What are your 2018 outdoor goals?

[Prediction? Pain.]

Man I’m right there with you on the finding time issue b/c of kids. I have an 11 month old and an any day now.

Congrats on your second kid, Beast. The rumors you've heard are true -- yes, the second will probably be completely different than the first, and, double yes, having two is much more than twice as hard as having one.

Been there Beast and Pain. Mine were a little farther apart at 20 months, but it ain't easy. My wife made up a song about it - "Two kids under the age of 2, two kids under 2; Oh, my God what the **** did we do? Two kids under the age of 2!"

I'm on the other end of that now. Spent this past year driving to Starkville too many times for Senior testing, band tryouts, orientation, and moving my daughter. I'll spend 2018 taking my son on college visits. He can't decide between MSU, UGA, GT, or MTSU and can't decide on computers or music. I spent exactly 1 day on the water this year.

The trick is finding the right way to get your kids hooked on fishing, hiking, or whatever you do outdoors. Some love it, some don't. The thing I found with fishing was that the first 2 real trips I took them on - one for Rainbows in North Georgia, the other an in-shore charter here on the coast - the fishing was amazing. I spent all my time baiting their hooks and pulling fish off the line. They caught their limits, it was exciting, and they had fun. As well all know - that ain't always fishing.

That's good advice. I've done my damnedest to get my kids out on the trail with me as much as possible and cultivate an appreciation for the outdoors. I think (or at least hope) that my efforts have had an impact. My daughter loves waterfalls, streams, big trees, mushrooms, rock formations, and all the other stuff we're lucky enough to see those regularly where we live. Hell, she even spontaneously decided to go camping in our back yard over the summer and did it up like a champ, gawking at fireflies and gazing at stars through our tent's mesh roof. And every time we go outside, my son either wants me to pick him up and take him over to touch tree trunks and branches, or put him in my kid-carrying backpack and just walk wherever. (Beast, if you don't have on of those backpacks, I highly suggest that you look into it. I've had great luck with my Osprey, especially with our youngest, and use it all the time. Hikes, walks around the neighborhood, out running errands, at the rare outdoor social event we're able to attend, or just around the house if he's being fussy and not letting me get stuff done (which is pretty much all the time).)

Good luck with y'all's college decision, Brunswick. I can't even imagine doing that with my toddlers, who are more like drunken gnomes than future 18-year-old humans. Sounds like your son's got some pretty good options and will be picking from two pretty interesting areas of study.