By John Soltys, Tubbs Snowshoes Ambassador
“Grumble all you want,” I told my kids. It’s gonna be a great day.” Here’s an account from our recent family outing to Mt. Rainier, ready to go and geared up in our Tubbs Snowshoes.
5am. AINGH! AINGH! AINGH! I hate my alarm. Still, it’s much easier to get out of bed when we’re going adventuring instead of going to work.
6am. “I don’t want to go, Dad. I just want to go back to bed.”
Uh oh. It’s going to be one of those days. Sometimes it’s not easy to get the kids going. Certain kids more than others.
7am. Come on, Sweetie. It’s time to go…”I’m not going.”
7:30am. Time to get up….”Go away.”
7:45am. “I DON’T WANT TO GO!” …Too bad, you’re going.
10:00 am. 11:00 am.
Wait… You’re recording this?!? Hehehe. Sorry, sweetie. Maybe you should think about what you say when I’ve got a phone pointed at you.
11:15am. First views of the Mountain. A concealed smile.
11:30am. Break for lunch. A single snowshoe track curves across the snow-covered meadow in front of us. She takes the camera and snaps a few shots.
12:30pm. Blue skies, white snow, and big smiles.
2:30pm. What did you say, Clara? Something about making me making you come on this trip?
“Nuh uh.”
Proof that even a teenager can have a good time with her family and admit she was wrong.
“Thank you for making me come on this trip.”
Amazing! This teen admitted she was wrong and enjoyed adventuring!
Who knew we’d actually have fun?
(Well, I did. I knew we would have fun. That’s the thing. I knew it would work out because the outdoors are magic. It doesn’t even have to be somewhere as amazing as Mount Rainier, but it helps.)
Stay strong! Your kids will thank you for taking them adventuring… eventually.
See John’s complete photo gallery of his family snowshoe outing here.