Get Dirty! Why Your Kids Need Outdoor Activities in an Inside World | S7 E35

Steve Alessi:
But that is our text feed, my son's, and thankfully, finally got here with coffee. She's pregnant, getting fat, and slowing down a little bit. Thank Yes.

Chris Alessi:
So when is this podcast getting posted, Alan?

Steve Alessi:
Okay. Because, technically, she hasn't told

Chris Alessi:
many people that. So let's hope this podcast comes out.

Steve Alessi:
No problem. There you go. Alright. Edit. Hello, and welcome to another edition of the family business with the Alessis, where family is everybody's business. I'm Steve Alessi, and I'm very excited today because we've got a couple of rock stars. My sons, my son Christopher, my son-in-law Christopher is with us in the podcast booth. Listen, If you like what you're, hearing and seeing here, then why don't you just, reach out to us? We can get you some text updates of things that are going on.

Steve Alessi:
So text family to (302) 524-0800. It's a great way just to be updated on what we are actually doing. And here, if you're watching us on YouTube, thankfully, we're over 4,500 subscribers at this time. So if you like us, then go ahead and subscribe and share us to as many of your friends that you think will like what we're doing. Now you're gonna like today because it's just guys. It's all testosterone that is here in the podcast booth. Wanna say hello, gentlemen?

Chris Alessi:
Hello, gentlemen.

Christopher Muiña:
Well, it's a pleasure to be here. I always I always like coming on the podcast and just sharing thoughts and Yep. Things that are happening in life. There you go.

Chris Alessi:
You had a real good podcast a couple of weeks back.

Chris Alessi:
You and Steph?

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm. Oh, really good. They did good? Yeah. Oh, great. I listened to every single podcast. So it was a good one. I gotta go back and listen to it. Alright.

Steve Alessi:
This is the first time in my life up to this point that I am looking up at my sons. So, yes. I call them both my sons. One birth son. One's, man, married son. But that is our text feed, my sons, and thankfully, Melanie finally got here with coffee. She's pregnant, getting fat, and slowing down a little bit. Thank you, Melanie.

Steve Alessi:
My pleasure. Yes.

Chris Alessi:
So when is this podcast getting closer, Alan?

Steve Alessi:
Okay. Because, technically, she hasn't

Chris Alessi:
told many people that. So that's how this podcast comes out.

Steve Alessi:
No problem. There you go. Alright. Edit, Monique. Good to have you pregnant with us, Monique. Okay. So, yeah, we're gonna we're gonna be talking about, guy stuff today. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
So the first guy stuff I wanna talk about with you is the word swole. Chris, guys, what does swole, s w o l e, mean? Apparently, you. Apparently, it means you. What is it? So I mean, it it I mean, it means being real muscular. Oh. It means you've taken

Chris Alessi:
care of your temple. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. You you you got it. Swollen. Short for swollen. You know, I've actually never realized that until just now.

Christopher Muiña:
What the word

Steve Alessi:
for that?

Chris Alessi:
So where did we see this this word come up recently, Bubs? Well, apparently, pastor Steve, my dad, you know, he got he got a comment

Steve Alessi:
on his last post saying this pastor is swole. There you go. Look at that. Not too bad. Because he stopped making excuses. Yep. Finally. Got in the gym.

Steve Alessi:
Had to. And today, gosh, man. Mom's with us, and we had an early, day on Wednesday. And Wednesday morning is supposed to be a really, the only day of the week that I have to protect is the mornings.

Chris Alessi:
So you can get your workout out.

Steve Alessi:
So I can get my workout out. And because we had some things come up and schedules got a little behind, I couldn't protect it, so I had to get up early. So we were up at, yeah, 07:00 at the gym. Mom, myself, Gabby, Lauren, and, pretty cool. So we got it in bright and early, and I am so sore. I wanna take a nap already, and it's not even noon. So guy stuff. Guy stuff.

Steve Alessi:
We're coming up on Father's Day. So what I wanted to talk about is your sons. You both got sons. How does that feel to be a father of sons, Molina?

Christopher Muiña:
It feels like, well, like a responsibility, but also you wanna make sure you you pass on the right things, I think. Right. You know, you wanna form him so that he can be able to be a an independent man one day.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm. You

Christopher Muiña:
know? Well well, I think still figuring that out myself, but you wanna you want him to to be trained up the right way.

Steve Alessi:
Alright.

Chris Alessi:
Chris? Well, that was profound. It's just fun. Yeah. It's the it's the pride of my life.

Steve Alessi:
I was gonna say, how prideful how much pride do you have in the fact that you got a namesake? And we don't wanna make it. You guy men that are out there listening didn't have girls alone, don't have a son feel bad, but it feels pretty good to have

Chris Alessi:
a namesake, doesn't it? Oh, yeah. I gotta tell you. I would have never thought I'd be the kind of person that's, like, up for a fight.

Chris Alessi:
My dad always taught me to talk my way out

Steve Alessi:
of stuff. But these days, because I got this

Chris Alessi:
I got this there's more testosterone in my home.

Christopher Muiña:
I feel like, you know what, man?

Chris Alessi:
I feel like I'm down for

Chris Alessi:
a fight. Who wants to fight? And it's just it's it really is the most fun.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. This little I mean, yeah, he's almost two. And Almost two. He's like how how what does he look like? He's four?

Steve Alessi:
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He he

Chris Alessi:
we, he will go to the part of the park that the four to seven year olds go to, But he's just a blast. And then little Matthew, I mean, they just they just keep up. They run together everywhere. They've got a great little relationship.

Steve Alessi:
A cute little video yesterday he sent where he's putting the head the head sent off.

Christopher Muiña:
Did you

Chris Alessi:
see it?

Christopher Muiña:
Yeah. With the headphones.

Steve Alessi:
So cute. So cute. Matthew just kinda sit there looking at him. So, Chris's, boy is Marino. Muna's boy is Matthew. So precious, man. So precious. But you're this this gives you really, as a man, of course, it gives you a sense of pride.

Steve Alessi:
But with that pride comes a pretty huge responsibility because he is gonna look at you, and, you're gonna be the one that he measures life up against. And, you know, if you're a hustler, he's gonna be a hustler. If you're not, then he won't. So the the point, I guess, what I love seeing with our sons and my grandson is, grandsons, is the fact that we're we're putting them outside in an outside environment a whole lot. Yes. We enjoy when they settle in and give us a little time to power down by watching some television inside, But we're seeing you guys push them outside more and more. So how are we, and why are we doing that?

Chris Alessi:
Well, for Chris, he just opens the sliding glass door and picks his son up. Sorry.

Steve Alessi:
And he goes. Whenever I stop by, the door is always wide open and the kids are

Chris Alessi:
out in their little backyard, not much bigger than this room. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
They're just having a blast back there. That's cool.

Christopher Muiña:
Yeah. Matthew loves to be outside. Anytime I open that door, he sprints from wherever he is in the house, and he runs out there. And he'll spend thirty minutes out there by himself. I'll just close the door again, and he'll just no. We can see him, but he just lays in the dirt and throws rocks and

Chris Alessi:
eats, caterpillar poop and Sometimes yeah.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. It's a pig.

Chris Alessi:
Oh, well,

Steve Alessi:
it's alright. Your boy, my Marino, I Sand.

Chris Alessi:
I only say that because Marino's eating just about everything else. Yeah. No. So you for for us, I think it's actually funny. So not to compare them, but when you look at Gia, Gia is more than fine really doing anything. Whatever the group wants to do, she'll do it. She'll sit and watch a movie. She'll stay inside.

Chris Alessi:
She'll go outside. She's great. Wherever the people are, that's where G is at. Matthew and Marino have zero desire to sit still unless Danny goes on. And if you watch Danny go, it's probably the most testosterone filled little kids show. It's the only thing that'll get them to stop. Everything they just wanna run, and so it's kinda like if they stay indoors, they're gonna break everything and me, so they have to go outside. And so luckily, because of our association where we live, like, there's a great little park right in the front.

Steve Alessi:
There is.

Chris Alessi:
We spend a lot of time just right out there, or we let them go right outside. And like Chris was saying, we just let let us

Steve Alessi:
know when you wanna come back in. Yeah. But you can't leave Marino out on your patio To the hill eat the soil. All the. No. Not not even that. Yes. He'll eat the soil.

Steve Alessi:
But all your plants, he would pull he would pull right out of the soil. Has pulled. He has. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Chris Alessi:
And, that's a fun moment. Do I wanna be a good gardener or at peace right now? Yeah. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
But, you know, that in itself, we're so accustomed, to keeping kids out of dirt. And and let's, you know, talk little girls too because it's good that we do see Gianna. She loves being outside, and she has no problem. I mean, the moment this girl comes in, she wants her shoes off. She loves running around without his shoes. And Marino, we can't even keep the shoes big enough on his feet. He's just growing like a monster. But they're outside, and we are so conditioned to run up.

Steve Alessi:
And when they're walking around, they no. No. No. Get your shoes on. Get your shoes on. No no no touch that. Don't touch that dirt. Don't it's dirty.

Steve Alessi:
Oh, my God. And we're running around with wipeies to try to disinfect their hands. And yet getting them outside where they're chewing on rocks, trying to eat a plant leaf, or some doo doo that they saw and picked up and didn't know it was crap. You know, that's what kids do. And it's okay.

Chris Alessi:
It's good for them. So last

Chris Alessi:
time they went the last grandparent day, there's some sand in in your backyard. So Marino ate some, and for, like, a day, we saw some in Matthew's hair.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. Yeah. It was hilarious because

Chris Alessi:
the next day, we're changing Marino's diaper, and there's the sand.

Steve Alessi:
And then, like, four days later, Matthew's going down this line, and he kinda bumped his teeth. And when he did, all of this sand came out of his hair. And we look at Stephanie, and Stephanie's going, I've washed his hair every night, and there's still sand

Chris Alessi:
in there.

Chris Alessi:
And it's just like none of those kids got sick. Yeah. They're fine. They didn't hurt anybody. Just give

Chris Alessi:
them a

Steve Alessi:
great bath at the end of the day, and you're fine. No. That's important. Was that how you were raised, Mounia? Outside?

Christopher Muiña:
Yeah. Yeah. I was raised a lot outside. I mean, I I think both of us were raised before the day and age of Internet and smartphones. That didn't come out until, you know, the mid two thousands. And by that point, we were all already in college, so it wasn't really a part of our life. Our life was go outside and play.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm.

Christopher Muiña:
You know, they had Gameboys and stuff, but I was never interested in that. Right. Like electronics. I was I always wanted to be outside.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. That's why his Instagram handle is adventure Chris.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. That his wife posts for him on. Yeah.

Christopher Muiña:
I'm not interested in electronics. Exactly. So did

Steve Alessi:
you actually post the one the other day?

Chris Alessi:
No. No. So she posted that one too?

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. Okay. So everybody, if

Chris Alessi:
you saw Chris's post saying, I just I'm here with my my favorite, And it was a picture of him with Steph. Stephanie posted it. The day night. Yes.

Steve Alessi:
She posted that here with my favorite audience.

Christopher Muiña:
But I was the real person in the day night, in real life.

Chris Alessi:
That's what matters. So I was a little different, but I was outdoors a lot. I played sports my entire life. So I was at sports. I went to a school that was basically outdoors. I mean, if you think about it, outside of the actual classrooms, all the hallways, everything was open aired. Everything was outdoors. And while I definitely was a homebody, the older I've gotten, the more I just especially the more, like, we dive into our our careers and stuff, the more I just put my hands in dirt.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. And so me and Stephanie were talking about it the other day. She was, she was telling me, you know, Chris, you're not the one that goes outdoors. And I'm like, excuse me. When we go to the farm, you guys don't see me. Yeah. I'm outdoors the whole time taking care of that stuff, and it's just I've it it's become really healthy for me. It's helped it's helped me.

Chris Alessi:
And it's been great for even Marino because he just guys, he climbs our couch and then cannonballs on top of us.

Steve Alessi:
Oh, that's crazy.

Chris Alessi:
Like, he I I thought He's a beast. I thought he broke my my shoulder the other day. And so if it the only way we really have any type of peace is if we let him run around outside until he's tired.

Steve Alessi:
As much as I hate the fact that, you know, you gotta build a sandbox for I'm afraid the cats in the neighborhood might come and ruin it. There's something to be said about a sandbox where you put toys, like kids on the beach, you give them shovels and a little pail, and they're gonna go crazy just playing in that dirt. And, you know, we go to the beach now, some of us, and we don't like to take our flip flops off for fear we're gonna get dirt on our between our toes. You know, we gotta walk on the on the the the big towel that we lay out. But our kids are over there. They got dirt everywhere. Sand is everywhere, and it's so good for them. But we we almost keep kids from doing that because we don't like to get dirty.

Steve Alessi:
But if we're more outdoorsy, then there's a higher chance that they're going to just get involved and be outdoorsy. And I'll I I know there are reports. There there's

Chris Alessi:
just gonna bring that up.

Christopher Muiña:
Bring it

Steve Alessi:
up, man, because there are reports that show it's healthier for them.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. No. So I don't have the the facts in front of me, but I or the figures, but, ADHD and ADD levels go down when kids are outside, and spend them and spend more time outside. They found that anger issues go down when kids are outside. They have found, kids sleep better when they're outside over the long haul. They have found that kids have better social skills over their life when they're outside

Steve Alessi:
more often.

Chris Alessi:
And there's actual health benefits to just literally letting the sun touch your skin.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm.

Chris Alessi:
So, they've actually found that anxiety levels go down when people put their hands in dirt and work with dirt. And that psychology brain in me says that that's not the dirt. It's getting outside

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm.

Chris Alessi:
And using your hands for something that's not electronic.

Christopher Muiña:
And outside of psychology, physiologically, you get the vitamin d from the sun, which is essential. You have the cleaner oxygen from the plants. Mhmm. When I taught high school, I had this big plant in my room that I had on on wheels on casters. And every time we would take, like, an exam or a test, as a joke, I would roll it around to the students who needed the most help, you know, and the kids would crack up. Oh, my god. But there are studies that show that, like, plants in hospital rooms, plants in classrooms, plants in office spaces, they improve the psychology of the workers or the students or the patients, and there is a physiological, like, a health side to that too. Yeah.

Christopher Muiña:
So how much more just taking your

Chris Alessi:
time out? Years, and I didn't know that you did that in

Steve Alessi:
class. Plant. I know. That's a great Yeah. That's

Chris Alessi:
such a good bid.

Steve Alessi:
I can imagine. I I would have had a force around me trying to get help in school. Thank you, teacher.

Chris Alessi:
They would send

Steve Alessi:
they would send us outside. But you just go take the test out there. But so just so you know, you planted some new, herbs. Mhmm. In the garden. They're looking great. Really? They're looking great. Yeah.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. So that's that's also a great

Steve Alessi:
Daily watering, every other day? Because

Chris Alessi:
herbs is gonna depend entirely on how much sun they're getting, but I would just pay attention to the soil. If the soil starts to look

Steve Alessi:
a little dry, just

Chris Alessi:
just swell. Herbs like water. That'd be fine.

Steve Alessi:
That in itself, you know, you build a sandbox, something for your kids to play in. Maybe they wanna put, you know, a box, get one of those plastic pools and fill it up like we do when we have the events at the Dadeland campus. Put some sand in it. They get in there. They just play. Forever. They like that. You know, the the the

Chris Alessi:
I have that book right there up next. I wrote while I was living in my apartment. Yeah. The biggest issue that I I kept finding was if I was inside, my TV was there, my Xbox was there, chores were there, and I could never get myself to actually sit down and write indoors. But I had a little tiny balcony no bigger than that couch, and if I could find a way to get out there, I I wouldn't literally, just being outside, the the TV wouldn't call to me. The Xbox wouldn't call to me. The chores wouldn't call to me. And so I had to find a hobby that would get me out there, so I did.

Chris Alessi:
Before I knew it, I'm finding considerable time to write and get a book out, and I think that's what's actually helped me become a writer. Yeah. So if that's if that's kind of the result of if I'm indoors, there's all of these things calling to me. Mhmm. But if I go outside, things slow down, and maybe the best of me starts to come out, that's really what started what eventually became a love for gardening, which has created a great life for Marino because I think of the the guy I used to be that would never wanna go outside. That would have been so hard

Steve Alessi:
Yeah.

Chris Alessi:
For Marino.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm.

Chris Alessi:
So I really do think, like you just said, all the science behind it. The reality is we're probably stressed out because we're not outdoors.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm. I rolled the windows out of my car the other day just to the the beautiful night, just to get fresh air in the car. You know, everything is, we're we're we're just always in. Everything's a bubble. We live in these little bubbles. Even the malls, you know, the reason the falls were so crazy. We loved going to the falls was because it got us outside at the mall as opposed to being at Dadeland where everything was inside. Of course, it's raining, you go to Dadeland.

Chris Alessi:
If it's

Steve Alessi:
not a beautiful day, you go to the falls. It gets you outside. So in our family, we and I don't consider myself like an outdoorsy guy, but I like to get out in the outdoors. So what do we do? We go hunting. When we go hunting, we're up super early. We'll get out there in pitch black, run, you know, run around in this darkness to get to our tree stand. And we love seeing that daybreak, sunrise, all the birds, all the nature. That just does something.

Steve Alessi:
That's so reinvigorates us. We love being out there. Then when we are at the farm, we're pretty much, you know, we try to come in at night to watch some television because all day long, we are outside. We're working on something. There's always a project. We jump on the the four wheelers or the tractor. We get outside. Couple weeks, we're going up, get ready for camp.

Steve Alessi:
I cannot wait to get on that tractor and just run up and down those those, fields to clean things up. It it's so it's intoxicating. Once you get out, you get used to it. You wanna do it more and you feel good. Because then we come in at night and we're like, let's watch a series or a movie. Five minutes in, we're all dozing. We're exhausted. Do you

Chris Alessi:
know they say if you take one swipe through your popular page on Instagram, just take take a minute and just kinda look through that. They say that you have been exposed to more information right there than whole lifetimes of people that were born in the twenties and the thirties that we have now become so accustomed to being exposed to content and information. It can't be good for us. So then you get outside, you put your phone down, and all of a sudden, it's like we catch up with the pace that every other generation that's ever lived lived at. Mhmm. And that's that's the important thing. I don't think technology is bad. I just think that, you know, when you get outside, it's like when you know what's crazy? If we go into the woods, that's the exact same pace Jesus would have walked around at.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. It's the exact same pace that anybody that came after and anyone that came before would have experienced life at. Like, the pace of nature doesn't change, and that's really a cool thought that it's like, okay. That's actually the pace that my brain probably needs to be operating at. Meanwhile, we can go doom scroll and be exposed to more information than any of those generations ever were. Like, at some point, that's not healthy. So I I I I really do think the word is healing. You get outside, put your phone down, and before you know it, your brain literally starts to change.

Chris Alessi:
And that's what Georgia's done for us. Yeah. It's like it's become less of an actual vacation for our family and more of, like, a vacation for our hearts and minds.

Steve Alessi:
I don't know much of a vacation. We don't vacate much at all. That's my point. Well, but but the pain is different.

Christopher Muiña:
Well, the I think we all get our tanks filled through that active rest that they call it, and it's by being outside.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm.

Christopher Muiña:
I mean, Steph and I, we on our days off, we find a way to just be outside, whether it's a bike ride. We have the zoo annual pass, so we'll go to the Zoom walk around. Last Friday, we walked the Cubiscayne Bridge with the kids. We will go to the beach. Whenever we book a vacation, it's to an outdoor place Yeah. Because it's how we get refreshed. Yep. And it I've noticed if I don't have that at least one day on our Friday or Saturday or days off, if I don't go out and spend outside, it the next week, more more tired or the stress isn't gone.

Christopher Muiña:
It's like it doesn't refresh you

Steve Alessi:
Right.

Christopher Muiña:
Like you should. Just one day. So think about

Chris Alessi:
the effect on our kids.

Christopher Muiña:
Yeah.

Chris Alessi:
Because if we need that and, you know, like you said, I didn't get an iPhone until I was in college. And even that, the iPhones weren't what they are now. Our kids are gonna grow up in a world where that technology is just so they're gonna be so inundated by it. We're helping them establish healthier rhythms even now.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah.

Chris Alessi:
By being outdoors.

Christopher Muiña:
Yeah. And our our kids wanna like you mentioned, they wanna do what we like to do.

Chris Alessi:
Mhmm.

Christopher Muiña:
At least that was my experience growing up. I I just wanted to be with my dad. Yeah. Whatever he was into, I wanted to be into. Yeah. So if we're into, you know, hunting and fishing and, you know, bike riding, whatever that is, gardening, then our kids most likely are gonna wanna like that and do that as well. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
Something as simple as getting outside with your kid and washing your own car. Yeah. You know, teaching your kids. They're gonna make a mess. They're gonna make a mess. They're gonna spill the the bucket, and, you know, all your suds are gonna have to be refilled up again. Something as simple as that. Getting your kids out.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. Get them wet. Hit them with the hose because it's cool. They're they're excited. Something anything that can entice them to get out and you're doing things out of the house is good for them. It's great

Christopher Muiña:
for them.

Steve Alessi:
And it wears them out. You wanna wear your kids out so they're not staying up forever late at night. They sleep better that way. We notice it when we spend we have what we call grandparent day, and you guys are, you know, kind enough to bring the kids over. And we start usually in the house, to settle down a little bit, get them something. But then when you guys are gone, we try to get them outdoors, and we get them on the swings. To me, all of that was such a great investment to put up a little swing outside, get the golf cart. You know, it's such a good investment.

Steve Alessi:
When it's that time, mom and I put them on the cart, and we just go through the neighborhood to get them outside, turn on the the radio and our our phones, music, and they're listening to all this music. And next thing you know it, they're falling asleep. Out of sight. Then they all lock out. It's perfect. And we bring them back home, put them in the beds, and they'll sleep for an hour or so, if not more. But it's that outdoors that really does it for them. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
Right? Right now, we got swim lessons going on. Trying to help your kids learn how to swim. Get them out of the house. We wanna put them in the pool. Yeah. You're saying?

Chris Alessi:
Well, no. It's funny because as we're looking for our next house, you know, there is a nonnegotiable. Rochelle has hers. I have mine. But the only one we agree on is we need a yard with enough space Yeah. For a garden, for Marino to throw the ball around with his future friends and his cousins, which is essentially like his brother right now. I want chickens. Mhmm.

Chris Alessi:
We we wanna be able to do all that because I don't want my kids when he's 12 and 13, the only thing he can talk about is, you know, the sports, like the Dolphins and whatever game he's into. Yeah. I wanna raise my son to be going out, grabbing eggs, bringing them inside. Mhmm. Going like, the other day, Gia, at your parents' house, was picking up the chickens, and it's so cool that both of her grandparents own chickens. She's surrounded by that, and there's just something healthy about it, and it'll follow them into their life. Mom, to this day, talks about the garden her grandfather had, the the things they used to do as children. That means what we're raising our kids doing now will like, those stories will follow them when they're grandparents.

Chris Alessi:
Yeah. So it's important to to put a little intentionality behind this season of their life. Yes. It takes more work, but, you know, we we all have a a coach, and he he really challenges to win what he calls phase three of the day. Phase one, you're, you know, you're in the morning before anyone wakes up. Phase two, when you're at work, win phase three like you'd wanna win at work. Win the driveway. When you go at home, don't just turn off and turn on the TV so your kid will leave you alone.

Chris Alessi:
Go and win. Yeah. And part of that is getting them outdoors and building a chicken coop like you guys did and, you know, gardening for me and letting Marino ruin a thing or two. Like, we took him to a park yesterday after work, and he chased birds forever. And, like, yeah, it's nerve wracking as heck, but it's like, you know what? Okay. Let him ruin.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah.

Chris Alessi:
Because these are the stories that when he's 50, they'll be like, I remember my parents raised us chickens.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. Yeah. No. Very important. And here in South Florida, we have so many things you can do. Yeah. To, like you said, the beach, go walk the bridge.

Chris Alessi:
That zoo's great.

Steve Alessi:
We the zoo. Yeah. We we've done that as a family. All met up and did that. Thanks to the Bernaldos who bought us, yearly passes and the family, Mary and I. So that's cool. We found the place down south the other day. Mary and I took the grandkids to.

Christopher Muiña:
Oh, yeah.

Steve Alessi:
That was phenomenal. That was all outside. Can't remember the name of it. Berry Farm? What was it? Berry Farm, I think. Berry Farm. And, perfect weather for it. And we spent, like, two hours out there, had lunch, but just getting them jumping around, getting dirty. I had to take when we got home, I had to wash all of their shoes because it was so dusty.

Steve Alessi:
But it was cool to get them out there. Just push them. The Everglades, we have a beautiful eco ecosystem out here that is just so beautiful. Go out, you see snakes, you see gators in a distance, you see fish, you see all those things that's right in our backyard. That's really educational for the kids too. Get them interested in those kind of things. It's so important just to get them out of the house, and I would say especially of young boys.

Chris Alessi:
Oh, yeah. They need it. Well, you know, they say that young boys, they learn to talk later. They learn to read later. They learn all that later. That's not the case for our boys, but, like, they're both pretty smart. I think part of that's because, a, we raise them in in church literally every day. They're around a lot of people.

Chris Alessi:
But I think the other reason is our kids are outside, and so they see a bird. So when they come inside and we have a little flashcard, and it's like, wait a minute. What's that? He'll say bird. Yeah. Because he chases them forever. He loves animals. He loves all that. He loves those outdoor things.

Chris Alessi:
So even at two and eighteen months, our our boys are they're not behind.

Christopher Muiña:
Mhmm.

Chris Alessi:
And the other reason is because Gianna's a great teacher. Little g. She's patient. Yeah.

Steve Alessi:
She is. So funny. Well, your boys are, I know at least Matthew is. We'll see how Marino. Marino is very cautious. Big feet. He's cautious. Matthew's gonna break an arm.

Chris Alessi:
And maybe not only maybe not even his. Maybe somebody

Steve Alessi:
else is. He's pretty daring. He he's very daring. He's climbing up that playground at the house, and he's going down the slide. He did it head first the other day. And then remember when he was jumping up, and when he jumped up, he'd come over and just give me high five. He was so proud of himself. And then 18 old, and then he's running around the back climbing.

Steve Alessi:
That's that second child thing. There's something about that. First child's a little more. Well, then, Harish,

Chris Alessi:
the other day at the pool in Stuart, the kid wouldn't come off the edge of the pool until I'm ready to go inside. Yep. And then it was like he just learned in an instant

Christopher Muiña:
how

Chris Alessi:
to belly flop. Choke. Choke. Choke. Choke. I'm talking like I thought I thought at some point, I'd see blood come out of his nose because he was going face first into the water, like, a hundred times over.

Steve Alessi:
Yeah. That's it. Put them in that environment. They're gonna acclimate and try things and be daring. That's what it should be about. And it's okay if they turn an ankle, break a arm. It's okay because you're you. Well, that's what you got insurance for, and it's a great story.

Steve Alessi:
I broke my arm two times growing up. Are you kidding? Home's trying to impress a girl climbing up a palm tree. Yeah. Chris broke his Still can't bend it. Still can't bit it because I thought he was faking. Yeah. He did. He broke his finger, and I thought he was pretending.

Steve Alessi:
So I wouldn't take him to the doctor until they finally told me, for

Chris Alessi:
three weeks that the the guy over at the school would make me stick

Chris Alessi:
my hand in in ice cold water.

Steve Alessi:
Then he'd take it off,

Chris Alessi:
and he'd bend it. And when we got there, the doctor's like, yeah. This thing's completely shattered.

Steve Alessi:
That was terrible. Oh my gosh.

Chris Alessi:
And look. I'm fine.

Steve Alessi:
You're fine. You survived. Oh my. Well, that's the important thing that we're trying to put out here is that of our kids, boys, girls, we gotta get them outside, and it's gonna be on us to do so. Yep. If you have an outdoorsy kinda kid, don't be so lazy that you stay in and keep them from being able to go out there. No. Go ahead and do it.

Steve Alessi:
Get them into soccer. Get them in sports. Don't put them in dance. Get them get them outside. Come on. And let them let them develop into who they're supposed to be. They're gonna be a little daring. They're gonna get dirty.

Steve Alessi:
Be okay with dirty. It's okay that they go to sleep sometimes dirty. They don't have to be, you know, just these perfect little clean little things that you have inside your house. They're meant to be outside. Teach them how to shoot. Teach them how to throw a ball. Teach them how to hunt. Teach him what plants are which and what snakes are are which.

Steve Alessi:
Mhmm. That's what I like when we do go fishing with, Moina because he knows the fish. He knows which is legal size. He knows all those things, And somebody taught him that. And that's cool. Last story I gotta tell you. It's not just for guys. It is for girls.

Steve Alessi:
So you mentioned mom earlier and how cool it was that she can tell you about going out on walks with her grandfather. And when we go to the woods at the farm, she's always like, you know, stomp your feet when we're walking in the woods. Have heavy feet. Because it unsettles any snakes that went nearby. So we go to a lumber mill. You've been we've been there. Both of you have been there. And we needed some wood, so she's with me.

Steve Alessi:
And the guy who owns it says, hey, listen. And we had two builders with two two other worker guys with us because they were gonna help load up the wood that we were getting. And the the owner of it says, hey, man. I got a blue hole, which was a pond like, in the back. Come come on. I wanna show you my blue hole. So we go walking up into the woods about 50 to a hundred yards up into the woods to see this blue hole. It's beautiful.

Steve Alessi:
The water, it was a spring coming up out of the ground, and it was just gorgeous. A natural resource right there. So as we come walking up, mind you, there's four men. Alright? And one woman. And these guys that are there are all outdoorsy. We walk up to this blue hole. We're all looking in it, and mom was the only one who said, hey. There's a water moccasin.

Steve Alessi:
Right on the bank was a water moccasin snake.

Chris Alessi:
Oh my god.

Steve Alessi:
Sitting right there, we're literally, like, three or four feet away from it. All those guys, not one guy saw this snake. Even noticed it? We even noticed it, but your mom did. And it was all because when she was a kid, her grandfather used to walk her out into the woods. So we're talking about not just having boys, that as fathers, we put out in the outdoors, we can also do it with girls as well. So that was ultimately what we wanted to share with you today on the family business with the Alessis. Come on. Be outdoorsy.

Steve Alessi:
Be adventurous. Get the kids outside off of the couch and outside into the dirt. Hopefully, you encouraged today to do so. Take care, and thanks for listening.

Chris Alessi:
You've just enjoyed another episode of the family business podcast with the Alessis, and we can't thank you enough for being a part of our podience today. Now that you've learned more about us, here's how you can join in in the family business. First, make sure you're following our podcast right now and download this episode so you can hear it at any time. Second, think of someone you know that might need or enjoy this episode and share it with them. You'll be helping them and helping us to spread the word about the family business. Third, go to alessefamilybusiness.com and tap the ask the alessees button. This is really cool. You could use it to record a voicemail comment or question, and we can add your voice to our conversations.

Chris Alessi:
Finally, while you're on our page, tap the reviews tab and you'll see a link to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. We love reading your reviews and we might even share them on the show. Thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you next time at the Family Business with the Alessis because family is everybody's business.