Hanson Crew

So on Friday night, the crew grabbed a $5 Little Caesars Pizza and headed out to find another Letterbox. The box was hidden in Maple Woods park, which is nestled in a nice neighborhood north of the river. We were unsuccessful finding the box, but really enjoyed the hunt! Missouri isn't as flat as people think. The trail reminded me of Colorado Mountains in a way (once you got high up on the trail of course and were covered by trees and roots). The kids loved it (minus Jonathan who was being pushed through a very bumpy trail in the stroller while trying to nap) and we got very close to finding the box. It was the same placer who hid the other box we had to look for twice, so we plan on coming back again sometime for another try. The folks here in KC who are reading this should go give this trail a try with your kids. It's nothing to fancy, but would be really fun evening walk. It is off Hwy 1/Antioch up past 72 nd street. I can email you directions if you are interested... A...

The crew looking for the first box (notice Caleb's cute bag handling, reminded me of the mailman) Our first box - An Elmo stamp - and the location of our hitchhiker stamp we are taking to another box soon... Our second box was a little passed this bench and had a sheep stamp in it. Above is the box itself and everyone putting the stamp in the journals. John finding the third box way into the woods - it contained a kite stamp (This is the box we couldn't find without him on Thurs)

Wahoo ! We did it! Our first successful day of letterboxing 9-8-7! John is a natural! We found the two new boxes we set out to find as well as the one from Thursday we couldn't (yes, I was under the wrong tree!) The kids had a blast and we got tons of exercise in a beautiful state park. Even Jonathan got excited on our hike and Caleb looked adorable carrying the " letterboxing bag" with all our stuff in it (journals, ink pad, stamps). We were so excited to find a hitchhiker bag in one of the boxes today too. This log was started in 2004 on the East Coast and many families have carried it to other locations in different boxes. Our job is to sign the log and put it into a different location for the next person to take. We will post some photos of our day soon and can't wait to do this again, maybe in NE or CO too! Rebers - it is a lot like geocaching , except easier and free (no equipment necessary). The kids love it because they can do the stamps and love to follow ...