Travel Bug humor

We picked up the Deerwood Loon travel bug earlier this week in Cumberland while geocaching. We're working on getting him closer to N.H. this weekend. He's in a race with another TB to get to Squam Lake in NH by August. He's pretty close to winning; the other TB is in New York at the moment. And the Loon is doing really well given the fact that he's from Florida and has only been traveling since January.

The kids liked the whole race idea but were disappointed with the lack of photos in this TB's gallery (there's only one). So we just added one. We thought Loon would like to spend time with some new feathered friends.

Almeida humor continues....

Where's Bunny?

A photo was published in the Central Maine newspapers this morning about a pool in Waterville. My co-worker thought the picture should have included bunny. I agreed.

And Colleen, another co-worker blogged about it too.

A little white lie

We met up with some friends yesterday afternoon at Old Orchard Beach. The day was sunny but temperatures were a little cool for swimming. That didn't stop the kids from getting into their bathing suits and jumping in the water. Clearly the kids are products of their Maine upbringing when frolicking in 55 degree water is fun.

As with all our beach trips, the kids collect shells. L. always seems to have a fairy house construction project going in our backyard and needs shells. Old Orchard had plenty of shells as well as a couple of other random items. The large, very human-like bone G. found was creepy. That didn't make it into the bag - I buried that in the sand when the kids weren't looking. But the broken pocketbook handle was re-found and brought home. What they plan to do with that I have no idea.

After examining the finds on the kitchen table last night, G. noticed the bone was missing. Oops, I said, it must have fallen out.

We all need our little white lies.....

Oops, we're in trouble

Yesterday I was closely monitoring my GPS to find a geocache at Twin Brooks Trail in Cumberland. And what is usually the case when it comes to my beloved gadget, I was not paying attention to the world around me.

We were off the trail, about 200 feet, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bunch of green pointy leaves. There were alarm bells going off in the far corners of my mind (and I mean far corners) that I should take a closer look at those plants. But just as a thought was forming, the "arriving at destination" flashed on my GPS screen.

After the kids spotted the cache's hiding place I suddenly realized what those 3-point, green leafy plants were - poison ivy. I had a moment of panic and then decided to let the kids grab the cache anyway. We were already in the thick of things so we just went for it. And it was the quickest cache swap - done in under 2 minutes - that we've ever done. It went something like this:

Quick, pick out a swap, I half-yelled.

Got them mom, said G.

Here's our swaps. Get them in.

Got it, said L.

Sign the log. OK, let's GO!

Run mom!

And off we went - running - back to the car for a baby wipe wash down. I've read that if you wash your skin with soap and water within 15 minutes of exposure to poison ivy, you'll avoid the itchy rash. And now I know that information to be accurate. None of the kids broke out in a rash today (it usually takes 24 hours for the full rash to develop in most people).

But I wasn't quite so lucky. I apparently didn't wash my sandals well enough after the trip because this afternoon I have some seriously itchy ankles.

So I guess I have to admit there is a downside to geocaching; it isn't all fun and games. Well, it might be for the multi-talented who can read a GPS and watch where they're walking.....

Cache action

As you probably remember, my family hid our first ever geocache at the Lowell Preserve in Windham a few weeks ago for my column about geocaching. Within 24 hours of posting the cache to the web, someone had found it. But after that, the cache hadn't seen much action, at least not on the web. So on Thursday I decided to to take the kids, and a couple of their friends, to visit the cache again and check the log for entries. It turned out that the cache had several visitors (about 10) so far; they just hadn't logged their visit online.

But last night there was a flurry of activity and logged visits on the cache's page. Check it out. Seems there were lots of people hiking the trail yesterday.

And I have to say that the visitors to our geocache have left some pretty cool trades. Everyone in my crew left the cache with happy faces.

Chickens galore

Sometimes we don't have to leave our backyard to have an "outdoor adventure." We have chickens. And that means that our family is never at a loss for a story about some random -- usually bizarre and funny -- incident involving our chickens.

For instance, there was the time a rooster jumped on my head and tried to peck through my skull. It felt like a scene from "The Birds" (and I couldn't wash my hair for a couple of days because of all the lacerations on my scalp). According to my husband though, I must have somehow "provoked" the rooster. But that theory was buried, along with the rooster, a week later when it tried to do the same to him.

Then there was this time that my husband put a baby monitor in the chicken coop to listen for the raccoon that was somehow getting into the coop and trying to eat the flock. Have you ever heard a rooster crow at 4 a.m. through an amplified baby monitor? Oh yeah, lots of fodder about chickens at our house.

Yesterday my husband and the kids have ensured the chicken lore will continue with the arrival of another dozen new chicks.

The chicken population at the Almeida homestead is now over 30 with plans for acquiring another couple of ducks in July. My city upbringing and sensibilities are being stretched to their limits..... and the chicken stories continue.

Geocache bugs are on the loose

We released our first ever travel bugs in geocaches in the Standish/Steep Falls area.

Lilo the Swimmer," who likes to swim in all kinds of water, is hanging out in the "Steep Falls" cache near the Saco River.

Ronny" the Ronald McDonald doll that wants to visit new McDonald's and eat cheeseburgers is hanging out in "The Rips" geocache on another part of the Saco River.

The "Ice Cream Eater" is still in process but we're working on getting that one released next week.

Happy caching!