Anniversary Weekend

Last year, Mike and I went to Chicago for a long week-end to celebrate our 25th anniversary.  We had a wonderful time and ended the weekend attending a letterboxing event in Lake Bluff, IL.  This winter has been incredibly busy and stressful.  Mike wanted us to get away for a few days again this year.  We headed to Chicago for a few days break.

We left around 7:00am on Saturday.  On our way to our destination, we tried to get 3 letter boxes.  The first location was gated and we could  not enter.  The second location was in a park that hadn't been plowed all winter.  It too was inaccessible.  The third box was in a neighborhood park.  After trudging through piles of snow the box was found!   Not an auspicious beginning to our weekend, but we had fun anyway.  There is nothing like following behind someone trying to hop into his foot print while wearing clogs to bring levity to the morning. 

One of the things that Mike wanted to do was to see some of the homes that Frank Lloyd Wright had built in Oak Park.  The homes were gorgeous.  We were surprised that so many of them were for sale.  We drove by some of the houses and walked to others.  There were tons of people staring at the houses and driving down the streets where the homes were located.  Sometimes the traffic was so heavy that there was only one lane available for moving vehicles.  I think it would be quite difficult to live in a house that so many people want to see.  I would probably keep the curtains drawn at all times and never use the front yard. 

I had never been to an Ikea store before, so that was our next destination.  It was fun looking at all the lighting options and seeing the variety of fixtures for bathrooms.  We're going to be working on the bathrooms in the project house next, so those types of products were foremost in our thoughts.

The second floor of the store is reached by using glass elevators or very open escalators.  After walking around the second floor, my nerves were at their breaking point.  I don't do well with heights and the glass rails around the drop off to the ground floor made me very nervous.  We decided not to see the third floor.  I enjoyed going to Ikea, but will probably not make the journey to go to another one.  It will be easier and less nerve-wrecking to make purchases online.

Lunch was next on the agenda.  Mike wanted to try the food at Joe's Crab Shack.  The food was good and we enjoyed the uniqueness of the experience.  There aren't many sea food places in our area, with the exception of Red Lobster.  We shared a sampler appetizer and bucket of crab and lobster.  What a treat!

We did a little shopping and then checked into our hotel.  For supper we headed to our favorite Chicago area pizza place...Giordano's  We arrived to a fairly quiet restaurant and ordered salad and a Chicago style deep dish pizza.  Before the pizza arrived,  the restaurant filled with a children's basketball league for the end of the season pizza party.  It was difficult to hear each other speak, but the pizza was worth it..  

The next morning, we did a little more letterboxing and managed to snag all the boxes we attempted.  Mike was a great sport and retrieved the boxes that were buried in the snow.

We attended a letterboxing event and met many new friends.  It made me smile when I would introduce myself by my trail name and would hear, "You're -------------!  I was hoping we could meet!  I love your shoe signature stamp!"  We met some boxers from Kalamazoo, which was surprising.  Hopefully, we'll run across her sometime when we're on the trail in our area.

After the event ended, we headed back home.  It was a lovely weekend and provided the rest and fun that Mike and I both needed.  On our way home, we remembered why we don't want to live in a large city.  It's great to visit, but not something we'd want to deal with everyday.

Letterboxing Day!

Amy, Madelyn and I spent several hours up in White Cloud, MI on Sunday letterboxing in the Manistee National Forest.  The Northern Trail was gorgeous.  The trail was well marked and had great clearance on all sides.  We found the trail head off of MI-37.  There were two different trails available and both had letterboxes!  The letter boxes were all marked as "1 mile or less" or "1-2 miles".  We thought that we would be able to get through at least 2 different trails.

 

Madelyn and Amy were enjoying the hike and discovering various plants and critters along the way.  Madelyn was in charge of photography.  We saw this clump of moss that reminded us of a turtle.
 

 

It was approximately 1/2 a mile hike to the first  box.  It was an easy find, but we got a little mixed up trying to find our way back to the main trail.      The hike to the next box on our list said that it was 1-2 miles.  It     ended up being 1-2 miles from the first box.  Each box on this trail was 1-2 miles from each other.  We            quickly realized that we would not be able to get all 4 trails in the area or even the two trails in this area!  I   was a little disappointed, but decided to enjoy our searches and try to return another time.                                                                                                                 

Madelyn loved this red fungus.

 

See the small toad on the leaf?  Madelyn thought that it would be a great little pet to take with her to cheer camp.  We left it there.

After we nabbed the final box on this trail, Amy checked her GPS.  We had traveled 6 miles and had 6 more mile to hike to return to our car.  A little further than the 1-2 mile walk we had planned!  In honor of our beautiful afternoon hike, we planted a letterbox along the trail.  I plan to label it as a 2-4 mile hike.  I don't want someone else to underestimate the amount of time to get these boxes.

The Great, The Bad, and the Painful

Mike and I left Friday morning for our Chicago weekend. It started snowing about an hour before we left, so there was a light dusting on the ground. After about 1/2 an hour after we left, the heavy, wet snow began to blanket the ground. We managed to do some letterboxing in southern Michigan and northern Indiana.

One box was hidden in the side of a barn at a museum. The drive and area surrounding the barn was very muddy. Mike offered to retrieve the box, while I stayed in the car. His hands were covered with mud after finally getting the box that was partially frozen in the mud.

We also managed to be first finders on a box inside a library. The library was really cute and had a pony from a merry-go-round by the door. I love seeing smaller town libraries. They have so much character and really provide a snap shot of the community.

When we reached the Chicago area, we discovered that they had received about 4 inches of very heavy snow. Mike agreed to try and collect some cemetery boxes before we checked into the hotel. The cemeteries did not have drives through them. We had to walk through snow and look in bushes for the boxes. We both ended up drenched, but had fun.

After checking into the hotel, we went to Giordano's Chicago Style Pizza. The pizza was fabulous! Mike requested that I figure out how to make the same crust and locate a source for mozzarella cheese. After dinner, we decided to see a movie. We found a theater, but didn't recognize any of the movie titles. Mike decided that we should see whatever was showing next. The movie was called The Artist. It was really slow and predictable. Eventually, Mike suggested that we leave early, so we headed back to our hotel.

The next morning, I had set the suitcase on the floor to get some clothing out. A few minutes later, I caught my little toe on the leg of the suitcase and broke my toe. After hopping around the room for a few minutes, I put on tight socks and forced my foot into a snug sneaker and we headed to the Art Institute of Chicago. We forgot about the time change and arrived pretty early.

Mike and I decided to walk around Millennium Park and looked at the sculptures. We also had time for bagels at a coffee shop across the street. It was so much fun looking around at the architecture and sculpture in the area. After a tasty meal, we headed to the Art Institute.

We hadn't been there in several years, so we really enjoyed seeing everything. We managed to get several photos of some great modern art that I'm planning to use in art lessons with the girls later this week. After a few hours, my foot was really painful, so we drove around Chicago and looked at various points of interest and the lake shore. Mike had purchased a GPS before the trip, so he programed it to take up to the next hotel without getting on a freeway. Let's just say that I'm very glad it was still daylight during our trip.

When we reached the hotel, Mike dropped me off before parking the SUV. I walked into the lobby and realized that all 10 floors were open to an interior courtyard with iron railings on one side of the hallways. I have a terrible fear of heights and was a little nervous about which floor our room was located. We checked in and headed to the glass elevator to go to the third floor. After closing my eyes on the journey up to our floor, I stepped out of the elevator and realized that there were railings on both sides of the hallway with 3 story drop offs on each side. Mike held my hand and guided me to the end of the hall to our room. We opened the door and were hit with a strong smell of smoke...almost like a bonfire smell. Mike called down and asked for a different room, because he has bad allergies.

We were reassigned a room on the fifth floor, directly above the room we had originally. Reliving the seemingly endless hallways isn't fun, so I won't go into further details. It was a tough situation, but I managed to do it. We didn't go out for dinner that night. My foot was badly swollen from walking all day and I didn't want to do more trips down the halls.

The next morning, I couldn't get my foot into my shoes, so I wore one sneaker and extra socks on the bad foot. We had breakfast at the hotel and drove up to a letterboxing event in Lake Bluff, IL at the SILO restaurant. Mike suggested we stop at Walgreens for some aspirin and discovered some men's slippers that look similar to Berkenstocks. The slippers were too large for me normally, but with the swelling and extra slippers, they worked great!

We had a little time before the event, so Mike and I found two drive-by letterboxes in the area. The event was fun! I was nervous about attending an event where we didn't know anyone. We immediately met a lovely couple from Minnesota who invited us to sit at their table. Everyone was so friendly and gracious during the event that I had a great time. Mike didn't have as much fun as I did, but said that it was better than he expected. I managed to get lots of boxes and exchanges and can put some trail-names with faces. There is another event at the end of April and I'll meet up with several of the same people then. It's so wonderful to meet people who enjoy the same hobby!

After the event, we headed back to Michigan. It was after 10 when we arrived, but all the kids were still awake. I really enjoyed our time away, but coming home to my wonderful family was even better.

More Free Time on my Hands

Having one homeschooled student is fun. We accomplish everything early each day. We have time to talk, play games, clean the house, cook real meals. On the other hand, Madelyn isn't used to having or desiring her teacher's undivided attention all day. She's taken to hiding out in other rooms to do her assignments instead of sitting at the table, where I wait patiently for her to complete her work.

To give her a break and bring her back to the dining room table, I've been doing letterbox trading cards or LTCs. After providing instruction and doing a few practice problems with Madelyn, I work on trading cards while she does school. She really appreciates NOT being the center of attention and I get to be a little creative.

LTCs are 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch cards that are stamped with a hand-carved rubber stamp and then decorated using various craft techniques. Each LTC trading tracker consists of between 12-50 participants. Each person makes enough cards for each person signed up in the tracker. The cards are then mailed to one person, who divides them among all the participants and then mails them back.

After creating and stamping all the LTCs, I plant the stamp with a logbook for someone to find as a traditional letterbox.

These are some of the LTCs that I've made this week.

Letterbooxing with Kim

Last Thursday, Mike had the day off and wanted to work on Amy's car, so I had the opportunity to go letterboxing with the friend who introduced me to letterboxing. We headed up to the Grand Rapids area and spent the day gathering boxes from cemeteries and a few parks. One of the parks was in Hudsonville. It had a baseball field, picnic area, small hiking trails, playground equipment, streams and a gazebo. I was surprised to see so many people wandering around with cameras. It seems that this park is the local place to take photos of family members. One person was even carrying a quaint chair to use in photos. Briefly, I considered gathering up my crowd and heading to the park for our yearly photos. The scenery is amazing. Then, reality set in. There is no way that we could all ride somewhere in the SUV for 2 hours and arrive with everyone's hair and clothing ready for photos.

One of the series of cemetery boxes had stamps from the Adam's Family. It was a cute idea and the carves were well executed. I'll probably return again another day with my children to let them collect these boxes. They would love to see these stamps. I can hear them now singing the song as we travel from box to box.

Kim and I had a lot of fun and it was wonderful to have a day of adult conversation, boxing, and laughter. Thanks Mike for making it possible to do this guilt free!

Fort Wayne Letterboxing

I managed to sneak away on Wednesday and do a little letterboxing with my good friend Melinda. We haven't seen each other since October! Life keep getting in the way whenever we planned to see each other.

We decided to drive down to Fort Wayne, IN. It was one of the few places where neither one of us has boxed yet. Before reaching Fort Wayne, we located a few boxes in Angola. There are four boxes in a public library in Fort Wayne that we decided to find next. We planned on taking about 30-45 minutes to find the boxes. It took longer.....a lot longer. Two of the boxes were easy to locate. The other two boxes were hidden in the stacks. I won't say how long it took us, but it was A LOT longer than it should have taken.

Fortunately, the library was fabulous! I loved the set up and the creativity that went into the design of the facility. They have tons of resources and books. It reminded me how much I miss the library in our former city.

This is the reading tower for children between the ages of 7 and 12. My children would have loved finding a cubby and reading in the tower.

This globe is inspiring. It's huge! I hope that someday I can take my children to spend an afternoon here. They would love it!

After finally locating all the boxes, Melinda and I decided to head back. We managed to try and collect a few boxes on the way home. One box was missing, but the other box was in a beautiful cemetery. We drove past a few more boxes on our way home. We'll have to head back soon to get those. Maybe we will be able to plant some boxes also. It was a wonderful day filled with laughter, silliness, and conversation. Just what I needed.

Letterboxing

Mike and I took the three youngest girls to Lake Michigan on Tuesday. We planned to letterbox and let the girls swim in the lake. There were 6 boxes that we were going to find. We didn't get any. The first set of 4 boxes were at a county park. The walk through woods to get to the lake was 90% uphill. The scene overlooking the valley was beautiful. There were a ton of mosquitoes. We walked at a pretty fast clip, because we had forgotten to bring bug spray. The trail eventually took us to the top of a massive dune overlooking the lake. The view was gorgeous!

The girls were hot a sticky, so Mike suggested that we take them down the dune to the lake and let them swim for a little while. The walk down the dune was difficult due to the extreme steepness. We made it to the bottom of the dune. Mike and I sat on the sand while the girls swam. The biting flies attacked us, so we spent a lot of time swatting them back and forth between the two of us. After about 30 minutes, my legs were bleeding, so the girls were told to gather up their things.

The box we wanted to find was at the top of the dune. As I looked up the HUGE dune, I realized that I was going to struggle. It was awful getting back us that hill. Everyone had to rest several times during the climb. While we rested the biting flies were attacking us. Eventually we had it back us the dune. Everyone was tired, sweaty, and bleeding. I suggested that we forget about the boxes and head back to the SUV.

Mike had read the clues and knew that we were fairly close to a couple of the boxes, so he persuaded us to venture into the woods to the side of the trail. While we stopped to reread the directions, the mosquitoes and biting flies were working together to make everyone miserable. Allie was frightened when she saw the blood running down my back and legs. After reassuring her that everything was ok, we continued to follow Mike. Finally, I suggested again that we skip the boxes for the day and return in the late fall. The bugs should be gone at that point. We could also avoid the walk up the dune, so we wouldn't be so tired.

We stopped at McDonald's for sandwiches for Mike and the girls. I had a yogurt parfait instead. McDonald's always puts my little girls in a good mood. It's such a big treat for them!

Although we didn't get any boxes, I did get a really good workout. My calves were are still a little sore today.

Sunday Update

Mike and I were going to go letterboxing this afternoon. I planned to add three boxes to my Dr. Who series and wanted to plant another series in Kalamazoo. We planned to leave after lunch. A few minutes before we were going to leave, Amy and Katie announced that they were heading to the movies to see The King's Speech and then were going to Panera for supper.

I was a little disappointed because I've been wanting to see that movie. The girls looked at me, smiled, and suggested that I go with them too. They knew that I would be jealous. Mike quickly seconded their suggestion. So instead of letterboxing today, I went to the movies.

The movie was wonderful. The Best Picture Award was well deserved. Colin Firth was excellent. An unexpected bonus was seeing Jennifer Ehle. I loved them in Pride and Prejudice and loved seeing them together again. Many of my favorite British actors were in the film. The three of us kept turning to each other and mouthing the actors from the Harry Potter movies that were in this film. I highly recommend this movie.

We had dinner at Panera. I hadn't eaten at Panera's before and wasn't sure what to order. After much deliberation, I ordered a steak and white cheddar. While waiting for my order, the employees discovered that they were out of steak. I ended up getting 1/2 a sandwich, a bag of chips, and green tea for $2.70. The manager refunded the price of my food. What a bargain!

Our family attended a WELS church in Sturgis today. The Missouri synod church that we have been attending has gone to a contemporary service, so we will not be joining. The service we attended today was very nice. The sermon was law and gospel based. The service followed the full litergy for communion. The church has a wonderful choir and the building has great acoustics. We haven't decided to join this church yet, but we will be attending again soon.

My older children were more comfortable at this church, than they were at the church in our town. There are more children in the church and people were friendly in a quiet manner.

Mud, Snow and Snakes

Last Friday, Mike and I headed up to GVSU to watch the high school aged children compete in the First Robotics Competition. The team did really well, but the younger girls got bored watching after a few hours. To break up the day, Mike and I took the youngest 3 girls letterboxing during the lunch break. We headed to River Park to search for the Spinx.

The park is beautiful and has viewing towers and a lovely playground. We ate lunch in one of the towers and then let the girls play on the playground equipment for a short time. After our break, we were excited to get on the trail. The trail began in a small wooded area and then went across a large swampy area. Mike started to cross the swampy area, but quickly turned back. The snow had all melted in the area and the grass was saturated with water. Certain areas were also quite muddy.



I decided to see how far I could make it across (wearing my new leather clogs.) About 20' in my shoes were underwater and covered with gray mud. I quickly made my way back to solid ground and suggested that we take off our shoes and socks. We could quickly cross the swampy area and then put our shoes and socks back on our feet. No one was interested in my suggestion.

Discouraged, we headed back to the playground area. After a few minutes of looking at the map, Mike suggested that we try to located the box working the clues backwards. The first part of the path was covered in snow and ice. We slid back and forth as we climbed the first hill, but eventually made it to the top. A large field was the next area we had to cross. There were several hawks flying over our heads. One was carrying a snake!



Mike spied another snake, sunning itself next to the walking path. He suggested that we turn back, but I bravely told him to carry on. After passing the snake, we entered the forest. The trees were bare and lots of leaves were lying on the ground. Paige and Allie discovered a chipmunk scurrying away. The girls chased the chipmunk, but couldn't keep up with him.

At the fork, we continued to follow the directions backwards. Then I realized that we needed to identify beech trees. I don't know what a beech tree looks like, especially when there are no leaves to help eliminate the trees I can identify. No one in our group knew what a beech tree should look like. Everyone could identify a birch and maple and oak, but no knowledgeable beech lovers were present.

We continued to follow the path in a large loop and may have discovered the beech trees, but unfortunately we needed to head back to the venue to watch the competition. We raced back to the van, passing another snake on our way and made it back in time for the children's first match. Allie had fallen down an icy hill, landing in the mud. We had seen three snakes and had not found the letterbox. It was still a good time and we look forward to returning when the weather is a little better with a tree identification book!

Cemetery Visit

I wanted to plant another letterbox at a local cemetery, so Mike and I took Allie and Katie to walk through the cemetery with us. Paige asked if she could bring her bike or roller blades and was disappointed when she learned that she couldn't bring them. After thinking for a few seconds, she stated emphatically that she didn't want to come with because there was nothing to do, except walk and be bored. Katie suggested that she bring a shovel and they could play archeologist. I ignored Kate's not to helpful comment and told the children to get in the car if they wanted to come with us.

After we arrived at the cemetery, Allie asked Katie if she had brought the shovel.

We walked through the cemetery looking for a good hiding place and reading various stones and monuments. Allie noticed that several of the head-stones had poles with attached metal stars in the ground nearby. I explained that the stars were used to distinguish soldiers who had belonged to the GAR. She looked at me solemnly and explained that they were not for soldiers. The stars were for fairies. She pointed to a nearby grave and mentioned that that star was for Tinkerbell and the one next to it was for Water Fairy.

At least she has a vivid imagination.

Relaxing Afternoon

My oldest children have headed off to Grand Valley State University to prepare for this weekend's robotics competition. The temperature was hovering around 70 degrees and the sun was shinning, so we decided to load up the SUV with all the kids and spend some time outside. After dropping the the high school aged children off for their journey, we drove to a nearby park and took a beautiful walk through the woods. Almost all the snow is melted and soon the grass will begin to turn green. The kids had a blast playing on a wooden boardwalk. The boardwalk was built over a swampy area. With every step, water shot up between the boards, soaking everyone's feet.
We had a great time.

Of course, there was a letterbox to be found on our journey, but the main reason for the walk was to get outside. At least that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

My First LTC!

My family keeps telling me that I have a letterbox addiction. They are probably right. I love getting on the trail and hiking through the woods in search of the elusive letterbox, but winter in Michigan isn't condusive to winter letterboxing. I went a few times in the snow, but it wasn't a wholly enjoyable experience. There is no place to set the logbook without getting it wet. The boxes are hidden under mounds of snow. Fingers freeze without gloves while stamping in.

In desperation, I signed up for some postal letterboxes, which are letterboxes that are mailed to the home. I won't mention how many postals I collected this winter, but will simply state that I filled an entire logbook....100 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Mike has asked me to slow down, because mailing all those postals are beginning to make a dent in our budget.

The weather still isn't great for letterboxing, so I discovered Letter Box Trading Cards (LTCs), which are trading cards that letterboxers create using cardstock and other crafting supplies. The stack of cards is mailed to one person who collects cards from around 20 people. The person gives every participant 1 card from each member of the group. The cost of a LTC ring is substantial cheaper than doing postal letterboxes.

Today, I made my first LTC. It's not a fabulous card, but it's a starting point. There are several wonderful tutorials on the internet about various techniques that can be used to embellish the cards. I should learn a lot of new things to put on my scrapbook pages. My first card is called Italy and will be used in the "Where do you want to be?" group.

Happy Letterboxing Day!

Mike and I will celebrate our anniversary on Monday. Unfortunately, the kids need to be driven places during the day and evening, so celebrating Monday is out of the question. As our celebration, we spent the afternoon letterboxing in Indiana. We headed out right after church and managed to collect one indoor box before reaching Indiana. Mike loved the location and spent a lot of time browsing the merchandise inside the store.

We stopped for a quick lunch and then drove into South Bend (where Mike grew up) and were first finders for the box at Notre Dame. After driving into Mishawaka, we collected another box at the oldest park in the city. The park has a really cool band shelter and a rock garden. Everything was covered with snow, but I think it would be very pretty in the spring and summer.

Our next drive took us to Bremen, Indiana. This box was so much fun to collect. I was nervous after reading the clues, because it is located outside a lake home. No one was staying at the home, so my nervousness was unnecessary. The stamp was really detailed.

After driving through Bremen, we headed to LaPaz, Indiana for 3 more boxes. Two of the boxes were hidden in birdhouses and had combination locks for security. I laughed when we found the first one, because it was so unexpected. The other LaPaz box was buried underneath a sign about a building that was going to be built. It was hidden under snow, cement blocks, and water. My feet were drenched after gathering this box.

We drove into Plymouth to collect a large number of boxes. One box we couldn't find. Then we headed to the cemetery. Lightening and thunder began as we entered the cemetery. I climbed out of the vehicle and wandered around trying to read the words on the gravestones, while covering my head from the rain. After 20 minutes of searching, we threw in the towel. The rain was pouring, lightening was flashing, and every thunderbolt made me jump. We plan to return another day later in the spring.

My poor feet were dripping wet, so I dried my shoes and socks on the way back to Michigan. After returning to our small town, Mike took me out for a delicious dinner. When we arrived at home, the kids were all quietly playing and Steve had baked brownies. It was a great ending to a really wonderful day!

Embracing my Non-Artistic Side

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice


Some of my siblings are artistic in a visual way. Not me! I tended to get the musical artistic gene, but completely skipped the drawing, painting, sculpting gene. Recently though, I have decided to try to improve my non-exesistent skill. Carving rubber stamps seemed to fit my letterboxing obsession, so off to the craft store for supplies.

After getting the carving tips, carving medium, and watching several online instruction videos, I began to create. The first stamp was a skateboard which was really bad. So bad, that it will be pulled from the current letterbox location when warmer weather returns and replaced with a better carving. I'm still searching for my own style as a carver, but the journey has been fun.

The children think that I'm a little obsessed with carving images on rubber, but the creative outlet has been rewarding. My skills are improving and so is my confidence. This is a carving that was completed today. It took too many hours, and has a number of mistakes, but I'm not ashamed to acknowledge that it is my work.

My younger four children have also been bitten by the stamp carving bug. Madelyn recently completed a fabulous turtle. Joe has great carving skills and draws very detailed images. Paige and Allie are enjoying drawing and carving their pictures. They ask to carve almost everyday, but the medium gets expensive fairly quickly. They started using large erasers, but I've been letting them use carving medium lately. It may be time to have them do more carving on erasers again and save the expensive materials for special projects.

Bringing Excitement Back

The winter blahs have arrived. All the Christmas decorations are neatly packed away. The Christmas and birthday presents have designated resting places. The diet is chugging along. School work is being finished. All of these are great things, but I bored. My drive to get up in the morning and embrace the day is missing. What do I do now?

A dear friend has recently experienced a stressful year and thinks she has mild depression. Not the seasonal depression a lot of people get in the winter time, but an on-going loss of enthusiasm with life. She thinks that she needs to look forward to things again. Her idea makes sense. As homeschool moms, we often get caught up in the plodding along with our daily tasks. Our days seem to exist with a lot of boring repetitious tasks that will never be finished.

When I spend time painting a bedroom or laying new flooring, I feel so good about having accomplished something. Most of the things that I do each day do not provide that feeling. When the laundry is all folded and put in the drawers, it is only a matter of moments before another item needs to be washed. The dishes will never be clean for any period of time, except when we are not at home.

My idea is to try to embrace the small, yucky, tasks that no one wants to do. Instead of forcing myself to go and clean toilets, I'm searching for a way to WANT to clean them. Okay, anyone who knows me knows that THAT will never happen. I do want to make the task more fun. So today instead of cleaning the toilets while answering phonics and algebra questions, I played my iPod to fun, bouncy music while dancing around my bathroom with a scrub brush and cleaner. The cleanup only took about 20 minute and was sorta fun. My children also got a laugh when they saw mom dancing with the scrub brush.

In the hopes of bringing some excitement back to our school days, we re-instituted our "Country of the Day" studies. The children are enjoying the food and music of other places while learning a great deal in geography. Several of the children ask to do geography first each morning. I've also tried to do more crafts and art projects with them. My youngest two haven't done nearly as many fun school things as the older children. It is time to change that!

I'm planning on forcing my entire family to go on a week end letterboxing trip in June. It will be something to look forward to and should be a good time for everyone. A friend is planning on bringing her family as well, so the children will know some other children.

During the next few weeks, I hope to come up with more ways to add some joy to our lives. If anyone has any suggestions, please share your ideas.

Letterboxing at the Lakeshore

I loaded up the van with almost all of my daughters and headed off to the Lake Michigan shoreline on Monday. The temperature was cool and sunny. A perfect day for snakes to be sleeping.

We decided to try to get more of the boxes that are located in a small town that is a mecca for tourists during the summer months. One box was located in the bushes next to a bed-n-breakfast. My oldest daughter was going to approach the bush (one person is much less noticeable than the 5 of us in a group.) As she reached the bush, someone came out of the B and B and stood in the drive, looking around the yard. A second person came out of the house next door and began to speak with the first person. My daughter continued walking down the street and discovered that she was on a dead end street. She crossed to the other side of the street and eventually climbed back into our van. We drove around the block and parked in the bank's lot across the street.

We watched for 10 minutes as one person walked in and out of the building 6 times! As we were about to drive off, everyone left the yard and went inside. My daughter jumped from the van and carefully crossed the street. She was able to grab the box without being seen. After logging and stamping, the return was easy. Success!

The second box was easy to find. The box overlooked a channel to Lake Michigan. We all read about the history of the area, then returned to the van to stamp and log our find.



The next few boxes were located near the lake up a large hill. There were 282 steps to reach the top of this "mountain." My 5 and 7 year old girls ran up the steps following my 12 year old, who quickly reached the top. I was left far behind. After eventually reaching the top, we were awed by the beautiful view of Lake Michigan and the Kalamazoo River.


The next box required us to follow a trail along the top of the dunes. The path on each side was steep and contained a lot of trees. I was apprehensive that the 5 or 7 year old girls would fall down the steep incline while we searched for the box. One daughter located a huge geocache, but we couldn't locate the hallow tree that contained the letterbox.

The other box at the top of the dune contained easy to follow clues. My 7 year old proudly located the clue. The stamp was beautiful.


After resting from our climb, we headed back to the stairs. The trip down was so easy! We met several people on our way down, and were glad that we had found our boxes before other people arrived in the area.

We managed to snag a few more boxes on the outskirts of the small town, then headed back to the center of town to get one remaining box located in a garden. The clue required us to figure out clues to discover the location. After solving the riddle, we realized that the garden was across from the bed and breakfast from earlier in the day! Unfortunately, four people were working in the very small garden. There was no way to get the box without being seen. Another trip to the lake shore will be required to get this box. There are 6 other boxes available in this area. I hope that we can return before the snow flies.

A Letterboxing Gathering

Yesterday was the MI Fall Event: Viva Grand Haven which was put on by Springchick and Doglvrs. I was fortunate to be able to attend with a couple of my letterboxing friends. One was a newbie like myself, the other has been to several events in the past.

The event took place in several parks in the Grand Haven area. We were able to get all of the stamps and one traditional letterbox that we discovered by accident. We could have participated in taking pictures of various places that required different items in each photo. Our team decided that we really wanted to get all of the stamps. None of us knew the area particularly well and we were afraid that we might get lost looking for the various locations, so we decided to not participate in the photos. Other teams said that the photos were fun and challenging, but they weren't able to collect all the stamps. Choices, choices, choices.

Many of the parks were beautiful. Another trip to Grand Haven is not in the offing to collect the permanent boxes in the area. My children will enjoy hiking the trails and exploring the local landmarks and playgrounds. We won't be able to get up there again the year, but will aim for next spring.

My favorite experience at the event was meeting the carvers and box planters of my favorite letterboxes. I was able to hear stories from the "old days" when boxes were few and most boxes required a lot of thought, research, ingenuity and hiking stamina. It was not uncommon for a letterbox to require more than one trip before is was found. I enjoy the challenge of locating a difficult box and am so glad that these types of boxes exist. The effort and time put into this type of box is inspiring to a newbie.

Overall, the experience was great. No snakes were seen. No cooties were found. All boxes were collected. Lots of laughter. A pretty good day.

A Walk in the Woods

Today is Mike's birthday. He wanted to spend some time outside with everyone, so we headed off to a park that I drove past on Friday. Russ County Forest is a beautiful wooded area with hiking trails, a picnic area, and a small playground.

We packed a picnic lunch and then began walking the trails. There is one letterbox in this park and we planned to pick it up as we wandered around. The leaves have changed a lot since Friday. Over 1/2 of the leaves have turned to vibrant yellows, oranges and reds.

The clues to the box stated that we should start at a particular trail at the big tree. We found the beginning of the trails, with a large tree near the trail-head. As we walked along, enjoying the creek and other sights, I realized that we were on trail 1. We were supposed to be on trail 3. Obviously, we had not found the big tree. There was a bulletin board in the main park, but it did not contain a map. A short time later, we discovered a map where three trails meet. One the map, we found a Big Tree.

While looking at the map, two women approached us and began speaking to us. It took me a few moments to realize that they attended our new church. The younger girls were given permission to pet the women's horses. The girls were surprised at the softness of the horse's coats.

We spent some time trying to figure out the letter box's clues from the where we picked up the trail. A few minor mistakes were made, but we were able to locate the bridge needed as a marker for the final few clues. I counted the required paces and headed off the trail, counting my steps as I went along. I was scanning the trees for some words included in the directions and came within 6 inches of stepping on a Blue Racer snake. The snake was 4 feet long and moved slowly. (Perhaps it had just eaten.) As I raced to return to the trail, I kept my eyes on the snake. My family members were waiting for me at the bridge.

After hearing my shouts, Mike asked if I had run into some bees. He should realize by now that I do NOT scream about bees. My screaming and running is reserved for SNAAAAKES@!

After my family had joined me, I reread the clues and located the box's hiding place. Past where the snake was still residing. The snake eventually crawled away and climbed into a hole in the ground. As we watched the snake leave, Steve noticed another Blue Racer coiled around the low branches of a short tree.

Mike offered to get the box for me, if I would tell him where it was located. I got the stamp and Mike replaced the box without any further incidents. My letterboxing hobby began about 3 months ago and I have already seen snakes at three boxes. So far, we've located 112 boxes. My friend has been letterboxing for years and has well over 300 stamps. She has never seen a snake while letterboxing. Am I lucky or what?

Letter Boxing Habit

I was really bad last week. Joe and I went letterboxing on Wednesday. Mike and I went letterboxing on Thursday. Mike, Madelyn and I went letterboxing on Friday. Saturday, I went letterboxing with my friend Melinda. Friday and Saturday were all day excursions. My other children are beginning to feel neglected.

On the plus side, I've gotten a lot of exercise and have logged more than 100 finds this summer. Several new parks and hiking trails have been found for future family outings. It's been such a nice break to get outside in the woods regularly. I even feel more calm and relaxed.

This week, my letterboxing hobby will need to be scaled back. so more time can be spent with the kids. Some weatherizing needs to happen with the house as well, so time will need to be spent getting ready for the cold nights that are beginning to arrive.

Hopefully, I'll be able to grab a few boxes while driving to my mom's house on Monday and a few boxes on Wednesday, while Madelyn is at writing class. Fall is quickly turning to cold and wet weather, so there aren't many more days left to letterbox this year.

Letter Boxing

The weather has been so nice lately, that we've been outside a lot. We've headed out to some of our favorite hiking trails after the kids finish school. Several days, the kids and I have managed to do some letter boxing in the afternoon before Katie comes home from school. Mike has been wonderful about going for walks and searching for letterboxes when he has an evening or day off from work.

Joe and I located three boxes on Wednesday, while Madelyn was at her writing class in Kalamazoo. The boxes were along some of the bike paths throughout the city. Joe is such a good sport about rooting around in the underbrush and in swampy muck. We had a good time on Wednesday and he discovered an unbroken umbrella that someone had lost. He also picked up some more bottles to add to his old bottle collection, which will soon require another shelf for his growing collection.

Mike and I have been searching for one box a couple of times. I love the walk through the forest, so the extra searching has been enjoyable. We decided that this box is no longer available, but will probably continue hiking in this park. The kids would probably enjoy this park.

Tomorrow, Mike is taking me to the Grand Rapids area to spend the day searching for more boxes. The weather is supposed to be beautiful. I'm also supposed to go on Saturday, with a good friend. She wants to get an early start. Tonight I learned that the temperature is going to be 34 degrees at daybreak. It should be a cold start to our day! At least I'll be getting plenty of exercise.