Newbie Geocachers

Looking for something fun to do on a budget this summer? Why not try
geocaching!
This outdoor hobby is becoming quite popular, and with a handy
website database, you can participate all over the world.
As most kids like to go treasure hunting, this makes for a great
family adventure, with fresh air and good exercise to boot.

Some people go out and purchase a GPS device specifically for this
purpose, while others just use their iPhone, Blackberry device, or
the GPS on their portable navigation system like TomTom, or Garmin.
From what I've heard from the people I've bumped into on our
adventures, the Garmin is the way to go. I can't tell you how many
times my TomTom has been off course, even though I had just updated
the coordinates or satellite. Mind you, as far as driving directions
go, my TomTom is awesome! We never get lost! But when you are
trying to find a treasure in the middle of the woods, you don't want
to be off by 40 feet, or it makes it exponentially harder to find.
Some caches (treasure) we managed to find even being off course,
though it took several tries. Other times we were spot on.

The last one we went to, we were so far off that the family who hid
it offered to help us find it. I'm glad they did, it was no where
near where we were looking! We had a good time exploring through the
woods. One thing I like about the Kitchener-Waterloo area where we
have been geocaching, is that the other geocachers are very friendly
and helpful. And each forested area we visit seems to have it's own
character, so it's never like going to the same place twice. If you
are into nature walks, bird watching, or any type of nature study
then geocaching would be a great hobby for you to try out.

My kids like to search for new and interesting bugs while we are out,
and we take photos of them to research when we get home.

My Little Artist

This is Evan, my 5 year old. He is so crafty! He will stay up waaay
past bed time inventing craft projects if only his little eyes would
stay open all night.

When he found out that there were no Transformers trading cards, he
decided to solve that problem right away by making his own. He has
folded a paper several times to make it as sturdy as a real card, and
then stapled it (with a child safe stapler) to make sure it stays in
place. He has several of these that he gives me, and others that he
brings to the park to make sure there is enough for anyone else who
is needing some Transformers to play with. His favourite ones are
Optimus Prime, and Megatron. I'm sure these would do perfectly well
for a Flat Stanley project. Maybe I'll look into that..

Emma's first bite

We were at the park with the kids and a friend of mine was sharing her crackers.  I was offered some, and before I could put it in my mouth, Emma reached out and grabbed it with both hands!  I thought, she's just about ready to dolids now, so I let her taste it.  She stuck it in her mouth, and after a few jabs she took the tiniest little bite!  The rest didn't really make it to her tummy, though she did enjoy gumming at it and watching it crumble in her fingers.