There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather….

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”

That’s my new motto.  The quote above has inspired me to stop making excuses and just get outside with The Littlest Apple, no matter what the weather!  The Littlest Apple LOVES being outdoors and I’ve come to realize that daily outdoor time is CRUCIAL for him.  And even though I am allergic to the great outdoors (most of it anyway) and perfectly content to putter around the house all day, I’m trying to foster The Littlest Apple’s love for nature.

If there was a Nature Based Preschool in our area, I would enroll The Littlest Apple in a heartbeat.  Since there isn’t, The Littlest Apple is enrolled in a Gardening elective at his preschool (which I love!) once a week.  On our days together when The Littlest Apple is not in school, we are going to start exploring nature in our area in new ways!  No, we don’t live near the mountains, and Houston isn’t exactly known as a hotspot for nature lovers and outdoorsy activities, like say, Colorado is.  But there are some great parks in our area that I’ve never even visited.

This week we went to the Houston Arboretum for the first time.  I’ve been wanting to check it out, and even though it was 36 degrees outside, we did it!  Remember, there’s no such thing as bad weather!  We were dressed for the cold, and had a lovely trek through the woods in the middle of the city.

The Arboretum really gives you the feeling that you are deep in the woods, even though it is in the middle of Houston.  The Arboretum is a 155 acre nature sanctuary with over 5 miles of nature trails.  There is also a hands on Discovery Room just for kids.  (I do find it ironic that even though we live in the suburbs, not far from the “country”, we have to drive IN to the city to find anything like this!)

Because we were the only crazies exploring in the 36 degree weather, we had the trail entirely to ourselves.

It was peaceful and invigorating all at the same time.  I’m already looking forward to going back next week!

And here’s The Littlest Apple pouting for the camera (all photos taken with my new-to-me iPhone).  All of a sudden he does NOT like to pose for pictures, so that’s why most of the shots are of his back!

How do YOU foster a love of nature in your kids?  Do you have any cool trails or parks near you?  Do any of you Houston-area locals know of any other places we should check out?