Meanwhile, A Little Geocaching

I'd read about geocaching several years ago in a Family Fun magazine and it was one of those things I thought sounded fun and we'd have to try one day. Geocaching is defined as "a treasure hunting game where you use a GPS to hide and seek containers with other participants in the activity." Recently, a desire to spend more family time in the great outdoors led me to look further into it. After reading a few tips, rules, and guidelines on a geocaching website we decided to try our hand at it. Flatrock Park is the first place we decided to try it out. After picking our first hunt from geocaching.com, we entered the co-ordinates into my GPS and set out. We weren't successful with that first hunt and decided to come back to it later. I decided to download a geocaching app on my iPhone, that made the whole process a little more fun and, truthfully, easier. 

I had the girls stop and pose at the top of the cliffs at Flatrock as we searched for our first cache. Even though it was a no go, the hunt was fun and it was a gorgeous hike. 

After downloading the app on my phone, we had success! Search number 2 lead us to "Tweety's retreat" where we signed the log and traded a sand bracelet for a wounded warriors pin. We were out of time and headed home after this one. 

The next week, on Bella's birthday, with iPhone in hand, we went back to find that illusive first cache. Didn't take us long to find it stashed under this rock. See it tucked underneath? We had walked right by it several times before.

For this one we traded a star eraser for a glass stone. 

Success had us fired up so we decided to find another one. This one required a little more of a hike. It was perfect. With a goal in mind there was no complaining about going uphill or how far we were walking. Kassy located this one.

Our trade this time was a magnet for a plastic lizard. 

A few weeks later we were the only ones to show for a playgroup at the park. The kids were a little disappointed, so I pulled out my phone, opened the geocaching app, and in a few minutes we were on a hunt and having fun. So, turns out we've found a favorite past time. We enjoy the great outdoors, spend quality time together, come out with little treasures, and after the initial purchase of the app, it's free!