Hidden treasure (now with pictures!)

Uncle Andrew (Dan's brother) and his son Simon spent the weekend with us. While they were here, Andrew introduced us to the addicting outdoor hobby of geocaching. I've always wanted to try it and was so excited to finally have the chance, but I was skeptical about how the girls would do with it. Walking around looking for something that could be as big as a bucket (though possibly buried flush with the ground) or as small as a rifle bullet (and possibly tied to the branch of a tree) didn't seem like something that would hold their interest. But wow, did they love it!

The first one was just down the street from our house, in a field full of mini cacti and what I think one could accurately call bracken.

Simon ended up finding it, in the middle of a clump of bracken, and once the girls saw the kinds of things people leave in them--Happy Meal-type trinkets, a mini Garfield book on friendship--they were hooked. PJ: "Mama, we go find treasure? *ME* find it!" Abby: "Are we going to go look for more treasure? I want to find it this time."

The next one was a small cylinder zip-tied to the branch of an evergreen at a park not far from the first location.

The third was almost our first no-find; the clue said it was in a metal Saltines box (remember those?) but it turns out it was in a ziploc bag just barely under a layer of leaves.

The girls were so sad when we stopped for lunch and naps. We did a couple more after they woke up--I found the second under a rock at Castle Rock Park:

and Andrew found the first (under a metal box at the base of a light pole) and the third (another tiny cylinder, magnetically attached to a light pole at Centennial Park), and by that time it was getting darker and colder and we decided to call it a day. The girls were not happy, but they needn't worry--Dan and I are hooked and will undoubtedly start doing this regularly.