Making Nature-Girls

When Jack was little, we were constantly outside.  I think the fact that he walked at 9 months and that it was much cooler weather when he was learning to walk enabled us to walk around outdoors much more.  We also had a screened porch at the house we were in.  The girls, however, learned to walk during the hottest months of summer which made it much more difficult for them to spend a large amount of time just roaming around the backyard...  Additionally, we had nice grass when Jack was younger.  Now, we've got glorified weeds and rocks.  With no shade.  It's just a pretty abysmal lot and it's not a ton of fun for kids.

So that's what I'm going to claim as my defense as to how in the world I, lover of all things outside, have managed to raise two very prissy girls who pout and whine at the mere mention of grass.  They'll do water (though, Addie much more than Jordan) and the beach, but you can forget anything else.  Last weekend we tried to go for a lengthy walk to a park, play for a bit and head back.  They wanted nothing to do with it.  This past weekend we tried a different park, and I switched my tactics a bit.  Where I had previously thought fewer clothes would be better to keep them cooler, this time I put them in (way too big) jeans and shoes to insulate their delicate skin from the offensive... air?  Grass?  Bugs?  Sun?  Whatever... I also brought towels for them to sit on and lounge in the shade of a tree.

The result?  Slightly happier twins.  Though, even still, Jordan was far more adventurous than Addie who only ventured off the towels towards the end and only then because I was holding her hand.

So I dunno... what do you think?  Can I convince them that nature really is okay?  Sigh.  I'll keep trying.