Geo-what!?!

This weekend I had a crazy idea thanks to some of my crazy fun mom friends. One of them brought up geocaching and was thinking about taking her family.  I had heard of geocaching but I hadn't really put much thought into it because that is something people with perfect children who have a lot of time to kill living in far off exotic places do on perfect weekend afternoons.  Geocaching would be a fun activity if we were those people but we aren't...

However I couldn't let it go.  I decided to do my own research on the subject.  I watched YouTube videos, looked at the OFFICIAL website, and downloaded the free app.  I discovered there were 13 caches near us most within walking distance, if I wanted to do that...

I decided to try to sell this idea to Mac first.  He gave me his infamous single raised eyebrow "you are crazy" skeptical look.  He tried to act interested and started asking questions which only frustrated me because I really didn't have a clue exactly what it was that we were going to do.  Being the super trooper that he is, he half heartedly agreed.

Next I decided to get A1 on board.  I knew if she went along with it 2 and 3 would follow suit.  I told her we were going to go to the park and use my phone to find buried treasure.  We wouldn't know what we were going to find but it wouldn't be money or gold. It would just be fun to see if we were smart enough to find what someone left behind. I also explained that if we take something from the container we would have to leave something for the next person.  She thought this sounded like an awesome adventure.

We talked about going and then it rained and rained and rained.  Finally there was a break in the rain Sunday afternoon so we took our chance.  We loaded up the girls (yes, we even took a 15 month old with us).  Mac was finishing up some yard work but he planned on joining us as soon as he finished. 

We got to the park.  I forgot the stroller.  I didn't have a baby sling. I prepared for a combo of baby carrying and baby fussing to walk.  We had a long journey ahead, even if our first cache was only .21 mi away.  I let A1 navigate.  She held my phone and told us the path to take.  We took the scenic route.

Excitement built as we made our little blue dot on the app get closer to the little green tear drop on my phone.  It was like we were living a real life video game.  We got close enough to were my phone beeped saying we had arrived and we should find our treasure.  We were surrounded by mud and puddles and more mud.  Our only choice was to get muddy in order to find the mystery medicine bottle. 

Mac met us at this point and questioned the legality of what we were doing.  I shrugged it off.  It has to be fine, I have an app.  We started tromping through brushes and flower beds.  I gave the girls strict instructions not to step on anything and for the most part they didn't step on anything.  We searched and searched but found nothing.  Mac and I decided that because of all the rain and mud we wouldn't be able to find this cache, at least not this time. 

We informed the girls we were abandoning the mission.  We were searching for another one.  This brought complaints from A2.  She was hungry, tired, and didn't want to walk any more. Like a good parent I bribed her with McDonald's.  She had a sudden refreshed interest in finding our next treasure. 

Good news we were only .17 mi away.  I gave directions this time and let A1 carry the phone.  We arrived at the location much quicker this time.  The girls really liked this hunt because they got to climb on a pile of giant rocks.  They felt like really explorers.  I spotted the bottle first and called the girls over to find it.  A1 ran over a followed my directions better than A2 who was more interested in standing on top of a flat rock singing "Freak Flag" (please don't judge.  I promise it is kid friendly!).

With great excitement A1 found the bottle.  It was like finding a golden egg at a giant Easter egg hunt.  We opened the bottle and found a phone number, a beer bottle cap, an eraser, a whistle, and a paper for us to sign.  We unanimously agreed to leave all the contents in the bottle.  We left our signature, The A Team, and dated the paper. 

Our spirits were high.  We triumphed.  We found the great treasure.  We were ready to find the next one.

We should have stopped.  Our next location was ankle deep in a giant puddle.  We left the park after getting a little muddy and wet.  We only found 1 out of 3 caches but we feel that the 2 we didn't find were weather related.  We will find them next time.

The girls we really tired but it was a good happy tired. They took baths in record time.  Ate there dinner without arguing.  A2 even asked for 3rds.  Everyone went to bed with minimal problems. 

This morning A1 woke up and asked when we were going to go on our next hunt.  She loved it and wanted to go again.  My crazy mom idea paid off.  It was a victory.  We will be going geocaching again.  Next time I will remember the baby sling and snacks.  We won't venture out after a torrential downpour.   

Oh and geocaching isn't for people with perfect children who have a lot of time to kill, living in far off exotic places looking for something to do a on perfect weekend afternoon.  Geocaching is for everyone, even people with 4 year olds who choose to sing "Freak Flag."  Although next time I will wait for closer to perfect weather.


A2 full on concert mode.  Complete with dance moves.



A3 was just happy to be outside.



A1 and her great discovery.