5 Activities Your Children Will Remember Forever

05/04/2015

Written by: @GabDiesendorf

The first thing I have to do is to be honest with you, so I’ll admit that for a while I didn’t spend too much quality time with my kids. When the first one was born, I was so worried what kind of a parent will I be and I read all types of books about proper raising, healthy diets, medical prevention and I simply overdid it. Literally the young one was bored with me and couldn’t wait for an older brother or sister. I got more relaxed after the second one arrived, but still worried a lot and felt really bad every time I would notice all those happy couples at the park and on the street, playing with their kids like they don’t have a care in the world. Time passed, and life happened, and last year I had one of those days when I simply turned around and realized that my kids are going to remember me as an anxious and insecure parent that always smothered them. So I decided to use my organizing skills for good, and organize some fun that we could all enjoy!

I didn’t want to buy their attention and take them to  some fancy theme park because we can always do that, in fact, I wanted to find an activity that could bring us more together, something that would be fitting for my youngest and oldest one as well. Also, I’ve been out of shape for some time at that point and realized that I could’ve used some exercise. So I told them to get ready, told them I was taking them for a ride and promised them a surprise, and my youngest one actually thought that we are going to the doctor so this trip was really overdue!

We’ve visited the Funslides Park! For those who don’t know, it’s a relatively new thing and it is as simple as it sounds, there is a lot of sliding involved! My friend recommended it to me, and although the kids had a lot of fun, I had some troubles with relaxing, all those years of tension truly caught up with me.

For the other trip they were already prepared. The element of surprise was ruined this time, so I went for the safe bet and took them to trampolines. Of course, they loved it, my daughter wants to have her next birthday there, but I loved it too which was a real surprise for me! We played trampoline basketball, I finally managed to let myself go, and for the first time after a really long period I felt truly relaxed. Exhausted, but happy. On our ride home, kids just wouldn’t stop talking about how much fun they had, so I decided there and then to make a little tradition.

In the winter we went to Winter Fun Park, and I’ve learned how to ice skate! I wasn’t that bad at all, and that was my first time even trying it. Kids had fun with horses and trail rides, and of course sledge slides. They were so into it that we stayed past closing time.

The children actually chose the Western theme park themselves; guess there is something about horses that brings out the thrill in them. There was an Indian music and dance, so we’ve learned how to boogie like Native Americans, and overall it was truly amusing.

Our last expedition took us to Animal Park. We had to establish an order of choosing what are we going to do from month to month, and I found myself in a situation where I’m actually arguing with my kids where should we go. I really felt like I’m out with my friends, feeding the ducks and making fun of each other.

There are a lot of fun times yet to come, my children love me like they’ve never loved me before, or I’m just imagining things because I feel a lot better about myself as well. One thing is sure, they remember every trip we had and they cherish the memories. Guess we have a lot more trips waiting for us.