Sign Off + *Guest Blogger* Screen Free Thoughts

Thank you so much to everyone that participated this week.  We'll be back on the blog posting May 7th with another jam-packed week!  

Watch for a guest post from Teresa of Mountain Mama: Expecting Adventure (including a giveaway of their "No Touch" kids shirt), a special Mother's Day event, and, of course, gear reviews and inspiration! *Hint, if you own a Piggyback Rider (or won one!) make sure to take pictures using it throughout Screen Free Week (we'll be doing another photo contest!)*

On a personal note, we will also be busy moving our family (and this operation ;)) to Yellowstone! (nothing like filling the schedule!) 

Until then, Happy Adventuring (and make sure to check out this cool reflection below!) 
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A dear friend of mine sent this to me, and I thought it was a perfect little snippet of some more inspiration before Screen Free Week starts.  Please feel free to add your thoughts at the end (and check out her bio too, of course!)


Screen Free.  


Almost sounds like a joke. Seriously, our culture relies upon these tools for everything. In the workplace, at school, and now screen time takes up precious time we should be spending together with our children and families. 


I am grateful to have a response that is shocked by the need for a screen free movement! Sure, we allow our kids to play on the iPad or watch a "little show" now and again. Kids need to play, and play hard! And the funny thing about turning on a show in our house is that no one ends up watching it anyway. Perhaps this quality I cherish relates to our children being young, I don't know, but I am happy that they'd rather find their thirsty giraffe some water or play with blocks than sit in front of a screen.

Most mornings when my children are up (and my oldest turned 3 two weeks ago, followed by a 21-month old and a 4 month old) they wait by the front door so we can eat breakfast on the front steps and ride scooters, bust out a little chalk art, or just wave hello to the passing children, birds, and cars as they go by. 


They love being outside. 

And our outside is not a scenic one in our Florida town home community :). 


No matter what your outside looks like, go there! It's learning at its finest! Things just happen and we talk about them. 

Take this example. Yesterday afternoon as we sat on the chalk-stained sidewalk (and blue NEVER washes away!) we observed some ants going to and fro (they must have found our morning crumbs somewhere). I noticed how the ants briefly interact before moving on and I explained to Ava, my three year old, how the ants are communicating. "They 'talk' to one another and let the other ant know where the food is and if they might encounter danger of the way." Ava was so fascinated by their "interactions" and it was a neat lesson on how working together is so important, for people and especially families, and also for things in nature like ants. This morning she ventured off to find a new line of ants were stopping to talk to one another :).

Things kids miss out on when they sit in front of a screen. 

Ann is a jump-roping-during-nap-time mother of three little ones who dearly misses the mountains of the northwest but is learning to appreciate warm winters, palm trees and pools!