It is an odd moment as a parent when your kid realizes that you have parts of yourself outside of what they know about you. I’ve been blogging about our adventures for the last few years, but it was just the other day that my daughter realized this part of my life. I have shared posts of blogging friends with her before, but she never knew that I too had a blog. And when she saw a post about our dog her first question was ‘Where’s my post?!?!’ (in true sibling fashion to insist on the equality and fairness of each getting what the other has). So with that in mind, this is my first guest post- told by my daughter and typed and edited by me. A little girl’s big adventures.
Hello! My name is Tessa and I have been on a lot of adventures in my life. Mama has always had what she calls a restless soul and she has never been good at just sitting around. So I’ve been going along here and there with her and that restless soul of hers has taken me all over the place in my short life.
I was only 10 days old when Mama wrapped me up and we went hiking in the mountains of Utah. I would spend a lot of time in that pack on one trail or another. Mama says that people gave her a little grief over taking a baby hiking all the time but her thought was to expose me to as much of the world as possible to build up my immune system.
Also what started right away was road trips. We would drive to nearby states to see family and friends and we got to see a lot of places along the way. Even now, my family and I go on a lot of road trips and we have seen a lot of places. At 7 years old, I have now been to 24 of the 50 states!
My first ride on an airplane came a couple months later when we flew to Denver for a few days. This would be the first of many airplane trips. I love airplanes and flight attendants love me because I’ve never been fussy or loud when I travel. This may be because I’m still small enough to sleep comfortably on a plane.
But things really opened up when I got my first passport. Mama said that everyone should have a passport and she wasted no time in getting me mine. My first international experience came when I was 9 months old. Grandma, Mama, and I went to Prince Edward Island in Canada. I have no idea who Anne of Green Gables is, but that is who we went to see.
We moved to Florida for Daddy’s job and I became a Disneyworld expert. We spent almost every weekend at Disneyworld. Minnie Mouse is still one of my favorite people. We lived on the coast and I really loved going to the beach. Mama said that she was swimming in the Caribbean when I was in her tummy which might be why I love the beach and the water so much.
Then we moved to Tennessee where we have lived for the last few years. We go hiking as much as we can again at the state parks. We have also visited a lot of national and historic places. I got really into the Junior Ranger program through the National Park Service and have a great collection of badges from all the places we’ve seen. People wonder at my parents for taking me to some of the places, but Mama still has the idea to expose me to everything to build up my understanding.
My parents got my passport renewed which meant that it was time for some more international travel. We visited France, Belgium, and Costa Rica earlier this year and next we are going to Austria and Germany to see the Christmas markets. So by the end of this year I would have been to 6 other countries. That’s almost as many countries as years old I am.
I am lucky to have seen so many places in my life and to have parents who take me with them everywhere. For such a little girl, I have had a lot of great adventures!
Tessa
Leave a Reply