All my dreams

When I envisioned having kids, I of course wanted them to have childhood similar to mine. Our children were not going to have these same memories if we continued living in Chicago. Yes, they probably would still have great memories, but not the same.

We have not regretted moving here to Idaho. As you know,

we celebrated our 1^st year and are continuing to discover new things. Spring will always continue to amaze us with everything coming to life and the wonderful blooms on the trees.

I remember being 5 living in Worth, Il playing in my back yard where my grandmother planted lilacs. The smells were amazing and the garden was of those English ones you read or seen in movies. I loved playing outdoors, picking flowers, and finding great hiding spots. When we lived in Frankfort, IL, I loved playing in the grass, finding interesting insects, finding toads, and playing with caterpillars. I remember sitting in the grass, soaking up the sun, and looking at the clouds.

My love of nature is finally rubbing off on my children! I keep taking them outside, pointing out flowers, trees, bugs, insects, butterflies, snakes, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, tons of birds, bears, moose, deer, and much more. They are so lucky to be experiencing this incredible atmosphere. And there is so much more that we have not even uncovered.

S continues to discover many things and is always running inside to ask me to check out something he has found. He found a caterpillar the other day and shared it with Jillian. They spent about an hour playing with it. J is having fun discovering the wonderful scents of the blooming flowers.

As she is turning 6, she is becoming more like me each day. She is always so excited to be a part of whatever it is that I am doing. She is taking on the role of weeding the garden on her own. Planting seeds and watering them has also been an amazing task. Recently, she picked various flowers and put them in a glass of water for me.

The addition of the tree swing has also encouraged them to be outdoors more on their own. They will go out and swing each other. Of course it is just as it was when we were little, twirling each other around so fast to see if they barf. The best part is to hear them come up with their plans and squeal with delight with their rewards.

One day, they will walk out of the house and say see ya later mom. They’ll be gone for hours exploring all our mountainous neighborhood has to offer. They will probably come home with a rabbit just as I did or a frog. I can’t wait to hear them ask if they can keep it. S knows if he catches a snake it can be his pet (optimal word…IF).

My vision is finally coming true when we decided to move here. We are enjoying the great outdoors, learning about life, and living it.