What Our Kids Actually Remember From the National Parks
Spoiler: It’s usually not the thing we drove three hours to see
Before this trip, I spent a lot of time planning what I wanted our kids to see.
The Grand Canyon.
Zion.
The hoodoos at Bryce.
Arches.
The Rocky Mountains.
The Tetons.
Old Faithful.
Wildlife in Yellowstone.
Glacier.
These are the places people put on bucket lists. They’re the places we drove hundreds—or sometimes thousands—of miles to experience.
And I absolutely want our kids to remember them.
But four months into our year on the road, I’ve started noticing something.
When the kids talk about our trip, the things they remember aren’t always the things Jessie and I thought would be important.
Sometimes they’re not even close.
We can spend an entire day exploring one of America’s most famous national parks, and somehow the highlight is the ice cream afterward.
We can plan a beautiful hike, and they remember the animal we saw beside the trail.
We can stand in front of a view people travel across the world to see, and they’re talking about the funny thing their brother did twenty minutes earlier.
At first, I think part of me wanted them to appreciate the big thing more.
Now?
I love it.
Because I’m realizing this trip isn’t just creating memories of national parks.
It’s creating memories of being a family in them.
Sometimes They Remember the Ice Cream
Grand Teton was one of our favorite parks.
We had an incredible day exploring.
Mountains.
Lakes.
Hiking.
Views.
Wildlife.
Then we stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge.
And got ice cream.
Hudson chose chocolate.
Macie chose huckleberry.
Lincoln chose strawberry.
Jessie got huckleberry too.
And I got a huckleberry shake.
It was a simple stop at the end of a huge day.
But the kids remember it.
That’s happened over and over.
We can offer them one of the greatest views in America.
They’d also like to know whether there’s ice cream nearby.
Apparently both can be important.
They Remember Catching the Fish
We have fished a lot on this trip.
Some of those fishing trips have been successful.
Some have involved a whole lot of casting and not much catching.
But one moment has stuck with me.
Hudson had been learning how to fly fish.
It wasn’t instantly easy.
There was plenty to figure out.
Then he caught one.
He looked at Jessie with a huge smile and said:
“I think I’m finally getting it.”
That’s gold.
Someday Hudson might not remember every lake we stopped at or every fish he caught.
But I hope he remembers learning something difficult with his dad.
Because I know Jessie will.
They Remember the Animals
National parks have given us some unbelievable wildlife experiences.
Bears.
Moose.
Elk.
Deer.
Foxes.
Bison.
And the kids’ reactions have often been more memorable than the animals themselves.
Yellowstone gave us plenty.
We woke up incredibly early and drove toward Lamar Valley looking for wildlife.
Eventually we found ourselves in the middle of the famous Yellowstone bison jams.
Huge bison walked beside the vehicle.
Lincoln laughed as they passed his window.
Shelby couldn’t stop giggling.
And Macie?
Macie grunted at them.
Every time another bison went past, the kids thought it was hilarious.
Jessie and I were slightly more concerned about having an animal weighing a couple thousand pounds walking inches from the vehicle.
The kids were having the time of their lives.
That’s the story we tell now.
They Remember When Things Go Wrong
This one has surprised me.
As parents, we try pretty hard to make things go right.
We plan.
Check weather.
Pack bags.
Bring food.
Research trails.
Then sometimes everything goes sideways anyway.
Rocky Mountain National Park gave us one of those days.
We hiked from Bear Lake past Nymph and Dream Lakes to Emerald Lake.
The weather had been beautiful.
Then a huge thunderstorm moved in.
The rain poured.
Water filled the trail.
Thunder and lightning were way too close for comfort.
And we still had miles to go.
The kids were miserable.
Nobody thought it was funny.
Then we made it out.
Later?
It became hilarious.
Getting completely soaked in a mountain thunderstorm became one of the stories.
That’s something I’m learning about family adventures.
The days that don’t go perfectly sometimes produce the best stories.
They Remember Who Was There
This has become a big one.
Some of our favorite memories from this trip aren’t just about where we were.
They’re about who was there with us.
When we were in Zion, Barrie and Keri came to visit us.
By that point, we had already been traveling and exploring as our little family of five, so having people we loved come join us made Zion even more special.
We weren’t just showing them pictures afterward or telling them stories about what we’d been doing.
They got to be part of it.
Then we spent time in Fort Collins with longtime friends, and they joined us as we continued toward Grand Teton and Yellowstone.
Later, family came to visit while we were near West Yellowstone.
Mom.
Dad.
Aunt Tracy.
And then the big surprise.
Shelby.
The kids opened the car door and realized their cousin had made the long drive to surprise them.
Everyone yelled:
“SHELBY!”
There were hugs.
Excitement.
Four months apart suddenly disappeared.
Shelby stayed with us in the RV, swam with the kids, explored Yellowstone, and got stuck in bison jams with us.
We’ve seen some incredible places during this trip.
But when I think about Zion, I don’t only think about the canyon walls and trails. Barrie and Keri are part of that memory too.
When I think about Yellowstone, I don’t only think about geysers, bears, and bison.
I think about the kids opening that car door and seeing Shelby.
That’s something this trip has made me appreciate even more.
The people who have made the effort to meet us along the way have become part of the adventure.
Years from now, the kids might forget the name of a trail or which overlook we stopped at.
But I think they’ll remember Grandma and Grandpa coming to Yellowstone.
They’ll remember Shelby sleeping in the RV.
They’ll remember exploring with friends.
They’ll remember Barrie and Keri coming to Zion.
Because sometimes who was standing beside us matters just as much as what we were standing in front of.
They Remember the Campgrounds
This one I definitely underestimated.
To Jessie and me, a campground can easily become logistics.
Is the site level?
Can we fit?
Are there hookups?
Where’s the dump station?
How far are we from the park?
The kids have a different checklist.
Can we ride bikes?
Can we have a fire?
Are there trees?
Can we go fishing?
Is there somewhere to play?
When we pulled into Colter Bay, the kids immediately loved being back among the trees.
After months of desert landscapes, it reminded all of us of the Pacific Northwest.
Then they found out we could have a real campfire.
Sold.
At Canyon Campground in Yellowstone, Hudson talked about the smell of the trees.
Lincoln kept saying it felt like home.
Those are tiny details.
But they’re becoming part of how our kids remember these places.
They Remember Doing More Than Seeing
This might be the biggest pattern I’ve noticed.
Our kids remember the places where they did something.
They remember hiking.
Fishing.
Swimming.
Climbing.
Riding bikes.
Exploring.
Throwing rocks into lakes.
Looking for animals.
Building fires.
Earning Junior Ranger badges.
They don’t talk nearly as much about the places where we drove up, got out, looked at something, took a picture, and got back into the car.
That has changed the way we plan.
It’s one of the reasons Grand Teton connected with our family so much.
We weren’t simply driving around looking at the mountains.
We were hiking beside the lakes underneath them.
We were fishing.
We were looking for moose.
We were eating lunch beside the water.
We were participating.
They Remember Being Proud of Themselves
I hope this is one of the things that lasts.
There have been plenty of times during this trip when our kids didn’t think they could do something.
A hike looked too long.
A trail looked scary.
They were tired.
They didn’t want to get up early.
They didn’t want to walk another mile.
Then they did it.
Hudson’s hike with Jessie into the Grand Canyon is probably my favorite example.
The day before, Hudson looked down at the South Kaibab Trail and thought it looked steep and scary.
The next morning, he and Jessie started hiking at 4:45 a.m.
They went all the way to Skeleton Point.
And they were back at the trailhead by 7:45.
Once Hudson actually got onto the trail, he realized it wasn’t nearly as scary as it had looked.
That matters.
He didn’t just get to see the Grand Canyon.
He got to learn something about himself while he was there.
They Remember the Weird Stuff
Kids are really good at this.
They notice things adults would completely forget.
The giant ice cream scoop.
The funny-looking animal.
A weird bathroom.
The rock they found.
A squirrel that got way too close.
Something their sibling said.
A random store.
A campground playground.
A ranger who made them laugh.
We can spend hours creating an itinerary.
Kids will create their own memories anyway.
And I’ve started appreciating that.
They Probably Won’t Remember All of This
Our kids are still young.
That’s something Jessie and I know.
We’re traveling around the country showing them places they’ll probably never forget.
But the reality is that they will forget some of them.
They might not remember which overlook we stopped at.
They might forget the name of a trail.
They may mix up which campground was in which state.
Lincoln is especially young. There will almost certainly be places from this year that eventually exist for him mostly through pictures and stories.
And I’m okay with that.
Because I don’t think an experience only matters if a child remembers every detail of it twenty years later.
They’re experiencing it right now.
They’re learning right now.
They’re becoming more confident right now.
They’re spending time with their brother and sister right now.
They’re spending time with us right now.
That’s enough.
Maybe We’re Thinking About the Memories Wrong
Before this trip, I thought about the memories we were going to give our kids.
Four months in, I think that was probably the wrong way to look at it.
We don’t get to choose which memories they keep.
They do.
Maybe Hudson remembers standing at Inspiration Point.
Maybe he remembers the fish.
Maybe Macie remembers Grand Prismatic Spring.
Maybe she remembers grunting at a bison.
Maybe Lincoln remembers the Grand Canyon.
Maybe he remembers sitting beside a campfire and feeling like the trees smelled like home.
I don’t know.
But when I listen to them talk about the trip, I’m starting to understand something.
The national parks are giving us an incredible backdrop.
The family part is what makes the memories.
It’s the early mornings.
The snacks.
The complaining.
The fishing.
The inside jokes.
The campfires.
The people who joined us.
The things that went wrong.
The things they were scared to try.
The things they discovered they could do.
And yes...
the ice cream.
Someday, I hope our kids look back at this year and remember the Grand Canyon, the Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, and all the places we still haven’t reached.
But even more than that, I hope they remember what it felt like to experience those places together.
Because four months into this year, those are already the memories I’m holding onto the tightest.
-Kayla