How Fun Adventures Keep Your Kids Coming Back to Visit

A family that has fun together stays together.

Right now, you might be surrounded by the scattered blast radius of young kids…stray socks, dirty clothes, half-eaten sandwiches, and the constant glow of screens reflected on your kids faces.

(Photo: My oldest son, myself, and his sister in the southern French, Alps.)

But there is a silent, inevitable date approaching.

One day soon, the house will be quiet, and the only thing that will determine if your adult children want to spend their precious time with you are the family traditions you built that will last a lifetime.

I recently read, Die With Zero (highly recommend), and the core message it reinforces is that our lives are enriched, not from material things, but, by great experiences and the memories that follow.

The book also makes a strong argument for spending your resources when you are still young enough to enjoy them with your loved ones. I highly recommend the read.

I see parents falling into the trap of buying their children’s affection when the real, lasting value, are the traditions and experiences you expose them to in childhood.

One of our family traditions? Skiing (and snowboarding for my youngest).

I recently took my two oldest to the French Alps for some spring turns.

People hear “Alps” and immediately think “bougie” or some kind of high-society vacation.

Nonsense.

We paid thirty euros a day for a lift pass. There were no lines and the food was amazing.

(Photo: My characters gearing up in the parking lot)

Contrast that with the skyrocketing, predatory pricing at places like Vail, where you pay for the privilege of staring at the back of someone else’s helmet for half the day.

In my book Puddle Jumpers, I talk about the “Lead Scout” mentality. Your job as a parent isn’t to be a cruise ship director; it’s to show your kids how to find the joy in the unscripted and the affordable.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that “special” has to be expensive. That’s a lie.

Real connection happens in the mud. It happens when you’re blasting down the side of a mountain together on talking about life on a lift in France.

These are the “Simple Adventures.” They stick in the family memory bank for good.

If you want your kids to come back to visit when they’re living their own lives, you have to build traditions that will last into adulthood.

Disneyland is great but it’s not necessarily something your kids (or you) are going to want to do when they are older. Yes, there are always exceptions, but you get the point…

(Photo: My daughter enjoying fresh pastries and espresso in-between runs)

Think about early adventures you can share with your kids that can continue into adulthood.

This is the magic of our family ski trips.

A family that has fun together stays together.

When the kids leave the house, they won’t remember the price of the hotel. They’ll remember the mom or dad who showed them that the best things in life are incredible shared experiences. And the memories turn into dividends later in life.

Stop waiting for the “perfect” time or the “perfect” budget and just go.

Give them a reason to want to come back for the rest of their lives.

Thx for listening, Brandon

PS-please order a copy of my new book, Puddle Jumpers here. Consider gifting a copy or two to someone who could use it as well. Gracias! -B

A recent 5-star review from Goodreads.

Little skills taught young don't just stick, they stack"

Puddle Jumpers describes a well thought out, tested method for raising children that know how to achieve success (and how to decide what success looks like for themselves). It does not do this book justice to examine it without first taking a look at the human who wrote it. Brandon Webb is a writer, entrepreneur, and former Navy Seal Sniper instructor. His resume lends easy to see credibility to his thoughts on leadership, life management, and handling the unexpected.

This book describes everything from the kind of people you choose to bring around your kids, to talks about difficult topics such as drugs and pornography, to helping your children set goals and have the grit to overcome adversity on their own.

Each chapter contains examples from Brandon Webb's real life as a Dad. In the audiobook, Webb has invited his children to come on and speak to their experiences growing up from their own words. It is touching as well as helpful to hear this perspective that is often skipped in parenting books. When his children speak, you can hear how much they love and appreciate their Father and their family. This personal inclusion really allows the reader a look into the actual results of the 'Puddle Jumper' method.

People that are coparenting after a divorce may find this book particularly helpful, as Webb discusses throughout the book how him and his ex dealt with things from a coparenting standpoint. There is also a discussion between the two of them at the end of the book, in which each highlights the essential rules they held to be successful coparents.

If you have a heart for parenting that fosters respect between your child and yourself, but have struggled with seeing how to make it happen without sometimes slipping into 'permissive' parenting, this book is for you. There is example after example of how to handle what are often difficult situations.

Puddle Jumpers even includes insight into helping your children manage as they transition to college and how to set your self up for relationship success even after they are fully grown and making all of their own decisions.


As a mother of three young boys, I found much of this book applies to issues I currently am dealing with, or foresee coming up in our near future. It is nice to know that I have this tool in my toolbox to help me react from a well planned place, rather than a reactive one.
I plan to keep a copy of this book handy as my children grow—there is wisdom distilled on its pages.

-Hana Chandler