advance, as they eagerly count down the days until their special day arrives. For E, he starts the countdown the day AFTER his birthday with a countdown. The real thrill of the day comes from the anticipation of presents. They can hardly contain their excitement as they tear open each beautifully wrapped gift, revealing the treasures inside. Whether it's a ne...

Motivating Kids to Hike (and love it!) The benefits to getting kids outside and into nature are well researched, and well documented. We know it’s good for them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Here are some ways that we have found worked well for us to keep our own children motivated on the trail. We recommend trying them all and seeing what works for you! Scavenger Hunts: Scavenger Hunts can be super simple or more complicated. If you’re on the go, make it easy. Try counting things, like how many people do you see? How many other animals? How many birds? How many fallen trees? You can do sensory searches. Find something soft. Find something rough. Find something quiet. Find something loud. Let your imagination go wild! This can be changed in 1000 different ways to keep your kids entertained.  We’ve used scavenger hunts with kids as young as 2 and with groups of teenagers as well. It’s great for kids of all ages. Actually, adults will enjoy a good scavenger hun...