Letterboxing

Every since I read an article in Family Fun magazine about letterboxing(letterboxing.org) I have thought it was cool but didn't think we had anything like that in our area. Then my email friend Kaye told me they did it on a camping trip. She directed me to the correct websites (see also atlasquest.com) where you can search your city and it will show all the letterboxes that are hidden near you! I was so excited to see some at Callaway Gardens and even in nearby towns!

Here is a brief explanation of what we did:

Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining artistic ability with "treasure-hunts" in parks, forests, and cities around the world. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by cracking codes and following clues. The prize: a miniature piece of art known as a rubber stamp—usually a unique, hand-carved creation.
Letterboxers stamp their discoveries in a personal journal, then use their own rubber stamp, called a signature stamp, by stamping it into the logbook found with the letterbox, perhaps writing a note about the weather or their adventures in finding the letterbox.

Here is also a great "getting started" article.

So this morning when I found out none of my daycare children were coming I got out the scrapbook supplies to make our own logbooks. i just cut paper into 4s then bound them together with ribbon. (I will have to take a picture of them and post it later....) We decided our trail name would be "MkNSV"-Fia's creation using our initials, and used some letter stamps I had for stamping the letterboxing log books. After seeing some of the other stamps people have used and made we are going to come up with a better one for next time!

I had already printed off some clues for letterboxes located in Callaway Gardens and one in Troup County so we grabbed our books, stamps, ink pads, some snacks and headed out!

This is the trail to the first clue....such cute kids!!

Fia is pointing to the bridge from the clue

This clue was titled "Moonlight Through the Pines"....it read:

You'll begin your search at the Pioneer Log Cabin near the Butterfly Center. After touring the Troup County cabin (circa 1830) find the Wildflower Trail on the NW side. You'll travel along it for a short while, then bear right at the fork and cross a bridge. Eventually the trail will hairpin and turn downhill. Beside the little brook you'll come to 3 large Hollis Quartzite sitting-stones. Have a seat on the northenmost stone. Reach behind and under the back corner closest to the hairpin AFTER FIRST CHEKING IN EVERY DIRECTION to make sure no one is in sight!

It took us a while to locate the box because I was a little leary of sticking my hand under a rock that might have been some animal's home! So we got some sticks and started poking around under and around the rock (these were all suggestions/warnings I found on the "getting started" article). After poking around for a few minutes we hit something that wasn't pinestraw or dirt. It was so exciting to find our first letterbox! From the sites I researched the "planter"(the person who comes up with the clue and puts out the letterbox) will have hand-carve the stamp that goes along with the clue/title. This stamp was a pinecone. It looked like it was carved from an eraser. Next time I will take pictures of the stamps!

Here I am after finding the box! VERY excited:)

Fia is added our stamp to the logbook

Nate is adding the pinecone stamp to his book.

After stamping we carefully put everything back in the container-making sure it was sealed to keep out the elements--and then hid it back under the rock for the next treasure hunter! Now off to the find the next letterbox!

Fia spotted this treasure hunter as well....we tried to tell him where the letterbox was located but he wasn't interested!

We tried locating this letterbox but had no luck. You can email the "planter" about their letterbox so that is what I did. I hope he can give us more clues as to where it is located.

Next we drove to the chapel to find this letterbox. I was a little worried we would have a hard time finding this :

Look for a pine tree stump about 10 feet off the trail on your left. There are two large fallen logs behind the stump.
I mean....aren't there hundreds of stumps and fallen logs in the woods??? But as we were walking I looked for a stump off to my left and sure enough tucked behind it we found this!

Sophia suggested we sit on the logs behind it to stamp our books....what a great idea!! She is becoming a great treasure hunter!!

After this clue was found and properly re-hidden we set out for our last hunt of the day. It was located by the Gardens Resturant. Halfway to this one I realized we had forgot the camera but we didn't want to go back to get it. This letterbox behind a bench on a very quiet and peaceful trail. Nice and shady...which was very needed on this hot day!

Everytime we go to Callaway Gardens we pass through downtown Pine Mountain with all their and their antique/speciality shops. I always say, "i want to come back and walk through these stores" but we are usually too tired from a fun day at the Gardens that we put that off for the next trip. Well I decided to do it today with the kids. The shops weren't as cool as I thought but this one was the coolest. "Sage's Soda Fountain". We went inside for ice cream and sat right at the counter. I felt like I was back in the 1950s! The man who served our ice cream said the place was opened in April but it looked like it had been there for 50 years! Full of antiques and even original milkshake machines. It was a fun experience.

Little Piggies

Ever since I got a gift certificate for a pedicure I have been hooked! You sit in this massage chair, soak your feet in warm smelly(not stinky...but a good smelly) water with jets, and then get your feet scrubbed, cleaned, rubbed, etc. Then they rub your legs (from the knee-down) and feet,. Finally they paint your toenails. Ahhhhhh.....so relaxing!

Sophia has wanted to do this for a Mommy-daughter date also and finally our chance came on Thursday afternoon! When i told Sophia what we were going to do she couldn't stop saying, "Finally!" and "I can't believe we are really going to get our nails done!" all with that cute grin she has! We weren't totally alone because Nate was with us....but he didn't pay any attention to us since he was playing his gameboy....which is why it worked out! There are sometimes when those electronic devices are priceless:)

I sure wish I had a camera with me to get Sophia's reaction as the lady was rubbing her feet. It was so cute. I hope we can do this again Fia!

ps. that is Cricket's nose on the leftside of my foot...in case you were wondering:)

ATL

Last Friday Jessica planned this cool trip to ATL complete with riding the MARTA. That is something I have always wanted to do but never made the time. Jessica found a free parking area at the College Park station. We bought our passes and went down the stairs to wait for the train....or is it a subway? It was cool whatever it was!

I felt like a tourist and we probably looked pretty silly to the regulars on the trains! Plus to add to our awkward-ness I packed our lunches because I thought we would just be having a picnic....what i didn't realize was our picnic wasn't going to be by the car but somewhere in downtown Atlanta! So here we were lugging around a small cooler! At least I had extra helpers since Luke(12, nephew) and Kayla(10, niece) were here visiting from Tennessee. We all took turns with the cooler:)
Nate didn't like sitting down...but you had to or you would be thrown forward when the train started to move!

Kayla and Sophia would fight over the window seat!

Looks like it was Fia's turn!

After getting off at our stop we went up these LONG escalators which is always fun. It was so nice to just follow the crowd too. I didn't have to think the whole time:) I did try to make a mental note of everything so we could do this again with Richard!

This is the "moon sand" box inside the Children's Museum. This was a bit hit with children of all ages!!

We went to Centennial Olympic Park first to play in the fountains after the 12:30 show(they have a water show where the foundtains shoot up to music) but they weren't turning them on until 330pm(which was sad because there were at least 4 school/daycare groups there waiting in their swimsuits to play!!) So we thought we would go play at the park on the other side but it was closed also due to the Black Arts Festival being set up for that evening! So then we decided to visit the Children's Museum. This, the Coke Factory and the Georgia Aquarium are all next to each other. We have been to the Aquarium but never the other 2 so it was nice to actually go inside! Plus it was had A/C!
The museum was geared towards younger children but everyone had a blast. They had these balls that you could roll up and down ramps, through tunnels, etc. that you controlled with pulleys and shovels. Nate and Luke really enjoyed those and I thought I got a picture of them playing....but I didn't:)

They also had a very talented musician, storyteller, juggler guy. He asked Nolan to come up and help him sing. When the man asked what his name was, Nolan said "peter man". :) I laughed so hard!

Kayla trying out the stilts!

After we played in the Children's Museum we headed back to Centennial Olympic Park for the 3:30pm show. I had forgotten the girl's swimsuits so I went to the souvenir shop and got these T-shirts 3/$10 for them to wear in the water. Then they changed into their dry shirts for the ride home. I do believe thier shorts dried out pretty quickly since it was so HOT!

Nate couldn't decide if he wanted to get wet. Lately we have been having afternoon thunderstorms....and sure enough one blew in right as we were just starting

to enjoy the fountains!

But even with the rain it was a fab-O day!!

Quiet time

Don't you just love when everyone is in bed and the house is so quiet! Since I am a morning person I am usually in bed by 10pm or earlier....but on Sundays I always take a nap which means I get to enjoy some quiet time late at night....although I pay for it on Monday!

So worth it though!!

Space and Rocket Center

Another fun thing we did while at my parent's house was visit the Space and Rocket Center. Sophia loves science so she had a blast. Nate enjoyed himself also. This is where we would take field trips in elementary school. Not much had changed but they did add this museum. I find it so amazing that they can get these rockets into space!

Not sure how rock climbing is science-related but Sophia had fun nonetheless!

Nate really was enjoying himself....but he couldnt' let anyone know it! I was encouraging him to ride this with Sophia and I said " go ahead! you will enjoy it" which immediately

made him determined to NOT enjoy it!!

This was the baby version of the Space Shot...which simulates weighlessness. I did ride that 10 years ago....but can't do it anymore! Sure wish Richard was with us because the kids would have done it with him! There also is a cool centrifuge ride that spins you around so fast that you lift off the ground...just seeing the ride made me nauseated! I hated that Fia and Nate couldn't experience that one either!!

They had these cool science experiments in one exihibit.

This is what a bathroom looks like on the space station...

Nate the Astronaut!

I looked into the Space Camp program for Sophia but she is too young this year. I want her to attend when she is 10 though....she would LOVE it!

Twister

I have so much blogging to catch up on! Still so much more from my trip to Alabama earlier this month, then the water park we frequent here, plus a fun trip to ATL last week!! I better get to work!

Here the kids are enjoying a fun game of Twister with Grampie!

Click on the box to watch a funny video! But beware....you might get sucked into watching other short videos as well!!