By Cheryl Bac
E-mail Cheryl Bac
About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...
(More)About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail.
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On our trip to the Midwest we had a wonderful time doing a variety of different nature-themed activities. Here are some of our favorites:
1. Sometimes the best way to learn about nature is to just experience it. As soon as we arrived at grandma and grandpa’s house, our kids went on an adventure in their backyard. That evening they dug up worms, picked flowers, searched the woodpile for pillbugs, and loved seeing lightning bugs.
2. My parents have a nice garden in their yard. My dad showed our kids where the berries were and our older daughter especially enjoyed picking berries with grandpa. Grandma even showed us how to make berry ice cream for breakfast the following morning. Yum!
3. While checking out the yard, our kids were very interested in their milkweed plant. We were lucky to see a monarch butterfly land on it and, afterwards, our kids carefully looked at the plant and found an egg on one leaf and holes from caterpillars in others.
4. Our kids made a birdhouse with grandpa in the basement. It was fun to research the different birds that live in their backyard and what size hole would be best for these birds.
5. My parents live close to one of the Great Lakes. My parents had a great time showing our kids how large a lake can be. It wad fun to play in the sand and run in the waves.
My parents love being outdoors. And it was wonderful to see them share that enthusiasm with our kids in their own backyard.
