Letterboxing

I heard about Letterboxing last year, but never got up the nerve to do it until today. Letterboxing is a nationwide organization (letterboxing.org) and you can go on and find local letterboxes. You are given clues on where to go and it is sort of a little treasure hunt. When you find it, you use a stamp in the log book and then the box will have a stamp in it for you to record in your own little log book. I took a picture of my kids at each place and just bought cheap brag books to put the picture beside the stamp as a fun little letterboxing scrapbook.

So like I mentioned, today was my first time. I had directions to five local letterboxes and I had packed a picnic thinking we'd have a really fun afternoon. It was fun...but it was an adventure.

I forgot bug spray.

The directions had said that the first box was in a park. I was picturing like a grassy field/playground. Nope, it was like a wilderness park. It was probably close to a mile hike into the box. We had planned on eating lunch at this pond near the treasure - but I refused to stop. Ella cried the whole way in because she was hungry. I was so eaten up by mosquitos by the time we found the box all I wanted to do was run out. I ended up carrying Ella out and Brody cried because he thought we were going to get eaten.

Brody and Ella taking a rest during our flee from our first letterbox

We got to the car and my legs just started to swell. I don't just get a mosquito bite - it looks like the mosquitoes hit my legs multiple times with a regulation size baseball bat. Seriously I thought I was going to die from itchiness. Brody even asked me on the way home - "Mommy are we going to die?" He takes things very literally. I ought to watch how I phrase things. The kids fortunately didn't seem to inherit my response to mosquito bites and after some food they were all better.

I ditched my plan and we only went to one other letterbox today. Ironically it was at a hospital. I thought about going in and getting a cortisone shot, but didn't want to pay the hundreds of dollars it would cost.

Our second letterbox at the hospital (the kids are holding their stamps from the box) They look thrilled, huh?

We will go again, but I will be buying lots of bug spray and I will probably wear pants even in the heat.