Geocache Fever!

We've finally done it! Steve is figuring out his GPS and I've gotten him out of the house long enough to find our first geocache! I'm so proud of us! We used Saturday to spend some much needed leisurely family time together. Between soccer games and practices, meetings, work, school, yardwork and life, we haven't been all together as just a family in a very long time!

After a brief stop at Wal-Mart for fishing licenses and lunch we drove north and then east

(???? Don't quote me on that direction!)

to Curlew Lake. Our first stop was at Curlew Lake State Park where we disturbed the peace and quiet for a family of geese who had taken over the day area. They were pretty cute but mom and dad wouldn't let us get close enough to get good pictures.

Steve and Dylan discovered this little mama squirrel transporting her babies from one nest to another. Her babies were almost as big as she was! They curled into a little ball as she held them in her mouth and ran with them! We watched her move 5 babies. Not sure how many she did before we came.

Steve startled the little squirrel so all you see in this picture is a puff of dust with a tail! Believe me, though, there is a baby in her mouth!

After a short bout of swimming and some lunch we took off on the nature trail from the campground. Lots of deer, red-winged black birds, turtle and prickly trees! Not exactly what I was thinking of when I said I wanted to get out and hike but a nice walk all the same!

We tried our hand at catching the tiger muskie we could see in lake but, in the wise words of my granny - "If you can see the fish, they can see you and they aren't dumb!" Besides, I'm pretty sure you need something special to catch those monsters! Holy canoli! Dylan was pretty excited to catch a wide mouth bass (Or at least that's what he called it! I took his word for it :)) but we threw it back as it was pretty little.

And then came the adventure part of our day! Several of our friends are geocache diehards so for Steve's birthday, the kids and I got him a handheld GPS. He has spent the last several months playing with it and talking to Jeff about how to geocache with it. We found our first cache just off the road in an old stump. It was a pretty exciting find!

This is Steve writing in the log book that comes with the cache and the kids standing by the stump where the cache was found.

We found our second cache a bit further down the road in another old stump and our third at the Republic Cemetery. I think this was the kids favorite as there was money to be had in this one! See it sticking out of Dylan's geocache pouch? (Which he took from the previous cache!) Some geocaches have items left by previous visitors. The idea is to take something and then leave something. Dylan traded a Pokemon character and a ring for his new treasures. I'm not sure what Lyndsi traded in but she ended up with a dollar and some Glo Stick barrettes.

Our final discovery was in the town of Republic. Steve and the kids don't realize yet that they are passing it by in this picture. It turned out to be in the cement block next to them! One more geocache stumped us and we were unable to find it - our first roadblock!

We then checked out the Stonerose Fossil site which is right in the town of Republic. We've made it our goal to head back there sometime to try our hand at palaeontology. After some window shopping and a mexican dinner in the town of Republic, we headed for home. Guess who fell asleep in the car? Yep - Lyndsi and I! We both have the lovely knack of being able to sleep in a moving car - heaven!

Steve and Dylan spent the night in the hammocks and now Steve and the kids are off on another fishing excursion. My days of leisure are done. The rest of the weekend will be dedicated to catching up on laundry and yardwork. I'm going to do my best to get the deck stained today! Wish me luck!

I hope you all have some fun this weekend!