Furoshiki wrapping... think about it!

One of the coolest things I've seen in a long time! (I would ask for my fabric back though... if the receiver isn't the sewing type... check it out!

Letterboxing Event!

We are really enjoying Letterboxing as a family. On Sunday, we planted our first box! I'm so excited to see who is the 'first finder' and what everyone thinks of the stamp I drew and carved for the box! Hopefully it's not too hard to find! We have found another couple of spots where we want to 'plant' boxes, so I need to figure out what the stamps will look like and get to it (in my free time - HA HA!) Our trail name is 'EmandtheGang' and the box's name is Waterfalls of Wake Forest #1 - you can find clues at www.atlasquest.com if you're interested in finding it!

Taylor Anne (trail name: Bluebutton) and Anderson really love hiking and exploring!
On Sunday afternoon we attended our first Letterboxing event! It was quite a big deal because we didn't know ANYONE there! We had only seen their stamps and found boxes that some of them had planted, so it was a very new and kind of nerve-wracking experience. Luckily everyone there was really nice, and they seemed to think nothing of the fact that we were complete 'newbies' at this stuff. It was like pulling teeth to get Mike to come at all, but I know he had a great time, and really felt glad that he came to the event. Taylor Anne and Anderson made some new friends too - there were several kids there! The event was "Happy Birthday, On the Spot" - it was a birthday letterboxing event for an 11 year old boy who's trail name is 'On the Spot'! Check out the pics below... I won't put any one's real names on here - I think we're supposed to use trail names mostly... ? (still learning!)

This is Oceanwinds (L) and Sati's Human (R)

Here are Mouse Nanny (L) and Rainbow Crossers (R)

This is the house where the event was hosted. It was really cool! Very 'Green' design.

Taylor Anne and Anderson loved exploring the property - 6.7acres of blueberry/blackberry/raspberry farm.

They had a Solar Oven -it was great! Some sweet potatoes were cooking in it when we arrived, and you could smell their sweetness!

Here's the potting shed and their small greenhouse! I was SO jealous - I would love to live on a few acres of land like this. These folks were probably living close to 'off the grid'. They had a large bank of solar panels above the potting shed, and used solar power to recharge the battery for their electric deer fencing.

There was a big tire swing for all of the kids to enjoy! Anderson didn't want to get off of that! Luckily the other kids were SO nice, and played well with him... he was the youngest there.

While on the farm tour, On the Spot found a little critter that looked like a praying mantis, but I didn't see the pincers... so maybe it was some sort of stick bug...?

On the spot's Dad showed us all around the farm, they also have a small orchard of fruit trees. Here he is showing everyone how he grafted some different pears onto a larger pear that had succumbed to fire blight.

After the tour, we headed out to some of the Triangle Land Conservancy trails to do some letterboxing with the birthday boy as our guide! I feel very lucky that he was willing to come along - we found 13 new letterboxes with him as our guide! Here we are taking a breather on a beautiful decorative bench which overlooks a lowland area in the nature preserve.

Near our last find of the day, Taylor Anne found some time to do a little tree-climbing... happy girl!

Back at the house, there was more stamping to do... the birthday pinata was filled with treats - candy, letterboxing supplies, and cooties! Perhaps another day I will tell you what cooties are... not today! You can look them up on www.atlasquest.com if you like, though!

Airstream Dreams (L) and Turtlelove (R)

On the Spot, after his cake and ice cream!

It was a blast - I think we will have to host an event sometime in the near(-ish) future!

Still looking... more adventures!

While I was doing some homework and taking an online quiz this morning, the rest of the gang (Thanks, Mike!) was out riding bikes and looking, and looking, and looking for the "Hesta" letterbox. They couldn't find it - but did find a GeoCashing box (which they looked at but re-hid)!

They then decided to take a longer hike and check out some of the surrounding areas - Mike, Taylor Anne, and Anderson found some really cool spots which might be places for us to hide our own letterboxes soon! I didn't know these places were in Wake Forest, but it's neat to find cool adventures in 'our backyard'.

Handmade gifts!

These are the best kind of gifts! Check out Sew, Mama, Sew for some great ideas! (now if I only had time to get out my sewing machine!)

Dorothy and the Lion

Happy Halloween!

Dorothy and the Lion from the Wizard of Oz, which I don't think Anderson has seen... Taylor Anne may have only watched parts of it! We had Toto, so this was a fun idea for this year!

Anderson had to stop by Grandma's house to use her eyeliner pencil (Mama doesn't have any), for the whiskers! Here he is admiring the new whiskers in a mirror.

Here they are again - ready to go!

Taylor Anne loved walking 'Toto' around the neighborhood 'by herself', although we only let her take him to a few select houses. We didn't think it was a good idea to surprise anyone with a little dog at their door!

They did a great job staying together and saying "Thank you, Happy Halloween" to each person. The night was over quickly though, they were both tired so we headed home with half-full treat buckets... still plenty of sweets for the sweets!