Treasure

Naomi and I recently spent 6 hours learning all about geocaching. Really, one can learn about geocaching in about 20 minutes, but it was a Girl Scout event so there was lots of other stuff along with the basic lesson. What better way to introduce girls to treasure hunting than by incorporating PIRATES!

The first half of the event was a variety of learning activities and crafts.

After lunch, the girls headed out into the woods to find 7 caches (set up just for this event). They all had a great time! The excitement of following the clues and finding the hidden treasure was addictive. Plus, the perfectly sunny, cool day was an added bonus!

Naomi absolutely loved it. (I think she has been influenced by all the awesome treasure hunts at Mimi and Pa's place!) Well, when Naomi loves something, she becomes, dare I say, obsessed with it. She literally has a one-track mind!

One of the things the girls learned at the event was about the geocaching.com website and app -- which shows you all the caches that are nearby wherever you happen to be. As soon as we left the event, Naomi could not stop asking to check the website and my phone and asking WHEN would we get to go find a cache. I did want to support her enthusiasm, so right after she searched her stash of junk trinkets (to leave something when she took something from the cache) we searched the website and found a handful of caches very close.

The first 2 were a bust -- I forgot to check and make sure someone had actually found them recently -- apparently they were both missing. The third one was a success, only because another Girl Scout mom was there with her girls and showed us where it was. She also showed us how to review recent activity on the phone app for clues and hints!

Naomi was happy to see a real cache and sign the log book, but anxious and desperate to find one on her own. We had other plans that night, but she KEPT asking when we could look for more. Every other sentence was about geocaching!

Fortunately, our plans that night were at an outdoor Veteran's day event, and low and behold there was a cache on the park grounds. So, Naomi had one more chance...in the dark...

SHE FOUND ONE! You would have thought she won the lottery!! It was a very exciting moment and she was very, very proud. She has re-told the story about a dozen times to anyone that will listen!

You have now officially been warned. If we see you in a new area...Naomi will politely say hello and then ask if you are ready to head out and look for treasures!

UPDATE: Since the initial introduction, Naomi has found 9 caches (most in Texas, a couple in North Carolina during Thanksgiving!). Here's the 9th one found today!

Such great, free, outdoor fun!