A couple of centuries before our time, Charlotte Mason adamantly encouraged parents to have their children spend several hours out-of-doors. We’ve tried to do that in our homeschool and family, even with the challenge of the scorching sun here in the Philippines: we might put in some outdoor play time in the early morning and late afternoon, or spend a morning walking by a river or playing on a park playground. Once in awhile, we would spend a day out on the beach, too.

And then COVID happened.

For the first months of the lockdown, we missed our normal outdoor haunts. Thankfully we live in a subdivision where we could still go outdoors! In fact, I believe that the treehouse my hubby built with my sons and the vegetable gardening we all did in a friend’s vacant lot nearby helped our mental health tremendously!

And now, one year after the lockdown, we’ve continued to scout outdoor spaces where we can breathe, and the kids can just run and romp, and we can just enjoy God’s creation.

Here is one of our latest finds:

Don’t you just love all that empty space?

The toddler also had the first experience of touching a calf and then being chased by the mommy cow!