Well I feel better now.

Is there anything funnier than a toddler dancing to "I wanna "%$#&" you like an animal"?

(helps if paste the correct code lol)

Feeling Beachy :)

We Headed to the Beach today... it was 80 degrees outside... in April!!! In New England!!! It rocked.

So Rowan and I packed up our sunblock, some snacks, a teeny weeny bikini (for her of course) and a beach umbrella and headed over to Hampton.

We dug in the sand.. put our toes in the water the 43 degree ocean water, and walked the board walk. It was phenomenal.

An impromptu tubby

I just wanted to wash Rowan's face... she jumped into the sink and insisted on a tubby.

Yes.. my 3 year old still fits in the sink lol






and a little video
(sorry for the sideways thing)

What happens when you leave a kid alone with sun block

I gots myself tagged....

8 Things...

Katrina over at Sevin Family tagged me!


Here's how 8 THINGS works:

- Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO:


- Moving and spending the summer with a big yard
- Making new friends
- Being a SAHM-
- More letterboxing
- Warm weather!
- Losing weight (a girl can dream)
- BBQ's! (which Katrina better invite me too)


8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:

- Letterboxed
- Took a nap
- Went to Target
- Watched some boob tube
- Read my book
- Crocheted a bit
- Played with Rowan
- Drove


8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:

- Lose some weight
- Afford to be a stay at home mom haha
- Win the lottery
- Be more patient with Rowan
- Talk to my hubs more
- Go back to Disney
- Have another baby.
- Speak another language fluently


8 SHOWS I WATCH:

- Handy Manny

- Mickey Mouse Club house

- Sponge Bob

- Millionaire Matchmaker

-Good EAts

- Top Chef

- Make me a supermodel

- Baby Story



8 BLOGGERS TAGGED:


I don't know anyone lol at least not well enough to tag them... well accept for Elissa but she's got three kids and i'm just not that cruel hehehe

Meeting her Great grandpa..aka.. Papa

We did some more letterboxing today.... I've decided not to post pics, in case anyone googles letter boxing and my posts spoil spots for them.

Here is where we went:
A Big Penny for Your Thoughts
Girl Scout Troop 12046 and Dez
Calef's And Joel's
Remember Veteran's Day
You've Got Mail

I'll post occasional pics, but no more play by plays.

Anyhow, a group of letterboxes we found today were located in my hubs home town... in the town's largest cemetary. It just so happens that my Hub's papa was buried here in 2003. After finding the letterboxes I drove Rowan over to his stone to "meet" him.

I explained how Papa had gone to heaven, but we could say Hi to him at his stone.

It was very sweet.. she told him..."hi papa, I love you".


I'm sure my hubs will find these pictures bitter sweet. He was very very close to his papa... and when he passed it was a emotional time for him.

Life at Sea - Letterbox

This was our last box of the day. We actually went to 4 spots. One's letterbox was MIA.... the other one was a bit sketchy.. but we found it anyhow.... So I'm only posting the two others we found :) If you ask me, the greatest treasure find of the day was this playground :)

This is in Long Hill Memorial Park, though the sign has somehow gone missing. From Old Rochester Road, turn West on Long Hill, and left into the park behind Middleton Lumber.

From the playground, stand with your back to the sprial slide. Look through the swingset, and take that trail into the woods.

Make a right at the intersection.

Continue straight as small trails join.

At the fork in path, stay left, and go only a few feet. To your left, about 8 feet off the trail is a V shaped Oak. Behind that oak is weird looking tree growing like a backwards "L".

The box is hidden under this tree.

Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary - Letterbox

This was a fun little box to find.. the woods were gorgeous albeit a bit muddy in the spring weather.. I made the mistake of wearing my crocs.. thankfully my toes are washable haha. I had to carry Rowan most of the way in order to keep her mostly clean.. so yeah, totally a good workout for me haha.




Take the grassy path to a mailbox (inside is a notebook to note the wildlife you have observed along your walk when you exit). This trail can be quite muddy especially in the spring and watch out for the tree roots. After the mailbox follow the yellow trail markers to the left to start. Foot bridge. Trail meets up with red trail marker, take red to the left and follow along the water staying on the trail marked with red. Houses to your left across the river, trail bears to the right. At the point where there is a clear view of the river and several houses across the river turn 180 degrees to face woods. Look for large dead barkless pine tree directly in front of you. From the back of this tree take 10 steps to a tall pine with branches only near the top. From the back of that tree take 30 paces to a large dead tree that leans to the west. Behind that tree is what you seek. Stamp up and rehide.

Larry Leprechaun Letterbox

This was our last box of the day. It was a nice simple trail...

Clues: This box is hidden in the William H. Champlin, Jr. Forest, located across the street from Skyhaven Airport on Route 108, in Rochester, New Hampshire.
Park in the parking lot.
Be aware of muddy conditions and downed branches.
From the green sign walk towards the trail, which is diagonally to the right, across the field, and you will see a white arrow pointing to the trail.
Start on the trail.
Get to the 4-way intersection and go left.
Continue on the trail and see an abandoned piece of farm equipment on your right.
Continue on the trail and come to your first large white birch tree on your right.
From the birch tree take 30 strides and you will see a 5 trunked tree on your right.
Here is where you will find the St. Patrick's Day letterbox!
Please re-hide well! Thanks! :)

Mr. Sunny - Letter boxing

Mr. Sunny was our next stop. It was hidden in an old cemetary i've passed a gazzillion times.. who knew treasures were hidden there! Sadly the log book in the box was sopping wet, as the last person to visit hadn't stored it properly.. ahh well.


Clues:
Park your car in the small area in front of the gate.
Walk into the cemetery and head to the right.
Walk next to the rock wall and look for a triangle-shaped gravestone.
Across from this gravestone, you will see a triple-trunked tree with a cut off dead limb in front.
Mr. Sunny is hiding inside this tree.
Please be discreet as always when looking for a letterbox and please re-hide well.

This is our first letterbox plant.
We hid it together as a project for our class.
Let us know what you think of it.
Thanks! :)

Picasso's Doves - Letterboxing

After hiking through the Isinglas Mountain park, we headed down the road to another small trail with letter boxes called Picasso's Doves.

This trail was much easier, with smaller hills... and we were able to find both boxes!

The path is directly across the street from the entrance to St Mary's Cemetary, located at 71 Lowell Street in Rochester. It is marked by a red fire hydrant, and blocked to motorized vehicles by a large log. Parking is on the street. Apparently this area is occasionally used by turkey hunters, so its wise to not go creeping around dressed like a bird during hunting season.

Step over the logs and follow the path. A short ways in it will take you to a clearing. The path continues to the left side of the clearing.

You will cross a small stream. Just past the stream is the moss-covered remains of a rock wall. The first dove is hidden next to the wall on the left side of the trail, hidden by leaves and sticks. (Note: There's a bit of old barbed wire near here. To avoid, approach the wall by going around the right side of the old dead tree.)

Continue up the trail. After a while, you will notice the sides of the trail begin to drop away into a valley on each side. Soon you will approach another clearing on the trail. The second dove is behind a large pine, the tree in the 2 o'clock position (or at 170 degrees bearing from the trail, if you happened to bring your compass.)

Return back the way you came.

Fairies of Mount Isinglas

My friend Elissa sent me info on Letterboxing and we just had to try it! Its a bit like a scavenger hunt, where you search for hidden boxes. Once you find the box, you use the stamp inside to record it in your letterbox diary... and you leave your own stamp inside the book that is in the box. Its amazing the different boxes we found, and how many people had visited them... from as far away as California!

It was a blast... and we found a lot of natural treasures on the way :) Below are the clues to the first letter boxes we tried to find. We only found 1 out of the 3. We beleive the other two were destroyed or removed.

To find the Fairies of Mount Isinglas,
take route 125 to Rochester Neck Road, Rochester, NH

http://www.mountisinglas.com/
You can see the trail map here and some picture and more info.!

From route 16
take exit 12 and take a left till Rochester Neck Road is on your right at a set of lights.

From route 101
Take exit 7 onto Route 125 till your in Rochester/Gonic. Rochester Neck Road will be at a set of lights on your left.

Take Rochester Neck Road and travel about a mile. The park is well marked and on your right.

Mountain bike are allowed, but we do not recomened them for the children.
Bring BUG SPRAY!!!!!

There are 3 paths you can take that will lead you through this fabulous little park, we will be going through parts of all three, please grab a trail map, located in the mail box and we will start to the right of the sign, on the BLUE trail. The paths that you will be following will be a very large circle that you will travel counter clock wise.

As soon as you start on this trail, you will come to a fork (one of many) in the road, stay to your left, look for blue markers on the stones and/or trees. You will soon come to a nice little bridge. We have found many tadpoles or frog eggs here, depending on what time of year you go. You will travel a little bit of a distance till you see another fork in the road, take a right, now look right again down this path, you should see a YELLOW marker now and the #7

Here is where your first letter box will be. Look at #7 and find the very large boulder behind it, here is the Acorn Fairy.

Now back to face the #7. Take a left. Do you hear water? Follow the sound of the rapid running water.

You will see the #8 this marker was placed here to show where an old mill once stood. Looking into this fast running brook will often see people fishing. Becomes BLUE and YELLOW path.

For box #2 look for the very large rock face on your left. This rock has many interesting crevases and tiny caves, also a great place to have a picture taken! Facing the rock look to the right of it, there is a tree growing out of the rock. The Daisy Fairy will be hiding in the roots.

Before rushing off to see the beautiful water fall, look on the ground, you can find many little books of mica, quartz, and various other great rocks!

Now check out that wonderful water fall! Also if you look around, you will see remnants of a beavers work on some small trees.

Now keep following the path, it will fork again, we took the left, but the right path will get you to the same place.

These paths will become very small but you are on the right path!
Now further up you will see a path with a red maker on it to the left, you need to take this path, if you miss it, and you just see yellow markers on the trees, you have gone too far, turn around and look for the red path.

Follow the RED path, it will start to go uphill quickly. Follow this path till you see the next #7 This is a hemlock pocket, look for the three large pine trees after #7, one has a red marker on it. Looking at the 3 pines, look on the left side of the path for a very large pine just after them, Box #3 is hidden behind this tree, The Mushroom Fairy (also called the fairy bumbie by my daughter).

At this point, any path you take will get you back to the parking lot, but this is how we went. It can be muddy, but we had a great time doing it!

After the Mushroom Fairy you'll come to another fork in the path, go right(look for RED)
You will pass over another nice bridge and see #11.
At next fork, go left.
Cross over the mushie mud by way of the nice rock path, then hop skip and jump over the other muddy areas.

Now you will come to 3 rock steps up and the paths combind again. BLUE and RED, take a right.
Another nice bridge and before you know it, the parkinglot!

Happy Birthday - the terrible Three's have arrived

Rowan woke up this morning begging for cake for breakfast haha.

We spent the morning at the library, playing at home... and then headed off to her party.

This was her third party at the Children's Museum. The previous two were in the old Portsmouth location, and this was the first in Dover.

It was so fun.... we had our own party room for cake and presents, and then got to head out into the museum to play for an hour and half.

It was fun seeing all her little friends.... And to watch my baby girl be celebrated.

After the museum we headed over to grab a couple slices of pizza (Rowan's fave dinner) then it was home to play with all her new toys.

Three years... I have no idea where the time has gone.....