My family enjoys doing things together. Well actually my 15 year old daughter tends to whine when we do physical activities together, but she does participate and enjoy it. She just feels obligated to point out that few of her friends are forced to go on hikes or bike rides. We just tell her it is too bad that her friends aren’t as lucky as her, and bring her along anyway.
Hiking is something we do often when the weather is nice. Last year we hiked up a waterfall in a local park. We generally stick to easy and flat trails, since it is not necessary to climb mountains to have fun and get exercise.
Biking is another thing we enjoy frequently. We live near the old Erie Canal, and will load our bikes up and head for the Canal Bike path for a nice ride. We have found that a 10-12 mile ride is about what the kids can do before they hit the wall and start whining. Sometimes we pre-position a car at one end of the ride, so we can make it a one way trip.
But it isn’t necessary to make a huge outing out of being active together. We also enjoy just shooting baskets in the driveway, or taking a walk in the neighborhood. Swimming is always a great choice in the summer too, and the kids never whine about swimming! And if the weather if bad you can still be active inside. We enjoy video games like Dance Dance Revolution, and Nerf gun battles are always provide lots of family fun.
