#79 Give the Gift of Experience

Most often, gifts such as toys, clothing, accessories, etc. after months or years, will no longer fit or hold your interests.  You may outgrow them, get bored of them, and want to dump them or give them away.  Always donate, regift, or sell these things whenever possible. 

When you are looking for ideas to give as birthday gift or holiday gift, give the gift of experience.  Take them to a zoo with you, to a climbing expedition, to Disneyworld, to a picnic, bake them their favorite cake, go fishing together, etc.  One year, ten years, fifty years down the road, these gifts of experiences trump any toys or diamond or clothing that they ever received.  They will have fond memories on these experiences that you shared with them.

#73 Ignore People Who Say, "Just watch, when blank blank blank, you will..."

Many people, likely stemming from a good intention, will give their piece of  unsolicited "wisdom" with sentences like the following:

"Just watch, when that daughter of yours turn two, she will **insert hellish experience here** and you will understand why it's called the terrible two."

"Just watch, when you turn 30 (or 40 or 60, etc.) you'll wake up with pain in your **insert body parts here** and you'll feel you age."

"When you have children someday, you won't be able to travel / do this hobby / do these adventures as much..."

There will always be nay-sayers.  In response, you can tell them, "I'm looking forward to be the first who beat the odds."

Your mom and I have always been world-travelers and adventurers. Before we had you (waited four years after we got married), tons of (surely) well-intentioned relatives and friends have said, "Once you have kids, you won't be able to do as much traveling."  Well, they were wrong.  By the time you were two, you have already been to twelve states and four countries.  Are we filthy rich?  No.  We are just doing what we love to do and prioritize.  We know of several families whose combined income is probably less than $30K a year yet they have been to at least half of the states and ten or more countries with their kids.  It's all about priorities.  Some other families prefer to spend more on Christmas gifts or eating out every day or showing off big houses with big wheels, we prefer to travel.  We have also been enjoying your terrific two and and soon to be a fantastic three.

#67 Bring A Universal Adaptor Plug

...whenever you travel internationally so you can plug in your electronic gadgets without blowing a fuse or destroying your expensive toys.  Get one with a built in surge protector that can support any voltage between 110V to 240V.  Learn about the country(ies) you are about to visit and find out if they use 100-127V or 220V and up.  Europe, Asia, Australia, all use 220-240V/50Hz.  North America and Mexico use 100-127V/60Hz.

#63 Place: National Parks

Your mom and dad love to be outdoor.  Okay, your mom more than your dad.  She'd sleep in a barn or with horses outside if it weren't for snakes or spiders.  National parks are always her favorite.  You should visit these parks because they may not be around much longer:

1. The Smokies - hundreds of miles of beautiful hiking trails.  Fall or Springs are best.  We always stayed at a log cabin up in the Smokies (Pigeon Forge) with great friends.  Waterfalls, bears, rednecks, all good stuff.  While in the area, visit also The Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.  You'll love the behind the scenes tour, their grandiose rooms and architecture, and their out of this world gardens.
2. The Grand Canyon. Try to see both the North Rim (more remote) and the South Rim between late May and September.  Rent a plane or chopper and enjoy the views even better.
3. Glacier National Park. Some of the most famous glaciers in the Montana park have shrunk by more than half.  You should see it before the park lost its glaciers.  When you do, drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road which spans 50 miles winding around mountainsides and you will some of the park's best sights that way.

#4 Travel the World

Look at the gazillions of terrabytes of pictures we have taken over the years from traveling.  Goodness gracious.  Audrey, you went to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, when you were only six months old.  We left Kentucky with Pap's van in the middle of December's snowstorm.  Before you turned one year old, you have been to seven states in America (OH, IL, IN, NE, IA, TN, MO), which was amazing because we have encountered some people who never been outside of the county line in their entire friggin' life!  You went on a weeklong cruise with mom and dad to Belize, Cozumel, and another small coastal town in Western Caribbean.  You flew halfway across the globe to Indonesia when you were only two years old to meet your Indonesian relatives and especially hung out with Oma Peggy and Opa Norris.

World travel is in your blood.  Perhaps by the time you and your grandchildren read this, space travel will be a common thing.  Go out there.  Meet hundreds of your relatives in other parts of the earth.  Explore new cultures.  Be an open-minded, well-traveled person.  You'll love it!