Letterboxing

Today has had its trying moments, to be sure, since among other reasons, my two eldest were suffering from an obvious case of stayed-up-too-late-itis. (On days like this one thanks one's Maker for the third child who, being too young to handle Ratatouille for a family movie night, went to bed at a decent hour and was sunny-tempered all day except for the inevitable dressing angst, made worse by the fact that Big Sister had a (gasp!) New Outfit -- and she did not!)

BUT, there's good news. We embarked on a new family hobby today, sort of a low-tech version of geocaching, if you know what that is. Since the budget does not allow for the acquisition of GPS units, that particular pastime is off limits to us -- but no matter, because we have discovered the joys of letterboxing! Way fun! Basically, all you need is a stamp (make your own or buy one) and a notebook, and some clues from the letterboxing site, which tells you everything you need to know (if the kids are lukewarm at first, have them explore the "Kids" section of the site). We went in search of two boxes today for our maiden voyage, and in the process discovered a charming little lake we hadn't known about, complete with geese, koi, sunning turtles, and a Hispanic wedding party. It took some doing, but we actually found both boxes, using our printed-out clues, and -- get this -- since we happened to be the first ones to find these, we garnered an Amy's Ice Cream gift certificate from each! Woohoo! The kids took turns imprinting our stamp in the logbook and then stamping the image from the box in our own notebook. I have visions of poison ivy rearing its flaming head tomorrow, but at least for now, I would call the trip an unqualified success. And there are boxes all over the U.S. -- so check it out!