Welcome to Through their Eyes!
In the first three weeks of our relationship, we knew we wanted kids together. A year later we had one. 21 months after that, we had another. Phew!
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I was 38 when our son, Isaac, was born. Derek was 47. People thought we were crazy. We had already had lives (had already been married, even!), careers, adventures. But it really was the right choice for us. We were ready for a NEW life. We wanted to be parents. We were "old", but ready and willing for such a huge transition.
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But we didn't want to stop exploring. Rather, we wanted to see the world in a new light, to share our love of life and the outdoors with little people who (maybe) looked like us. As Brandi Carlisle sings in "The Mother"...Oh but all the wonders I have seen I will see a second time from inside of the ages through your eyes. This is what we dreamed of. A life together, with children, mostly outdoors, always exploring.
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Somehow our dream is coming true. It has come true. In their short lives - during a pandemic no less! - our kids have slept in old RVs and quaint cottages, remote cabins (one of them that dad built) and modern hotels; they've rocked steady on multi-day canoe camping trips, played in the Michoacán surf and Michigan lakes, and have been eaten alive by mosquitoes in campgrounds and public use cabins all around our beautiful Alaska. Our kids love the snow as much as the sun, they pick themselves back up when they fall, and they look forward to the next adventure as much as we do.
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We know there are parents out there who want to get away just the two of them, and maybe we'll think this way at some point? (Okay, we do think that way every once in a while, of course.) But mostly, right now, we want to see and do everything WITH our son and daughter. They're just so good at showing us about how wondrous this world is. And they're so darn funny.
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Derek and I are fortunate to have had such full lives before kids. We traveled, hiked, backpacked, loved, lost. Now both in our - ahem - middle years (? is that a thing?), I think we agree that being parents is the greatest adventure so far. Seeing the world through our children's eyes brings unexpected joy to our lives every day. And so as we dream up our next adventures, we are always planning with the kids in mind. And the dog. Did I mention we have an awesome border collie named Cody? He is part of the family, too.
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So welcome to our blog. As we explore the world around us, we'll share with you our laughter and joy, scrapes and bruises, and what we are learning about how to get out there - at our age, with kids, usually with a dog, and always with an open heart and mind.
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See you out there!
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