Childhood experiences

There are times in a persons life when they realize that they will not be able to duplicate their own childhood for their children and maybe that's a good thing....but, there are still some things I want my children to feel and see. I want my kids to sweat and hike for, what seems like hours, and then stand in utter amazement at the top of a mountain and feel this overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Then walk down the mountain and squeeze through wet caves and feel as though they are the national geographic discovering something amazing. I want them to walk into a pristine redwood forest and stare up into the enormous trees and wonder at God's creations. To smell, see and experience the redwood forest. Its incredible! I want them to see 100,000 monarch butterflies gathering before they migrate to Mexico and be astonished and the sheer numbers and the intricacies of nature. I want them to play in tide pools and love the ocean. To smell the salt in the air, to know the difference between a sea otter and a sea lion. To travel together and play together, to slide down the beautiful natural water slide of Slide Rock, and then stare in amazement into the vast Grand Canyon. Although maybe seeing it from the bottom would be better, I can feel my stomach turning even now as I think of the possibility of one of them slipping over the edge. (I guess I have a major problem with heights!) Anyway there are so many amazing things in the world to see and do...I know that I will not be able to give them all that is available. But, can't they at least have what I had? It really doesn't seem like too much to ask, but, we live in a whole new place and they are growing up in a different world than we did. Although I am determined that they see all these places I know they will experience things in their own way...So, maybe my job is to help them appreciate what they do have in their lives. The joy of running through a field at dusk to catch a jar full of fireflies, having their cousins double as best friends, being loved and invited by their grandparents to have sleepovers, camp outs, and vacations together. They get to have weather...to smell the air when a huge thunderstorm is coming, to see the massive dark clouds quickly approaching from the distance, to watch lightening shows that are incredible and beautiful. The air after a storm smells even better! They get to rush out and pick up chunks of ice after a hailstorm! Winter is amazing too...they get to see the unbelievable and devastating beauty of an ice storm, they get to build snowmen, snow angels, snow forts and have snowball fights. They get to smell the grass after the hay has been cut, and see deer, turkey, raccoons and possums almost every time we drive somewhere! This really is an amazing place to live. They are young and there is plenty of time for their own experiences and how will I know what makes a lasting impression? We have taken them to caves and zoos, they have hiked up a canyon, with their grandma leading the way! They go camping and fishing and I know there is lots more to come. Okay so I'll admit I completely over think things, and I am a little overwhelmed now, but, at least its out of my head! Isn't parenting great!!! Oh, by the way, I love you mom and dad...I think my childhood was fantastic!