the outdoors

It pains me to admit that, over the past year, we found it harder to get outside than ever since we've been a family of four. When the kids were young, the difficulty of getting outside consisted mainly in coordinating naps, meals, and moods. These days, the difficulty lies exclusively in having divergent schedules that make it close to impossible for the four of us to be in the same place at the same time on a weekend.
We are working to change that for next year.
Whenever I feel myself swallowed by doubt over whether we are doing too much or not enough to "enrich" our kids' lives, I have to pause and remind myself that there is no benchmark to reach other than the one set by ourselves. Even so, it is hard (as in: "first-world hard") to hear about another child spending his summer playing tennis every single day and not to wonder whether we should be doing the same even though our own child has no inclination to do that and, what's more, has all sorts of other plans. Trusting our gut intuition as parents is becoming harder to do with time, not easier, possibly because the stakes feel higher. Yet . . .
When I look at the photos below, I am reminded why time spent as a family--and especially time spent outdoors--is more valuable than any enrichment purchased by money. Without more ado,
Point Reyes in February (our second stay at the hostel in four months):

hiking is always so much better with friends

cute goofball

the winter of record rains was already evident in the blinding greenery

can you spot the deer in the marsh?

giant dunes!

big California sky

Close to home: the abundant and beautiful preserved lands between us and the ocean, off Skyline Boulevard; Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve:

Monte Bello Open Space Preserve:

The ocean: 

And a visit to an old, beloved playground in Mountain View: 

The outdoors is good for us.