My daughter will be 4 in two weeks. We're going to spend the weekend with my wife's parents at their cabin up in the Sierra foothills, and have a party for her then.
My son is 12, and he's not been bitten by the outdoors bug nearly so much as my wife and I have... we've both been into outdoors activities for many years, and while he does like camping, he's just as happy at home as he is on a camping trip. But, I have been teaching him the value of being prepared, and to work with his hands.
He's got a Vic Recruit that I got for him when he earned his whittling chip in Cub Scouts, and a thinner 111 mm Vic I gave him a few weeks ago. I also gave him an orange Delica for his birthday this year which he really likes and I've been teaching him proper handling and safety with it. He's actually starting to bring it along with him for things like bike rides and hikes now. Oh, and I gave him a Style PS too, so he could have something that was okay to take to school.
My daughter, on the other hand, can't seem to get enough of being outside. I was exactly the same as a kid... my parents divorced when I was 2, and my mother raised me as a single mom. I spent several summers on my grandfather's apple farm where most days I'd not set foot indoors as long as there was light in the sky (except maybe to go in and eat when my grandmother would fix lunch). She definitely has the heart of an explorer... I'm really looking forward to taking her hiking when we're up in the hills for her birthday trip.
