Outdoorsman

Hurray for the great outdoors!


A chip off the ol' block (clearly his dad's block), Riley loves everything about the outdoors. Hiking, fishing, finding creatures in a tide pool, you name it.





























Naturally, he was delighted during our late April heat wave when he got to camp out in the backyard. First, he and his buddy Nate practiced the important camping ritual of grilling crescent rolls.














Next Riley set up his tent. Fun to play with, even more fun to sleep in. Except this mama bear may have disturbed his sleep just a tad. Late that night when I heard Andy reading him an innocent bedtime ghost story, I thought he'd like it if I snuck up to the tent and pretended to be the ghost in the story. Bad move! Poor kiddo shot up in the tent, terrified, lower jaw jutted out an inch with anxiety and nearly abandoned his campsite. Bad mommy! But, alas, he overcame his fear and eventually settled back down under the stars.

The next evening, we returned to the tent, and Riley experimented with my camera. Not exactly a camping tradition, but fun none-the-less to see the world from his eyes. Here's Riley's take on the sister he adores and the mommy who makes him laugh.

At dusk a few days later, we spent time at an awesome new SF playground. Riley loves it because of its kid-sized forest, hidden trails and natural gems like this clubhouse kids can climb.

Of course, one of his favorite things to do in nature is fish, which he got to do once again with Grandpa Tractor. During our May trip to Connecticut, Riley caught his second fish!

Afterwards it was time to celebrate with adventures with a romp through the pond. Boy, was he stinky when he got home!