Homerdoodle 2021

This past weekend Boxing Turtle, Daddy's Favorite Princess, Lil Ewok and I attended the Homerdoodle event.  We left home at 8:30 Friday morning and drove up to Moonshine, Ill.  The princess and I had stopped here a few years ago with friends.  There were 2 boxes here but they have both gone missing.  We enjoyed some Moonburgers, got t-shirts, and planted a box.  

Then we headed to Casey.  The princess and I had been here before but they have added several new things since then.  And there were a few new letterboxes to find too.  We planted the first boxes here.  One of them has been marked missing and I checked on it while we were here.

Then we headed north to St Joseph.  We found 1 and planted 1.  I as hopping to get more boxes here but we were running out of time.  I had promised the kids that we would only box until dinner time and then the kids could swim at the hotel.  

We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel and got a box there.  We checked into the hotel and the kids swam for about 30 minutes.  They were pretty tired, we went back to the room, and I logged my finds and posted the clues for the 2 boxes I planted. 

Saturday, we got up, had breakfast at the hotel, and set off for Homer.  We checked in and hit the trails.  I wish someone would have remined us to use bug spray.  The mosquitos were horrible.  After walking the first trail, my younger two said they would spend the rest of the day in the car.  But we did get them out again and they enjoyed the nature center.  

We boxed until 5.  I told the kids we would have dinner on the way home.  We stopped in Paris and had pizza.  We got another box while we were close.  Then I drove until we got to Vincennes and Boxing Turtle drove the rest of the way.  He has his permit and needs night hours.  We got home about 9:30 pm.

For the two days, we found 146 boxes and 3 hitchhikers.  It was very different from a normal letterboxing event but we had a good time once we got the bug spray on.  

First Carve & New Sig Stamp

My youngest son, Lil Ewok, has been letterboxing since before he was born.  We started boxing in 2010 and he was born in 2012.  My other children were interested in boxing and stamp carving right away.  The Princess carved her first stamp when she was 4 years old.  For some reason, Lil Ewok has just now got the stamp carving bug.  He carved his first stamps this week.  He really likes turtles, so I transferred this image to rubber for him and he did the rest.  Then he got into my scrap bucket and carved 3 other stamps that he drew himself.  He is pretty proud :)

Lil Ewok has been using the same signature stamp forever.  In 2016, we went to a Homerdoodle event.  On the way home, my kids complained about having to stamp their stamps and write their trail names in all of the tabletop boxes.  I decided I would carve them new stamps with their names on them.  At this time, my 2 older kids changed their trail names and everyone got a new stamp but Lil Ewok.  We are going back to Homerdoodle this weekend and I have carved a new sig stamp for Lil Ewok.  Hopefully the rain they are forecasting will keep away. 

Christmas Monsters LTC

School Mascot: Christmas Monsters

This is my card for SLeaves "School Mascot" LTC tracker. Early in the summmer we decided that if the kids had to wear masks at school, we would not send them back. We think it is not healthy and safe to wear face masks for long times. So, we are homeschooling 3 of our 4 kids. The oldest is in college and moved home because all his classes went online. 

 For the card, I rubbed Distress Inks (Wilted Violet, Blueprint Scetch, and Pine Needles) seperatly on my craft mat and sprayed them with water. Then I rubbed and tapped my paper in the ink. I stamped and embossed my stamp. When that was done, I cut out the monsters. Since it had to do with school, I added some old, torn, text papers to the background. I glued everything together with a glue stick. I ran out of the one I normally use and had to borrow one from the kids. I hope everything holds together. 

When finished, I mailed the stamp to Jiffy for a recap of 2020 event. I also sent her a dumpster fire that I craved just for fun. I may carve another and hide it here in town. I'm having a hard time thinking of a hiding place.

Carefree Catfish LTC

Hello!  This is my card for Hartx6's Life on the River LTC.  The name of the Great Lakes Gathering (GLG) this year is Life on the River; the Mississippi River.  I signed up to make these LTCs and donate my stamps.

I wanted to make a background that resembled a muddy river.  I cut plain card stock to size and sprayed it with Peeled Paint & Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Spray and water. 

I let that dry and went looking thru my stencils for one that looked like water or scales.  I put down the dry card, taped the stencil over it, sprayed with water, and blotted with a paper towel.

I was happy with how these turned out and stamped my catfish with brown ink on the dried cards.  I took a different water splatter stencil, put it over the cards, and smeared Distress College Matte Medium with a knife.

When that was dry, I attached it to a green background paper.  I really like how these turned out.  Some of them have a lot of blue in the background.  I guess it is from the green spray.  I plan on carving a few more stamps to sent off to the event.

Happy New Year

Kids and I electioneering at the mall

Hello 2020.  I usually do a blog post recapping the previous year and talk about what the new year holds.

Surprisingly, 2019 was a great find year for me.  I say "surprisingly" because my husband ran for city council and it consumed 9 months of the year.  I felt like it was the only thing I did in 2019.  But it was actually my highest find year ever!  I found 315 boxes in 2019 and the last one was my 1500th letterbox, woo hoo!  My second highest year was 2015 with 225 boxes.

I totally credit all those finds to attending some amazing events.  In May, Daddy's Favorite Princess, my boxing buddy, and I attended A Walk in the Park at Shakamak SP in Indiana.  In June, Daddy's Favorite Princess, Boxing Turtle, and I attended the Big Top on the Prairie event in Ohio.  On the way home from this event we boxed in Spring Grove Cemetery and found many boxes.  In November, Boxing Turtle and I attended the Four Seasons event in Chandler, In.

In my last year recap post, I said that in 2019 I would be planting boxes that went with silly holidays.  My plan was to hide one a month.  I planted 25 of these boxes and a hitchhiker too.  Most of these were planted in my county but I did spread the love to Ky & Oh.

Events!

I made an average number of LTCs in 2019 (28).  Again, I expected this number to be lower with my husband running for city council.  I know there were swaps that I wanted to join but didn't because the timing was bad.  Sadly, there were a few that I dropped from because I knew I wouldn't finish on time.

All in all, 2019 was a good year.  I don't really make letterboxing goals.  I don't have any plans for this year and my planting will probably be down.  I am running out of ideas and hiding places.  I hope to get back to the Homerdoodle event in Il.  My 10th letterboxing anniversary will be in October and I have thought about hosting an event to celebrate.  But we will have to see how the year goes.

Unfortunately, my boxing buddy fell late in 2019 and she is not able to get out much.  She going to have to have her knees replaced.  The dr that she has chosen is so backed up that her surgery won't be until summer.  If you could say a prayer for her, I'd really appreciate it. 

I hope you all have a great 2020!

 

Four Seasons Day Event

Yesterday, my son Boxing Turtle and I attend the Four Seasons Day Event in Chandler, In.  Chandler is about 30 minutes from our house and the event started at 10 am.  I thought I was going to get to sleep in but the kids were up bright and early.

For this event, they divided up their little town into four sections and each section was a season.  We started off in Spring and got the Summer boxes too.

Then we went back for lunch and stamped a few table top boxes.  After lunch we found Fall and Winter.  We missed one of the Spring boxes but talked to some folks at lunch who said it is now in the right spot.  We found all 36 of the event boxes.

When we were done we went back for a snack and stamped more table tops.  I had wanted to exchange with a few folks but they were all out boxing when I was ready to stamp.

The weather was nice and we had a good time.  Boxing Turtle is a funny navigator, reading too much of the clue at a time, which had us driving in circles because I couldn't remember what he said.  We took a selfie in each season but forgot to take any pics in the church.

Shakamak & Event Stamps

Shakamak State Park 

About 2 weeks ago, my boxing buddy and I went back to Shakamak State Park.  We attended an event there in May but only found half the boxes.

I dropped the kids off at school, got gas, picked up G-MA, and we headed north to the park.  Shakamak is about 2 hours away.  We had talked about going back a few times but had to wait for good weather.  We ended up finding 33 of the 37 boxes we looked for.  I left a hitchhiker and G-MA gave me a few that she had.

Western Event Stamp

Teacup and mudflinginfools are hosting a western event and asked for stamps.  I carved these three and I'll be sending an older stamp.  They asked that we wait until after October 1st to send them.  I need to get them packaged up and in the mail before they get burred and I totally forget :)

Boxing in Ohio

Prairie Props

This weekend we had a great time boxing in Ohio.  We went to Greenville for the 4th time and attended the Big Top on the Prairie event.  The event started at 9am (an hour earlier than last time) so Boxing Turtle, Daddy's Favorite Princess, and I got up at 3am.  The kids slept most of the way while I drove in the dark and rain.  We stopped once to potty and get breakfast.

We actually arrived at the event about 15 minutes early but there were a lot of other people already there.  We checked in and hit the trails.  They were calling for rain and we wanted to get boxes before it hit.

Boxing in the rain

It was a circus themed event and the the trails were for the three rings of the circus.  We did the first two rings.  The first one had a lot of mosquitoes but I don't think it was as bad as the Story Time on the Prairie year.  I'm pretty sure it was much worse that year!

After the first two rings of the circus we headed inside for lunch.  We were early so we stamped some of the inside boxes.  One of them, they had taken a box if wooden circus toys (kinda like a kids puzzle) and made stamps of the toys.  It was such a fun idea.  They also had people dressed up and walking around with stamps.  But we were focused on other stuff and didn't realize that you had to talk to them before noon to get the stamps.

Greenville Cemetery

After lunch was the raffle.  We didn't want to miss the raffle but wanted to get the last ring of the circus outside before the rain hit.  We left Boxing Turtle inside and the Princess and I went outside.  We probably got 5 boxes before it started to sprinkle.  We got them as fast as we could and went back inside where they were still calling names for the raffle.  The Princess won a fancy hair clip.

At this point we were finished with all of the official boxes for the event and started doing some exchanges.  Because of the rain, the room was pretty crowded.  Boxing Turtle was getting bored so we left to look for boxes in town.  We planted a box in the city park and found some in a local cemetery & GyspyLadybugs house.  We also stopped at a local ice cream place and looked for a box but could not find it.  Another boxer pulled up while we were looking so we all looked together.

Wet Spring Grove boxing

We headed south to Dayton where we would be staying the night.  We checked into the hotel, got dinner at the Cracker Barrel, and went to a nearby cemetery to look for 3 boxes.  We got the first one, struggling a bit because we are not used to using a compass.  We went to get the second one and it started pouring down rain.  We stopped and went back to the hotel.  We showered, logged finds, and watched some tv.

Spring Grove Cemetery

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, checked out, and went back to the nearby cemetery.  The found the second box were were looking for the night before and went looking for the third box.  They had a tornado recently in Dayton and the far corner of the cemetery had damage.  We believe the stone we were looking for had been knocked over on the box.

After that, we got a box on the way out of town by Safari Man and fill up with gas.  Next stop, Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.  I was very excited to box here.  I had heard so many good things about it and there were so many boxes to find.  We planned on spending a lot of time here and printed off 50 clues.  But it did not go well.  It rained, I got frustrated, and the kids were grumpy.  We only found 4 of the first 10 we looked for.

Spring Grove Cemetery

Then it stopped raining and our boxing got better.  We ending up finding 15 of 26 and 3 Hitchhikers.  Of course we had to plant a box here too. We also saw many animals while boxing-a fox, 4 turkeys, a baby skunk, chipmunks, squirrels, ducks, geese, and a hawk.  My original plan was to stay until 4 so that we were not getting home real late.  But at the end we got on a roll and stayed until almost 6.

Our grand total for the weekend (drum roll please) was 131 traditional boxes, 5 Hitchhikers, and some exchanges & table tops!  I took a quick look at my stats for 2019, I have 221 finds.  My next highest year was 2015 with 225 boxes.  Unless all my local boxers fall off the face of the earth, this year will be my highest finds yet <3

Aliens & Woodstock

We are not alone...: Abduction

 This is my card for Gypsy Fiddler's "We are not alone..." LTC swap.  My card is called, "Abduction."  I wanted to make a stamp of a Bigfoot and spaceship but I liked this image better.  I stamped the stamp in yellow ink and embossed with glow in the dark embossing powder.  I sent the stamp off to a space themed event.

Snoopy's Sidekick:
Whistling Woodstock

This next card is for Jiffy's "Snoopy's Sidekick" LTC swap.  My card is called, "Whistling Woodstock."  I stamped my stamp on watercolor paper and colored it with Distress Inks and a water brush pen.  I was torn on weather to use music paper on the background or tie dye.  I didn't have enough tie dye paper to do all the cards but found some while I was at the craft store.  I also sent this stamp off to a Woodstock Anniversary event. 

Walk in the Park Event

Lily pad selfie before stamping the lily pad box

We had a great time at the Inaugural Walk in the Park event.  This is supposed to be an annual event at different state parks around Indiana.  G-MA picked up me and Daddy's Favorite Princess at 7 am and we made the 2 hour drive north to Shakamak State Park.

It had been a long time since I had been here.  The first part of the morning was wet but the trails were beautiful.  There were dogwood trees blooming everywhere along with wildflowers.  We also saw a few areas with lily pads.

Beautiful Park

We checked in at the cabin, dropped off our food & table tops, and hit the road.  Since it was sprinkling, we did the series of drive by boxes first.  We still had a little bit of time before lunch and stopped and grabbed 2 boxes of one series.

We went to the cabin for lunch and stamped a few table top boxes.  G-MA doesn't like this type of boxing so we didn't stay long.

Walk in the Park Event

There was one set of boxes on a paved path and we went after those next.  They were really cute camping themed stamps.  Some of the right/lefts were wrong but we still found all the boxes.  After that we went back to the car and took off on a trail in another direction.  It had some super cute alien stamps.  We even found a stamp planted in 2007!

At this point G-MA was pretty tired so we went back to the cabin.  We stamped some more table tops, exchanged, talked, and packed up our stuff.  On the way out I planted a box for Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!).  We also stopped at a cemetery where I got a box from 2010 that G-MA already had.  We ate at Arby's on the way home and I took a nice warm shower after logging all my finds.

Silly camp store sign :) 

The event was great!  We ended up with 35 traditional boxes.  I heard that some people couldn't find one here or there but we found every box that we looked for.  We left some hitchhikers on the trail and took some new ones from a hostile.  I had a postal waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home :)

Great Lakes Gathering 2018

Our First GLG 

I totally forgot to make a blog post for the Great Lakes Gathering (GLG).  Daddy's Favorite Princess, G-MA and I rode to the event together.  I just got a new van so I drove.  It was at Scales Lake, Boonville, Ind on Saturday, June 30th.

The day of the GLG was the hottest day of the year.  It was miserable and it looked like a lot of boxers stayed inside and stamped table tops.  My boxing buddy, G-MA, doesn't like table tops.  We checked in, dropped off our food, left behind my table tops, and hit the road.

We started off looking for the petting zoo series; we struggled with where the trail even started.  The series was entitled, "Around the Barn" but the boxes where no where near the barn/petting zoo.  We finally find the correct trail and realize that G-MA left her boxing bag at the event pavilion.  So, we go back, grab her bag, and get going again.  We ended up walking the petting zoo trail with two other boxers and it was nice to spend time with them.

When we were finished with that series we went back for lunch.  The place was a ghost town. We stamped a few table tops and went out again.  There was a trail that left from the shelter house called, "Fairies and Gnomes, Oh my!"  I enjoyed the stamps but we struggled finding some of the boxes.  We ended up going back and finding them later that day.

After that we went back to the pavilion again to restock our water, rest, and stamp a few table tops.  The hosts had planted a series of drive by boxes in the park.  It was very nice to have these boxes on such a hot day.  This series was called, "Aloha! From Indiana" and we found two of the stamps I donated.

We are locals living about 40 minutes west of Scales Lake.  Daddy's Favorite Princess was supposed to be at a birthday party at 6 and G-MA and I were very tired.  We went back to the pavilion to pick up our leftover food, gather table tops we brought, and say good bye.  At the shelter I was ambushed!  I had one boxer say she would not leave without exchanging with me.   I felt like a celebrity with all the boxers asking to exchange with me :)

I think we found 34 traditional boxes and only took 1 picture.   The birthday party that the Princess went to was a pool party.  I was very happy to sit in the corner and cool off.  I had a head ache the rest of the evening.

GLG Stamp Donations

I am looking forward to the Great Lakes Gathering later this month.  I have never been to one before.  Indiana is hosting this year and it will be about 40 minutes east of me.

I volunteered to carve 5 stamps.  There is a petting zoo at the park and they asked for petting zoo stamps.  One time we were letterboxing at the park and we stopped to play on a playground.  While we were there the donkey just wondered around the playground eating grass.  I had to carve the donkey and I know they have peacocks there too.

I am working on a new event box to take with me.  I need to make our camping reservations and we will be good to go :)

Southern Indiana Event

Found at local hybrid :)

Last Saturday, the princess and I had a very busy day.  Luckily, we managed to plant a box and look for two hybrid boxes between the many activities going on.

That evening we squeezed in a local letterbox event.  There were 10 or 11 people there and half of them were folks that I had met before.

Southern Indiana Meet, Eat & Stamp

We enjoyed stamping, talking, and eating.  The host planned an activity where they asked everyone to carve a St Patrick's Day stamp.  They locked them in boxes and we had to solve puzzles to get the stamps.  We suck at this kind of thing and didn't get one of the stamps.  Oh well :/

I only took one pic and it is not the best.

Summer Craft & Swap

This is my card for the "Summer Craft & Swap" hosted by aMAZEing adventure frog.  My card is called, "Ship in a Bottle."  I carved this stamp for Blackvelvetrav's pirate event.  But I liked the stamp so much I had to make some LTCs with it.

I got the background paper at the Ohio prairie event.  You may recall that Lil Ewok won a door prize at that event.  He got a plastic pail & shovel, stickers, background papers, and LTC sleeves.  These are some of the background papers that he got :)

The fish in the background are store bought cling stamps.  They are embossed with glitter embossing powder.  The old fishing net is gauze that I stained with alcohol inks.  I stamped, colored, cut out the bottles, and attached them with 3D glue dots.  I love how they turned out :)

Shipwrecked Prairie Event

Event Selfie 

This weekend we went back to Greenville, Oh to the Shipwrecked on the Prairie event.  The whole family went this year!  We got up at 4 am and drove 4.5 hours to Greenville.  We checked in and hit the trails.

Last time we went the trails had standing water and the mosquitoes were horrible :(  But this year was awesome!  It started off warm but in the afternoon some clouds rolled in and there was a nice breeze.  We boxed outside until lunch.  Then came in to eat and stamps some indoor boxes.  Lil Ewok won a door prize.

Group pic with beautiful wildflowers

After lunch we went back outside.  The blacksmith was in his shop and the boys hung out with him while the princess and I found the last series of boxes.  When we were done we went back inside to get a few table top boxes and pack up our stuff.

The Greenville Union Cemetery is the Crown Hill of Greenville ;)  We boxed here two years ago and I was surprised at how many boxes had been planted since we were there last.  I wanted to plant a box there but didn't because there were already so many.

When we were done at the cemetery we headed to a local pizza joint that had a box.  They were in the process of remodeling and were only doing carry out and delivery.  We got the box and had to look for a different place for dinner.  We got supper and started heading south to Richmond, In where we would stay the night.  We stopped in New Paris along the way and planted our box that we planned on planting in Greenville.

Crown Hill Selfie 

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel, packed up, and went to Crown Hill Cemetery in Indy to box some more.

My husband and I rarely box together and anytime he is around he drives.  But I drove the whole trip so my husband navigated and read the clues.  He about drove me crazy.  He would not let me touch the clues!  We missed a box in Crown Hill because he overlooked the clue.  Next time, he drives.  I guess next time I go to Indy I will have to box somewhere other than Crown Hill.

We had a great weekend.  My AQ logbook says I got 107 boxes.  I need 12 more to get 1,000!  We took some HH from the hostel but only found one on the trail and it was one we already had found.  We left a few fleas for others to find :)

Country Songs LTC

Country Songs: Rockin' Years

I am participating in TAP's "Country Songs" LTC swap.  My card is called "Rockin' Years", by Dolly Parton & Ricky Van Shelton.

I carved up two matching rocking chairs and added the name of the song.  I played around with carving different rocking chairs.  I was thinking a fancy one for a woman and a simple one for a man.  But I decided that was too much work ;)

I found some scrapbook paper that looks like floral paint/wallpaper that is peeling off wood.  I thought it was pretty and went well with old rocking chairs.  I stamped my stamp on vellum with purple ink.  The background paper has some purple flowers; they are small and I probably should have used green, but purple is my favorite.

I sent the stamp off as a donation to the Homerdoodle in the Country event.  I also sent the car from my Route 66/Cadillac Ranch  LTC as a cootie. I called it My Church for the Maren Morris song :)

Country Silos & Fancy Feathers

Kitchen Canister Silos

I am participating in the "Vintage Country Barns, Mills, and Bridges" LTC swap.  One of the things listed on the tracker was silos.  I just drove past these silos when planting one of my Hoosier Library Day boxes.

My card is called, "Kitchen Canister Silos."  I carved my stamp, stamped it on watercolor paper, colored the card with the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons, and then went over it with a water brush pen.  I sent the stamp off with the cards to be used at the Homerdoodle in the Country event.

I posted this pic on my Facebook page and everyone loved it.  I guess I will have to find a place to plant it when they return it after the event.


I'm also in the Fancy Feather Inchie swap.  I haven't made inchies in a while and thought it would be fun.   But carving a feather that small turned out to be tough and I almost dropped from the swap.

Fancy Feather: Tie Dye Feather

My stamp is pretty simple but I tried another new Pinterest technique.  You put some drops of alcohol ink on a baby wipe and stamp your stamp on that.  It gives a tie dye effect.  It looks cool but I think it would be better for bigger stamps and you can see that I tested it out on my mermaid.

Hoosier Library Day

Trail with a Tale

I have found a few letterboxes in Kentucky labeled "Super Hero Series."  It looks like back in 2008 Kentuckian boxers went out and planted boxes with a super hero theme.  I thought it would be cool if boxers across Indiana would do something like this.

I got on the message boards and we decided on National Library Day, April 11.  I got busy and made 2 boxes.  I carved the stamps, made pouches, logbooks, containers, etc.  They sat on the corner of my desk for a month all ready to go.  I was going to plant one in the library in Mount Vernon, just west of Evansville.  The other would go in a Little Free Library at the northern end of Vanderburgh County.

Bad selfie with letterbox

My boxing buddy, G-MA, doesn't carve and she doesn't like to plant but I suggested that she ask a family friend, Wise Wanderer, to make a box for her.  Wise Wanderer lives in Washington and sends boxes to G-MA from time to time.  But she was not able to this time.  I decided that I would make one.  There is a Little Free Library just a few doors down from one of G-MAs kids.  I got on the LFL website, got the email of the owners, and got their permission to plant the box.

My 1st two Hoosier Library Boxes

While I was on the LFL website I noticed a new LFL in Evansville and I had to make a box for it too.  My boxes doubled in a day.  I planted three of them on April 10th and one on April 11th.  I now have a box in every LFL in Evansville.

After planting all my boxes, I talked with G-MA and she said that she tried to talk to the owners of the LFL near her kids house but no one answered the door.  It would have been funny if we both planted a box there.

My last two Hoosier Library Boxes

I planted 4 boxes and didn't take a picture of a single location!  I must be loosing it.  I did take pics of my stamps.

The boxer who took my spot in BOTM planted a box for Hoosier Library Day and I did get a pic of that.  It is at a new reading path at a local park.  I wanted to get me & the kids with the signs in the background but that didn't work out.

Some people said that they would be late planting their boxes for the event.  So far we have 7 :)

Disney Donations

These are my stamp donations for the It's a Small World, after all! the Ultimate Disney event.  I carved the BB8 for an LTC last year.  I am very happy with how Anna & Elsa turned out.  I hope the folks in NC have a great event!!

Homerdoodle Event

Stamping on the trail

On Saturday, the kids and I went to the Homerdoodle Event in Homer, Ill.  We left at 6 am and arrived just after 9:30.  We only made one stop on the way up to go potty and grab breakfast.  I had my phone take us the "fastest route".  I think she was having problems because the roads kept getting smaller and at one point she told us to go east and then turn into a corn field.  I deiced that we would not be coming that way home.

We checked in, exchanged with the hostesses, and got our clue packet.  I think I grabbed two table top boxes and then we hit the trail.  We found a series of 19 stamps called, "Frogs are lucky! They eat what bugs them!"  All of the stamps (except for the last one) were bugs.  They were great carves and we found the stamp that I sent to the event too.

Kid Table

When we finished that trail it was time for the group photo and lunch.  After lunch Daddy's Favorite Princess wanted to stay in the a/c and stamp event/table top boxes.  We asked the hostesses if she could stay and they said yes.  They had a kid table set up with papers, markers, stamps, etc.  They also had bubbles, side walk chalk, and popsicles.

Trail Selfie 

After lunch the boys and I hit the trails again.  We did a nature series and found 22 boxes.  This was a nice shady trail and I found my 800th box during that series.  But the boys were getting grouchy and fighting over who would get the box, who would stamp first, who would put it back, etc.

Event/table top boxes

When we finished those I promised them we would stay at the shelter for a bit.  We got back and we only had 40 minutes to exchange, stamp table tops, event boxes, etc.  We stamped as many as we could and ended up staying a little late.  You know they want you to leave when they start taking your chairs away.  So we threw in the towel.

One of the hostesses had talked about a fancy playground area and I let the kids play there a while.  Lil Ewok ended up slipping on the rocks and getting a little wet.  After a while I talked the kids into getting 5 more boxes.  The stamps were wildlife in the park.

Playscape 

I would have liked to have gotten more boxes but the kids were hungry and tired so we left.  We went up the interstate and found a restaurant.  While we were there I studied the map and picked a different way home.  We got back just after 10:30 that night.  Homer is about 3.5 hours from home and my husband said that he didn't realize how far we were going.

We found 55 traditional boxes, 3 hitchhikers, 1 cootie, 64 event boxes, and a few exchanges.  I was hoping to get more traditional boxes and exchange with more people but I guess there is only so much you can do in a day.