3RM Ep. 21 - Olivia Marrese: How to Include Family in Outdoor Adventures

Join in this week where Anthony introduces his wife Oliva to the show! together they walk through their tips and tricks on how to get children on the water, and in the outdoors! 


Kids Lifejacket: https://mustangsurvival.com/collections/kids-pfds/products/child-lil-legends-foam-vest-mv3556

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Hi, you're listening to the Three Rivers Marine Podcast, a show that brings anglers and mariners down-to-earth advice that helps on and off the water. I'm Anthony Morisi, a fishing rep born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. I'm sitting down with the biggest names in fishing and boating to make your next adventure easier, safer, and more exciting. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Three Rivers Marine Podcast. Uh today I am super excited that I get to have my beautiful wife here as the guest today. Thanks for coming.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yeah. You know, we've been kind of she's been very involved with the podcast since, you know, before we even launched, with setting everything up and making sure we kind of have a niche and some of the writing was good and you know, everything like that. So she's been very involved in every episode trying to figure out who we want to bring on as a guest. And you know, this week I was kind of just like, hey, let's have you as a guest, you know, and we can um talk about all sorts of stuff. You know, we've she's been a part of everything that you know I've done professionally, so we can really riff on a lot of different things. But um, I think the bulk of today is what we want to talk about is um sharing our experiences, some advice and things like that for getting your kids and your family involved in the outdoors, and you know, particularly through kind of a marine or fishing lens. You know, we do a lot of that in our house. So, you know, and that's a lot of our friends and stuff, they comment a lot like, hey, you know, it seems really intimidating to take your 18 month out on the boat all day. How do you do that? You know, so I usually just run the gear and Olivia takes care of the rest. So uh, you know, we're gonna talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

All right, where do you want to start?

SPEAKER_00 2:03

I mean, I think number one thing is if you decide you want to get outdoors with kids and in whatever outdoor capacity, the first is that decision that you want to do that and it's important to you. And just knowing that there's never gonna be a time that feels easy. Like there's certainly pros and cons to every age and stage. Um, but there's no such thing as, oh, we'll just wait till they're older and then it'll be easier.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Yeah, I mean, we had we had Gio in the boat like the day after he was big enough. Yeah, I made him wait for his life jacket.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

The the life jacket, the smallest it came was 12 pounds for a Coast Guard certified one. And Anthony was weighing him about every other day as we got close to 12 pounds for that first and the very first time we took him out on the boat.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yeah, it was terrible weather.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Terrible weather. Terrible terrible.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

It was like March and it was blowing and it hailed and it rained, and he slept and had a blast.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

He slept, slept almost the entire time. So it's just a sighting that that's important to you. You're gonna make it happen, and there's really an ever time it's it's gonna magically feel easy. So you just have to commit to it and make it work for whatever stage you and your kids are in.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Yeah, and uh, you know, I I've I think I've mentioned it before about, you know, I I grew up and, you know, I'm you're like fourth generation Washington, but I'm you know, I was the first one in my family that was born here. And so I remember learning how to fish, learning how to ski, going backpacking the first time, you know, some of that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

And which was with my family for the backpacking. That's a whole other story. That's a whole other story.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Um But we wanted to try and, you know, it was important to me to have Gio not actually remember when he started doing stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

I don't remember starting doing things. There's photos of me backpacking when I'm eight months old, nine months old. Like I have I just it's just what we did the entire time.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

So yeah, I, you know, when did you start fishing? Well, I don't know. We just always did, you know, like that. That type of thing was important to us. So we, you know, made an effort ever since he was born to make sure that we were out skiing or hiking or fishing or on the boat or whatever the case may be. And, you know, it does get easier. Now he's I think so. Yeah. Now he kind of has his little program he likes on the boat, you know, helps me drive, falls asleep.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

But I also think so he's almost two and a half now. And if we hadn't been doing this for two and a half years already, it would still feel really intimidating at this age. I don't think this is an age people are like, you know, what's a good activity for a two and a half year old? An entire boat day. But because we've already been doing this for two and a half years, it does actually feel easier now than it did at the start.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Well, and he knows what to expect too. I mean, setting expectations even for your kids when they don't have a lot of reasoning skills, it's still they get conditioned to what they like, you know. And for him, you know, we hit the dock, life jacket goes on.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

He knows. He knows he's ready.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

You know, he's ready for it.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Uh we've actually had some really colossal tantrums when he puts his life jacket on before we get in the car because he knows we're going out, and then we have to take it off him to put it in the car seat, and that is not a good time.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Yeah, life over. Um yeah, life jacket, life jacket going in either the boat or the car or something, and he's he's ready. He's locked in. He's always ready for a boat ride. Um so what are what are some of the other things, you know, like you have a checklist for GEO before we get ready to go in the water?

SPEAKER_00 5:38

I mean, it always starts the day before or a couple days before, knowing that you have the right gear. I mean, at a minimum, if we focus this on the boats, you need a good life jacket for the age that they are, something US Coast Guard certified, um, infant one, if they're still in that infant phase. I will say now that we're in the more child type life jackets, it's really nice that it's not so bulky and they can walk around more. But of course, when they're in infant stage, you have to be in that kind of life jacket. Um, making sure that they have good rain gear or sun gear if it's a sunshirt, if it's a rain suit setup, whatever they need to be in. We are huge fans of the Tufco rain suit, that it's just an all-in-one piece. Um, that makes it way simpler. Just keep them all covered up. Good little pair of extra tough boots.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

I think they make those down to a size five.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

That's the smallest.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

I think that's the smallest.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Which is about when they would start walking anyway. Yeah. Um, so day before, week before, however long you need to make sure you have the gear that you're going to need. The evening before, pre-prep your snacks, pre-prep your diaper bag, plan what lunches are going to be for yourself, also, making sure that you have snacks, you have the beverages, there's a whole plan, as much is packed as possible. Um, doing all that work the night before so you're not doing it in a frantic rush the morning of is so much easier. Even if you're tired the night before, it's super worth it. Um, I think especially real young kids, kind of knowing the schedule. Like you know, your kids if they do really well in the morning and then they get tired in the afternoon, or maybe you want to know, you know, you know you want to go out after the afternoon nap. Um, for the boat specifically, when he was still on multiple naps a day, he napped really well on the boat. Waves would just speed him right down. So we would plan boat time for during nap time. So when he was on two, three naps a day and we knew nap was from 10 to 11, we'd make sure we could be kind of rolling by that 10 o'clock time. He'd go down for a nap for an hour. You still have to hold him the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

But a little bit of a swell and an hour-long boat ride. And this is the best naps he ever had, probably.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

But you can also plan it that if your kid will sleep in the car. I know not all do. We could usually get one car nap. If you're going somewhere further away, plan the car nap time for the drive, and then you get there. So doing that kind of pre-planning of the schedule and making sure that the whole household unit is on the same page with the schedule is really helpful. And pack so many more snacks than you think you need. There's no upper limit to the number of snacks for kids or adults.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Then also make sure that you're, you know, you're you're planning your day around basically nap schedule.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

So make sure that, you know, you check your tides and stuff like that, because we've also ran into the disaster of okay, well, here's this timing. This works for us. Okay, sounds good. You get to the dock and it's minus two or whatever, and it's like, well, we can't get the boat in or can't get the boat out. And then that's not a lot of fun. We've been there and done that uh and got through it. So make sure that you check your tides. Either have the boat in the water ready to go, and a plan so that you can have two cars or whatever, so that way you can be like, okay, well, when we get back, I can't get the boat out for another hour or two or whatever. So we'll just you go home, I'll pull the boat and I'll be home later. Um that's a key piece of advice. And then also, you know, if you do bring your kids fishing and stuff like that, which you absolutely should, uh again, you're planning around nap schedule and stuff like that. So you're you're gonna end up fishing bad tides or the wrong time of day, or you know, you only got to fish for 45 minutes or whatever the case may be. It's more important to make it really fun and be whatever length they can handle rather than try and push it so that way you can be successful because you're gonna be successful if they have fun. Yeah, I don't think he really cares if well, he actually does care, but uh he's kind of a he's kind of a goofball. So, like, you know, I would say in general, plan on your kid not really caring if you catch fish or whatever, be out there while it's fun. You know, we really like Shoshal Bay as a base point because then we have um that little Coney Island spot right at the boat launch, and you can go get an ice cream or coffees or whatever you need. Um and that's a really successful place for us to start.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

I think also too exposing them to the gear ahead of time.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

True.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Or like if your boat's at your house, like you can spend time on the boat in front of the house, in the driveway, like getting them comfortable and familiar, showing them what's appropriate to do and not appropriate to do.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Things like Yeah, and then when they throw things off of the boat, you can just go get it.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Yeah, and it's not lost forever. And you explain that that's not okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

We've lost a lot of downright clips. See you later. It's like, buddy, we're uh those are like 20 bucks a piece, man.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

But also exposure so that like it's not the first time he's ever seen a hook, and he actually knows not to touch them. And yeah, he's pretty good about it.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Or I mean now he's good enough, even at two and a half, where he can just go get them for you.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

I mean, we need to be realistic on those kind of expectations, but it does really help. I do this with skiing too. I did this, this was his first ski season at two years old, and I started with exposing him to the gear like September before the ski season started, and put the skis out, and he practiced putting on the boots, and he already had it all down, how to put the gear on before we had our very first ski day. So it wasn't like this brand new endeavor as soon as we got to the hill. So the more you can give them their little fishing pole that they can play with in the yard, expose them to the different kinds of equipment, stuff that they're allowed to touch, stuff that they're not allowed to touch. And also don't be shy about things that they're not allowed to play with. Like we don't have to make it this big scary thing because that tends to just make them more interested in it, but just being clear and firm on what's okay for them to have and what's not okay, and then giving them the things that are okay for them to have. Like his little should have the cleaning brush.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Oh, he loves his cleaning brush. Yeah, or you know, and and Gio's favorite thing is a atomic plug. Just he's obsessed with them. So I have a couple in the boat that don't have hooks on them, and you know, that's his. He gets to be in charge of his plugs and he's got his job and he's ready.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

And kids like having a purpose and and having a role and having a job to do. Like it's it would not be any fun. And think about this: if you go out on a friend's boat or something, like it'd be really weird if they're like, no, you just sit there and stay quiet and silent and don't do anything. That would not feel fun. You wouldn't feel included. Um, so giving them something that they can be included with in an age-appropriate manner, I think goes a really long way.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Giving them their own little scrub brush, like Olivia had mentioned. At least that worked really well for us. He's got his two little Lipman green brushes. If he's getting bored, Geo, go clean the boat.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

And he does that when we're out. Like we do it, you know, we come back home.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

He'll go and he'll go start scrubbing away on something. And, you know, you give him the hose and then you like wah, you know, and spray it for him, okay, and scrub, scrub, scrub.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

I keep him occupied, you know, while we're out of the boat. I'm usually the one who is manning the child and keeping an arm on him at all times. It's gonna be a really long time before I stop doing that. But I do give him a little task to do and say, okay, like someone's gotta clean this while Dada's doing X, Y, or Z. And he takes a little scrub brush and he scrubs away at the deck.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Yeah, or have him count the crabs. Open it up. Two, two, two, two.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

I mean, he doesn't count higher than two currently. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:39

But, you know, he thinks it's very important. Count how many crabs there are and loves it.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

So, yes, giving them a task and a job to do so they feel included, I think is really helpful.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Um let's talk about some more, like, you know, you said Coast Guard approved life jacket, but like we'll link everything too in the description of stuff that we're using. But you know, be a little bit more detailed on why you chose some of the stuff that you did.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

I mean, Coast Guard, I just trust them. There's a million and one life jackets out there, and obviously water safety is super important.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

We have a Mustang survival.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yes, that's my favorite one for this little kid stage because it's super low profile and it's really easy for them to walk in it, and it gives you a really nice little holster.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

Yeah, it's got like a nice mesh so it's comfortable on the back, but it'll still keep them flipped, you know, up on their back and head out of the water and stuff if they do go in.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

And that is they're not cheap, but that's not something to skimp on. And especially if they're comfortable in their life jacket, they're not gonna fight you to put it on, too, and just making that a normal thing that we do. Um, other things to have gear-wise. Little babies, like under a year, you should always dress them in one more layer than you are wearing. Um, they're not as good at temperature regulating as adults. So if you're wearing, you know, your long johns and your outer layer, same thing for the baby, like a onesie, uh, their first layer sweater, and then like their down zip-up suit or their raincoat or whatever it is, their hats, their socks, always extra socks. I don't know where they all go. Um, toddlers, they tend to generate you know a little bit more heat running around. I usually dress them in about the same number of layers that we are in anyway. Um, but definitely.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

And Gio's also he's active. He's active and he doesn't really mind being cold, just kind of like me. So you'd rather be a little chilly than too hot. But that's just, you know, you'll know your kid.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Yeah, keeping good layers. Um, we have uh L-labine makes good base layers for kids. We do that for boat, for skiing, for other just like winter outdoor activities, a zip up puppy if they're still in that stage. Um I mentioned the full rain suit, zip up situations, good boots, good wool socks for the boots too, to keep that warm. If someone ever finds gloves that a toddler will keep on, let me know because that one I am as of yet unsuccessful with.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Yeah, he does not like it.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

No, I mean you don't either. So uh and then a good hat and sunglasses. Uh the sunglasses, especially. I think when they see you wearing the sunglasses.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

Yeah, they'll be more interested. Um let's do some like trip itineraries from stuff that we've been really successful with.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

For just the boat or other me neither.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

You know, like for you know, I think one of our most successful saltwater adventures is um actually winter winter crabbing. You know, the you can have crab pots in all the time. So usually, you know, I will have pots that are set a day before.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

That's huge. That's part of that pre-prep the day before, having someone set the pots so that you don't have to go out and then wait hours and hours.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Mm-hmm. And so that way you get kind of that like instant reward, you know. And um, so I think that was, you know, that's a really successful one for us. Is typically the tides are kind of middle of the day too, so you don't have an issue either, you know, putting the boat in or taking it out. Um crab pots are out there, they like the whole kind of process of driving the boat, scooping the pot, running it through the block, the brrrrrrr, you know, they like the machines, and so they get to see you know the crab pot coming up and uh it's you know kind of what's in there. Uh pulling it in, and then you know, obviously like Gio loves crabs or his favorite, but you know, you catch some starfish or whatever comes up, you know, kelp or anything that are in there, and um you get to go through and have this kind of good experience of you know, and then okay, hey, we're gonna do the bait, and then we're gonna put the pot back in. And it's sort of even if you don't catch a bunch of crab, it was still this really cool, like a lot of activity. Activity. The pot comes out of the water, goes back in the water, it does this, it does that, and then you know, uh some of the very, very nicest days you get on the water are December, you know, where it's just flat, calm, nice sunny day. You know, our boat has a cabin and stuff, so it's not cold. Um but winter crab is a really successful one. So yeah. Shul shul, you know, you can go right right out and drop your pots, you know.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

There's a bathroom, that's always key.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

Bathroom is pretty key.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Especially once you reach the potty training stage with all this, is admittedly a little bit harder than the diaper stage where you can just put a fresh diaper on them, get them geared up, and then you're good to go for a few hours. Right.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

So I think that one for saltwater was a really successful trip for us. Um freshwater, we do quite a bit on Lake Washington. And again, you know, like um we live close to that um Newport boat launch. So we use that as a as a base. You could use Coulomb, uh, Mercer Island.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

I mean, Coulon's great because there's also there's snacks, there's some food that you can grab.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Yeah, and when we use that Newport one, we'll usually say, okay, hey, are we going south or we're going north? But we usually don't just like float around and do stuff. We'll usually go and either get off at Coulomb or go to like Carolon Point, get off at Carolon Point, um, go have lunch, go walk around, split up the time a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Usually go to South Lake Union from there then, because watching the planes land.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Yeah, he really likes watching watching the airplanes. So, you know, the the freshwater is definitely more approachable um than some of the saltwater stuff. And then some of the summertime saltwater things that are good are, you know, again, if you go and just do a little cruise through Elliott Bay or go hang out on Al Kai, something like that. Um the oh actually we had a really successful one. Um remember with uh David and Jameson from Duckworth.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Which oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

Yeah, so that was a good that was a really good one. So we we were in David's boat and um met at Shilschull, hopped in his boat, we took his boat down and we actually just parked, um, got like, you know, I don't know what they charged us, it's not very much, but we we docked the boat at Bell Harbor and went up and did Pike Place and had lunch on the water and stuff like that, cruised around, came back, cruised out of Elliott Bay, went back to Shilschul, and that was a really successful like summertime one.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

I think having some sort of destination helps too, because if things are not going well, you have a second to regroup, new environment, get some food, kind of reset, and then try it again. So you don't feel like you're just stuck on this boat with a kid that is not having it.

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Yeah, I mean, and you know, yeah, that's so far that's been our best strategy. So those would be a few approachable things to do. Um and then fishing, you know, Gio loves fishing, so we take him salmon fishing and he likes that, and he actually has quite a bit of patience for sitting there and watching the rods and stuff like that. But um, you know, I've I've taken some other families and stuff fishing and uh flounder, especially if you have a little bit of an older kid, one that's like old enough to grab the rod and the reel and catch stuff. The flounder fishing is great, you know, because it's like you drop it down and you're pulling them up two at a time, you know. So getting that feedback of actually like catching stuff and being successful is really, really key. It's not you know, taking your kid fishing for the first time and trying to grind out a chinook is maybe it works for you, but wouldn't be what I'm as instant gratification as possible. Yeah. So sand abs, uh you know, herring, squid, all that type of stuff. He likes the squid too. Yeah, he likes squid. Shoot the water around and stuff like that. Um, why don't you walk us through like a razor claiming day?

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Well, I was gonna say there's other, I mean, I think in general, it's also just important to keep in mind that you in these years, you're making an investment for the future, right? These we talk very highly of our adventures on the waters and like we do catch stuff and we always limit him first. Um, but this is an investment for your future. So it might not be the most epic fish day you've ever had, but that isn't necessarily the goal. It's to make this easier on yourself in the future and share your passion with them. And I think just going in, like I always go in expectation free completely. You've got a plan, you've got snacks, but it is just to spend time together, to enjoy, and that's it. But another good activity, uh, clamming.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Razor clamming is a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Because they can kind of participate it in it a little bit more, and he can hold his bucket and have that beach space to run around, and you can bring the dog and let them run around also. And it is nice to be able to let them run around. Obviously, you can't let them run straight in the water, but it's safe enough on a wide flat beach that like I feel comfortable letting him roam.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Yeah, he can roam around. And then, you know, when they start when they first start opening up those those digs in you know, November and stuff like that, your tides are at night. So you either have to plan a uh hotel or something down there, or you know, we did it relatively successfully where we just had all brought all of the bedtime stuff with us, did our clamming. You went and got a few. Stayed for like the first hour.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

I was gonna say they and again, we I got a few, but I can't wield toddler and clamming at the same time. Yeah. Um, so you kind of like to participate. But again, good headlamps. Some of our headlamps were not charged up on that trip. That made things a bit more difficult. Um, but we spent like maybe an hour before I was like, yeah, okay, his attention span. I mean, an hour is pretty much a good time.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Yeah, we got you know, a limit or something of clams, and like that's plenty good in.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

So then I drove back in, went and did dinner with him at the restaurant, grabbed takeout orders for everyone else. That was about the timing to go pick him up. They finish their dinner. That's when we change into PJs, put the sleep sack on. We have a sleep sack that there's like a hole in the bottom of it. So you can put them in the car seat in the sleep sack and then thread the car seat through. That's really helpful. We did teeth, we did our bedtime story, we did our milk, and then we're on the road by like eight o'clock. He goes to bed at 7, 7:30. And then he slept for the two and a half hour drive home and just transferred him. And I will say he's not a kid who normally can really transfer from car seat to bed. That's the only time at night that that'll work. Otherwise, daytime, he's he's not a transferable. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

No, he's too locked in for that. Um, and then, but as you get into the springtime, you start to have morning, morning low tides. That's you know, if some of that sounds intimidating or whatever, just wait until you get into some of those like March and April openers, and then you know, your tides are 10 o'clock in the morning, so you leave, leave in the morning, do a fun car ride, stop on the way, whatever, you arrive right about low tide, and you do your dig and run around on the beach and it's light out, and you don't have to do lamps or anything like that, and then you can either stay or go home.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

Um anything that involves a ferry ride, too.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

Oh, yeah. Ferry rides. Ferry rides are really good. Um, and then also, you know, we had really good success with um going after, you know, the littlenecks and butter clams and stuff like that, oysters. Uh I think he had one of the most fun on that. You know, we popped them on my shoulders and walked quite a ways and got into some good good grounds for that. And you know, we'd measure the clams and we'd keep them there, and then he'd go in his bucket and figure out which ones he likes and which ones he doesn't, and put the others that he doesn't like back, and you're like, well, buddy, you know.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

Um I would say face speaking of the shoulders, I mean it's nice that they're all in your shoulders now, but if you're still in baby phase, having a good solid carrier that you're comfortable in, because when he was little little and like we did other trips like on the river and stuff, I would just keep him in the front pack on me. And again, he would it would time it around nap time, I'd be on the bank, we'd all be getting fresh air, but he'd just be sleeping on me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Um other trips have been good and successful.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

I think there's Minnesota fishing.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Minnesota fishing. Well uh oh, let's do the we had a really good time uh on the Dungeoness Spit camping.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Oh, that was a good one. That's a really good kids' camp site. So camping. So again, as pre-planned as you can possibly be, having all your gear set up and good to go, uh pre-planning the meals, all of that. We were really lucky. And for our first camping trip, we also kind of piggybacked on some good friends of ours who had already been camping with their five-year-old for a long time. And it'd been a second since we had gone camping together. Um, and it was our first time with him. So it was nice that those friends kind of took the lead on some of the planning of the food. And we did some campsite research, but they had found that one. And that's a really good thing. It's good to find a campsite that has a little playground, has some accessible bathrooms. You do not have to be like a thousand percent off.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

No, I mean it was like we we parked in the campsite.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Yeah, drive right up and parked. It was on the beach, there was a lot of play space. Yep. Um, and kind of, I mean, you do just kind of follow the same routine.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Yeah, we did, but that was fun. You know, you like the campfire and things like that. And again, like as the parent, the the pride goes away. Park, park in the campsite. It's fine. Go fishing for 40 minutes on a bad tide. It's fine.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Bring in all your food that you brought from the grocery store an hour beforehand.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Um, I would say the sleep setup on the camping trip, no shame on whatever you have to do to make sure that your kid sleeps. Like that is.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Yeah, I think we brought his whole little Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

I am a stickler for sleep, which is one of the reasons we did a lot of early boat trips to line up with nap time because he would sleep, because good sleep begets good sleep. And I have no shame in making sure that he's gonna get good sleep so that I get good sleep. Um, and we did in our whole tent situation, we brought the pack and play that he was used to, the sleep sack. We did for that one, we did wool PJs, sleep sack, plus a little down blanket over that because it's pretty chilly. Um, entire pack and play inside the tent. And then we have this it's called the slumber pod. So, so worth it for any kind of travel that you're doing. Um, we have like a dupe one, but you pop it over the entire pack and play, and then it creates this blackout space for them. And it's really nice whether you're in a hotel or you're sharing a room, or in this case the tent, because then you as a parent can like move around them. You can have a light on in the room if you're sharing a room with them, and they have their dark, cozy little spot. No shame that you're pulling up to the campsite with a comical amount of gear.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Comical amount of gear. But yeah, you gotta do what you gotta do. Um what else? What else you got?

SPEAKER_00 29:45

Minnesota fishing, take us away. Just going down to the lake.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Take us away.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Uh, I mean, fishing elsewhere outside the northwest. Kind of same thing, make things as approachable as possible. I grew up doing a lot of just throwing a line out for crappies off the dock at our family cabin in Minnesota, and to be able to do that, or to take them in the boat, again, knowing your weather, um, particularly for summertime. Anthony makes fun of these a little bit, but I'm a big fan of the full zip-up swim situation, sleeves and all, uh, because then you don't have to fight them on so much sunscreen. You still gotta do it on the face and hands, but the easier that you can make it on yourself, the happier that they're going to be, and the less there is for you to deal with.

SPEAKER_02 30:32

Yeah. I mean, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

It looks looks a little great. But it protects them from the sun. It does. And it makes it easier on you.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

And that's what it's all about. You want it to be fun for them and as easy as possible on you, so that way you can build the habit. Keep going, you know. And again, it's again, like you're you're you are gonna make some mistakes. Like it's bound to happen.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Like with the skiing, I was gonna bring up, you know, slightly different outdoor activity, but it's my favorite. And you know, you can talk about it saying, I took my two-year-old skiing and he crushed it and he loved it. Again, for context, we went for like an hour, maybe. It is not a nine-hour ski day. It's a pretty short endeavor. I did nothing but the magic carpet with him, also. It is not like you are not ripping it as a parent. Maybe you can get away for a few runs or something like that. But again, the point is to be putting in that investment so that they're gonna love it as they grow.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

Yep. Is there any other stuff that we really crutch hard? Trying to think. We also try and be flexible and just use as much real world things as possible too. So it's so much stuff as it is that we try and you know have that be as as limited a list as possible, which is hard.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Yeah, I mean the gear. Use what makes sense to you. Use what you have. You don't need to go seek out brand new gear, because again, you have to deal with all of this. You have to be responsible for it. It has to fit in your car. Um, like he uh he owns one pair of boots, one raincoat. I do think having like you do need to have what you gotta have, but only having one of these things, doing regular audits on it, and again, just as much exposure to the gear and the supplies. And I think, you know, part of our parenting philosophy is that they come with you and do what you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

Yeah, they just do what you're gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Yeah, and if that is the principle that you're raising them with the star, it makes it a lot easier that this is an expectation of this is how we do this as a family, rather than it have it be something that is either wholly kid-centric that you are not enjoying or is not fun for you, um, or something that is wholly parent-centric and you're expecting to go on this 12-hour boat day and have them sit there quietly the whole time, it's just not gonna happen. Um, we I mean we're not a completely screen time free family, but outdoor activities, no screens. Even if he's he doesn't really even know. No, he doesn't even want it because if we just never made it an option to, um, but again, keeping that precedent and and you are the parent, you can set that precedent. Um, I was gonna mention little fishing derbies and stuff as a good one we did last month here.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

Yep. Yeah, those are good and super approachable, like the one we did last month that was really successful, had a bunch of trout, and you know, Geo loved it, had his little cane pole and got to catch fish. He brought some of his little friends with him. They showed up and they all caught fish and it was a good time. So those are another really nice approachable way to where you can just really be on whatever time frame they're after. You know, I think that's that is again like it's the theme that keeps coming up.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

Just be keep your expectations as low as humanly possible because then you'll exceed them every time. Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

Um that seems pretty comprehensive and a good place to start.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

I think so. I mean, again, if it's your first time out, think of your activity, think about the pre-planning that you're gonna do. Prep as much as you can ahead of time. And again, do not be afraid to start with what feels really, really small. Like I hike a lot with him also, and I have done some incredibly short trips. Actually, I've never really done any like huge, big backpacking weekends with him, even though my parents tackle that with me. There's been times where I'm like, I just have an hour and I just want to get outside with him. And it's just me putting him on my back, and we go out for a half hour and he plays by a river, and we come back in. And again, it's about the habit and consistency because the more that you practice doing these things, the more you will learn what you like, what your kids like, what works and doesn't work. Um, but keeping it as small and manageable as possible so that you keep practicing and so that you don't try and send it for this like three-day endeavor for your very first time and it's a disaster and no one wants to do this again.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

Yeah, build up, build into it.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Yes, doing an hour-long expedition that can turn into two hours, can turn into three hours, and you can let it build up as you go.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

How to raise a little slayer 101.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

That's the plan.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Uh cool. Yeah, if you liked it, leave us a comment, ask questions. I'll have Olivia be able to answer questions, things like that. Um, but give us some feedback. You know, this is something where if this is a good one, we can kind of keep doing this type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

I mean, I feel like people might have questions for you on career things, kind of lifestyle things. You have a really interesting career, and like you said, I've been behind the scenes for all of it. I've I've got all the hidden details, all the backstories.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

There are plenty.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

I could share some things.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Sure you could. Um well, if you want to hear that episode, let us know. We'll do that one too. Um, but thanks everybody for listening. If you have questions, leave them in the comments. Um I'll try and link as much stuff that we use so that way if you want to learn what it is or you're kind of in that situation but don't know where to get started, that's a place. Uh thank you for listening, and we'll see you next week. Bye now. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Three Reverse Marine Podcast. We would like to give a special thanks to our sponsors, Endron Tackle, make your own bite window. Fisherman's gold products. Everything we make, we fish ourselves. And Duckworth Boats, legendary adventure.