Letterboxing

Our family started a new hobby this weekend.  Letterboxing!

Putting the stamp in our journal.

We've heard about it from some friends recently and thought that with our increased focus on hiking and family time, this seemed like a perfect fit.

Here's how it works.

You need: notebook, stamp to represent your family or group, ink pad, and clues.

You can go one of several letterboxing websites (try this one or this one) and find boxes in your area. Or if you are traveling, you can plug in that location and find some there.

We picked four semi-local sites to start. Two were right in our town. The first one was the library, which we needed to visit anyway, so we searched there. However, due to some construction in the past few years, this box was missing. We were a little disappointed since it was our first try, but we knew this was a possibility. The next box was listed as being five blocks from the library, so we headed on down the street.

We had success at the next stop, and although the chocolate shop was closed so we couldn't buy any candy, we loved the chocolate stamp!

Our family stamp: an oak leaf. We put our stamp into the notebook at the location.

The box with supplies: ink pad, stamp, and notebook.

It was hidden under a bush in a camouflage sack.

We needed to drive to another town for the next one. The clues on this one were much more vague. We actually had to Google pieces of the clue to find the general location. Maybe we would have known it if we lived in the town, but it was a neighborhood with a pond. The name of the neighborhood was hidden in the clue, and we had never heard of it. Once we found the neighborhood, the clues guided us right to our destination.

Can you see it hiding under there?

Our Beatrix Potter lover loved this one - it was Miss Moppet.

Everyone needs a little sass on an adventure.

And our third site was a short drive from there.

Jemima and The Gentleman for our BP lover.

Hand carved stamp.

Certainly, we liked the adventure. Having clues and an unknown destination is very appealing to us. I felt like we were on The Amazing Race, and the kids pretended to be a variety of explorers. But what sealed the deal for me was when I realized we were finding out about new places in our area that we wouldn't otherwise know.

Our third stop was in a nature preserve in a town where I've never spent any time. We had no idea it was there and would never have taken the time to look for it. It's fantastic getting to see new places in your local area. I think it would also be great to do on trips, to see some things off the beaten path, or if you find yourself moving to a new area. What better way to find out all your area has to offer?

Letterboxing was a huge hit in our family. It's definitely a keeper. We can make a whole day out of finding many, or we can just do one at a time.

What hobbies do you do as a family?

Cooking Class #3: Stuffed Mushrooms and Chocolate Cake

Curly is really enjoying his time in the kitchen. I mean, he doesn't always want to stop reading or playing to get in the kitchen, but once he's in there... it's pretty smooth sailing.

This time our task was stuffed mushrooms and a warm chocolate cake.

I'm not sure where either recipe is from originally. My mom gave me the stuffed mushrooms, and an old friend gave me the cake. Both are pretty simple and very tasty. Neither falls into the healthy category, either, but have I mentioned they are tasty?

We started with the mushrooms. I had to help him with the stems because the mushrooms were pretty fragile. But otherwise, he was on his own again. He learned the importance of softening the cream cheese, how to cream ingredients together, measuring, and drizzling with butter. He struggled a little more with this recipe because you really need to get your hands dirty to make these. He has a very hard time with messy hands, so a lot of the steps were "disgusting" in his words. He did enjoy the end result, though!

Then we moved on to the cake. This is ridiculously simple. You just need a chocolate cake mix, cook-and-serve chocolate pudding mix, milk, and mini chocolate chips. Make the pudding according to the directions on the package, then stir in the cake mix. Once it's all mixed together, put it into a greased 9x13 and sprinkle generously with the chips. Bake 30 minutes at 350 and serve warm. 

It does take constant stirring, which wore his skinny, little arm out, but it was a good lesson in stirring so something doesn't burn.

Once again, we all really enjoyed the fruits of his labor!

Cooking Class #2 - Taco Dip

This might not exactly fall into the healthy food category, but this is a treat our whole family loves. I think the recipe is originally a Pampered Chef recipe from the very early days of our marriage. Now it's a treat we have on a movie night with the kids.

Curly made this one with Papa's supervision. It's super easy, so it's one he can make on his own any time. And when we decide to have it, he runs right to the fridge to make sure we have all the ingredients. He's a pro after the first try. ;)

This was a fun one because we don't measure any of the ingredients, so he was learning how to guesstimate. A useful skill for a cook.

Here he is.

He might have not been so excited by the look of the refried beans.

Learning how to judge spices by sight.

How to make it?

1 can of refried beans
1 package cream cheese, softened
1 cup(ish) sour cream
shredded Mexican cheese
cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin to taste

Layer bottom of pan (we use our round Pampered Chef stone) with the beans. Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, and spices. Layer these over the beans. Top with a layer of shredded cheese. Pop into the oven (350) for about 20 minutes.

That's it! I like it with some salsa on the side for extra spice.

Saturdays

Last fall we were crazily busy. It was too much, all the time. All of our weekends were booked before the fall even began.

It was full of good activities, too. Things the kids really wanted to do. Curly was in a production at a community theater, and that took up a ton of our time. Then there was scouts, scouts, and more scouts, or at least so it seemed. There were other things, too, that seem to have slipped my mind.

In the middle of it, I declared that we weren't doing that again this fall, and I have stayed true to my word. I said no one could participate in an activity this fall that required Saturdays. They could only do things during the week.

We needed a season of rest from busy weekends. And I have been making an extra effort to take full advantage of those Saturdays to have lots of family time and enjoy fall activities. Here's what we have been doing...

hiking...

digging in the dirt...

bike riding...

dropping leaves in the water...

reading someone else's shirt during a picture...

reading other things...

 scooting...

 training for American Ninja Warrior...

 more bike riding...

What we've been doing is all the seemingly mundane things in life. And we are all loving it.

Science Friday - Owls

We can be a little nerdy sometimes. Maybe a lot of times. I'll let you decide.

One of my dearest friends has a blog based on nerdiness. Can't get better than that.

We were talking this summer about science for the kiddos, and we decided to Science Fridays together, taking a cue from NPR.

First up was owls.

Owls from art class.

 We started learning about owl last week by researching. Curly is writing a report, and we are all working on lapbooks together. 

We also are working on a lab report. We got this template from The Crafty Classroom to use in learning the scientific method. 

The kids each came up with their own question, did some research, and made their question testable. We knew we would be working with owl pellets with the Nerdys (here is her take on the owl pellets; she does a great job of showing resources), so I steered their questions in that direction. After the pellets, we are compiling our data, analyzing it, and creating a report.

Last Friday night we went to the Nerdys' house to dissect pellets with her scientist husband. Poor Little Bear cried when he discovered a skull inside his pellet. I liked seeing how all the different kids approached the pellets in different ways. 

If you had told me fifteen years ago that I would be spending my Friday nights dissecting owl pellets, I never would have believed you.