Cooper Mountain Nature Park-Summer 2015 Outdoor Adventure with kids

For our second Outdoor Adventure with Kids for this summer, we took about a 30 minute drive out to Beaverton, Oregon to the Cooper Mountain Nature Park . This time I had all three of my boys (who are at home) with me.

My friend Christy wondered how I get my kids outside, together with me, and that is a good question and it is often not easy or pretty and I will write about that real-life process in a separate post. I love this time with them, these outdoor adventures, and I hope in the future, perhaps when they are grown, they will also (have loved) this time.

For now, in a nutshell, how I get all my kids to go is I do not give them a choice. It’s what we are doing. I just announce that, this is what we are going to do, as a family; and I do get grumbles and complaints sometimes, especially from my youngest and especially when it is hot outside. I try to bring cold drinks and keep it on the shorter side. Two hours, only a half hour drive, for example; it doesn’t have to be all day. It’s just something we are doing this summer. Together.

I found this Cooper Mountain Nature Park by googling outdoor adventures in Beaverton area as I wanted to head that direction, about 30 minutes from where we life. The 230-acre park overlooks the Tualatin River Valley, and offers just over three miles of multi-use trails that meander through various habitats.

Highlights include a view of the Chehalem Mountains, Oregon white oaks, and a neat prairie with flowers.

Okay, so I had my kids pose for various shots and also took candid photos during this second outdoor adventure, and will admit that my youngest was tired and hot and told us about that many times, and my high schoolers had to drag him along sometimes, but I hope the photos will remind him (and the twins and all of my kids) of how blessed he is to be outside this summer, discovering some new nature parks just 30 minutes from his home.