Each week our Instagram blogger, Beau Jackson takes his 3-year-old son Archie on adventures. Ranging from creative pursuits like art journaling to outings to the airport, Archie and Beau always have a great time and give parents across the Monterey Bay ideas for their own outings.

Here are three of our favorite adventures from the past two months.

NATURE JOURNALING

Nature journaling is an excellent activity to develop observation, curiosity, memory, and the skills of a naturalist. It’s a fun way to learn about the world around us.

The day after Danielle (Archie’s mom) told me she was pregnant, I went out and bought a new Moleskine journal and began writing letters to Archie as a way to bond with him while he was still in the womb. Now we create journal pages together as a way to connect. It will be fun to see the way our pages change throughout the years as Archie builds his drawing skills and he learns to write.

WELCOMING THE MONARCHS

As the monarchs have arrived in Pacific Grove, Archie has enjoyed visiting the Monarch Grove Sanctuary to count the butterflies.

We were sitting on a bench munching on a snack while gazing up at the fluttering butterflies when Archie asked me, “Do butterflies have a song?” We were reading a book about whales recently and it talked about whale song. I showed him a video with whales singing so he could hear what it sounded like. While observing the butterflies in the sanctuary, he wondered if they also sang or made noise. While I explained that they didn’t, I marveled at how sweet and beautiful that question was. I love this age and seeing his curiosity ignite.

MEET THE TOD POD

These four besties adventure together every Tuesday. They were all born within three months of each other, and our families met at Parent’s Place in an age-related class when this crew was just a few months old.

The Tod Pod was formed last fall after the CDC said it was safe to create a “pandemic pod”. We’ve been meeting outdoors at a different beach or park almost every Tuesday for over a year now. These regular play dates have been one of the highlights of our week, a consistent social outing for our toddlers, and much-needed socialization for us parents as well.

A support system is so important when you have young children and this one has been especially valuable for us during the isolating and unpredictable pandemic we’ve all been weathering. We’ve recounted sleepless nights, exchanged understanding glances during toddler tantrums, experienced milestones, shared birthday parties, pregnancy announcements, births, and holidays together. Several of us in this group don’t have family in the area, so having this support system of like-minded parents going through the same phases of parenthood together has been a lifeboat.

To follow Adventures with Archie, click here.