August 2021 Monterey Bay Parent Magazine

Adventures
With Archie
Meet our new
Instagram Bloggers,
Beau and Archie Jackson
Q: Tell us about your family
A: I am a full time at-home dad. I
have a BFA in Studio Art and am a
professional watercolor artist. My wife,
Archie’s mom, Danielle, is a Labor
& Delivery RN in the CHOMP family
Birth Center. I grew up in Alaska
and Danielle grew up in Southern
California. We met at college on
the east coast. After exploring the
country together while Danielle was
a travel nurse, we found Monterey
and felt an instant connection to the
peninsula. It had everything we were
looking for in a home and we moved
here permanently two weeks after
visiting for the very first time in 2017.
We decided that this was where we
wanted to start a family and Archie
was born in August of 2018.
Q: Tell us about Archie,
what does he enjoy doing?
A: Archie loves playing outside, helping
cook in the kitchen, and reading books.
He can quote long passages from his
favorite books and likes pretending
to be different characters. He’s a big
fan of tractors, trucks, trains, and fire
engines. His current favorite color is
purple and he says he wants to be a
fire fighter when he grows up. Another
long term goal he is looking forward to
is turning 5 years old so he can have
chewing gum. He’s very friendly and
outgoing, saying hello to everyone
when we’re around town. He likes to
go tide pooling and look for starfish.
He always thoughtfully reminds me
to be careful not to step on the sea
anemones!
Q: how do you choosE
your activities?
A: I choose some activities based on
what’s happening seasonally, like trips
to farms for picking fruit or harvesting
vegetables. I choose other activities
based on Archie’s interests. One week
he said, “I want to ride a boat,” so we
headed down to El Estero and rode a
duck pedal boat. He’s been really into
trains for a while so we took him to
ride a steam engine at Roaring Camp.
I’m always trying to feed his curiosity.
Q. Where does your
inspiration come from when
selecting activities?
I follow a lot of local businesses on
social media to stay tuned in to what’s
happening on the peninsula. I like
to engage in as many local events
as possible. Fostering a sense of
community for my son is important to
me. I follow a few child craft accounts
on Instagram like kidscrafts101 to spark
activity ideas, and I’m a member of a
couple of Facebook parenting groups
like 1000 Hours Outside that are also
helpful for adventure ideas.
Follow us on Instagram to see each week’s edition of
Adventures With Archie. New posts on Thursdays!
Use #adventureswitharchie to catch up on past posts
Each thursday, Beau and archie post about
a new activity to inspire your family
Q: What are some of your
favorite “family day”
activities with your son?
A: On my wife’s days off we like family
hikes at Point Lobos, Garland Ranch,
Soberanes Point, and Garrapata State
Park. We also enjoy beach picnics at
Asilomar and Lover’s Point.
Q: What do you hope to teach
your son by having these
adventures with him?
A: We provide him opportunities for
a broad range of experiences to help
him grow into a well-rounded person.
We front-load him with adventures
to feed his curious mind, and I think
so many more brain connections are
made with experiences involving all
the senses. A lot of our adventures
take place outside because I believe
nature is crucial for children’s physical
development and emotional wellbeing.
Creativity is something I really value.
Exposing our son to as much handson
learning as possible in a wide array
of activities will help cultivate his
imagination and encourage out-ofthe-box
thinking. Our goal is to help
him discover what he’s good at and
find his passion.
12 montereybayparent.com MONTEREY BAY PARENT • august 2021