Archive for September 5th, 2009
In the interest of full disclosure – we’ve only been 3 times (I think) and not all 7. We’re not usually around for this particular event as its held over a holiday weekend but we happened to be this year.
J has also indoctrinated convinced Mom2My4 that geocaching is clearly the most.fun.ever so he’s now successfully added another member to the local geocaching community. I’m happy about this because a) Karen and her family are cool and b) I now have someone to talk to while J wanders about looking for things in obscure places. Who might that be, you ask? Why, it’s Chuck. Husband to Karen and back seat driver extroardinaire:
Almost immediately upon arrival the girls (their 2 and our 1) spotted the playground so we left J and Karen to it and headed off to let the girls play. That bought us at least 45 minutes of not having to make small talk with people that we didn’t really know.
Let me say here that I do really enjoy the picnics and get-togethers but since I don’t speak the geocaching language sometimes I feel a bit left out and third wheel-ish. J tries to make sure I’m fed, watered, and happy but the siren call of unfound treasure is just too much sometimes and I’m left (pre-Ava) by myself or (post-Ava) stuffing crackers in my kid’s face and trying to look like I’m really busy taking care of her. That siren call is strong so most of the other geocachers have also scattered to the winds leaving lots of us family member types looking uncomfortably at each other and trying to make conversation.
That’s why I’m so happy that Chuck is around. Now I have someone who also doesn’t speak geocache (but wants to support his family’s hobby) and likes to run around playgrounds, too.
Karen and J did wander over occasionally. See, here’s proof…a rare familial portrait posted for the world to see.
Yes, J normally does look slightly maniacal like that while driving while I’m usually not nearly as happy in the car with him as I am in the photo. Ava is clearly sporting my normal grimace and death grip that I usually have when in the car with him. (What??? He is a NY driver, you know.*)
Ava was an attraction, too. Not only because she’s freakin’ adorable but also because she was wearing her very own geocoin.
This coin was designed by and given to us after Ava’s referral by another China adoptive geocaching family. We activated it with Ava’s first cache found in China and it belongs solely to her. Isn’t it cool? Note the design on the tag – it’s a yin yang symbol. You can see it better here.
J even brainwashed helped Karen with deciding on what GPS unit to buy. She opted for the identical model that J has.
Ava didn’t like this when she spotted it and promptly walked over to Miss Karen and took it away from her while emphatically stating, “That’s Dada’s.” She marched it over to J only to become quite confused upon the discovery that there were indeed two.
At which time she immediately dropped one of them on the ground. Karen’s, of course.
I headed out about this time, leaving Chuck on his own, and drove back to my appointment. J and Ava lasted a bit longer, but not much as it was super hot and she was in dire need of a nap.
The evening ended at home with Ava tackling her new Lincoln Logs. She loved them.
So did J. I think I know what he’ll be getting for his birthday.
*He’s not a bad driver. Just a tad bit speedy and aggressive for my liking.