As the weather was lovely and our Saturday was sliding into late afternoon, we decided some geocaching/outdoor time might be in order. We packed the family up and headed to the thriving metropolis of Beaver Dam and entered Stewart Park (Dane county’s first County Park! Established in 1935). This is a nice little park with some picnic shelters, hiking trails, a playground and a little lake. It was a fabulous place to spend a Saturday evening and best of all, the weather was perfec: warm, but not too hot, and a nice breeze. Even better–there were 2 geocaches to find within the park.

We made our way down a lovely hiking trail, stopping to examine butterflies, flowers and leaves along the way. The boys hitched a ride in their Kozy carriers (Gavin on dad’s front, and Liam on my back) and the Princess ran back and forth around us (I swear on every walk she must walk half again as much as we do!)
Lidia has taken to the sport of geocaching. She calls it treasure hunting. Her favorite part is digging through the cache to pick out that one special treasure to take home. Today she made quite the haul, for in one of the caches (conveniently placed in a very cool old stump such that *she* easily discovered the “treasure box”) contained something that every princess dreams of: accessories! Specifically, a complete set of beaded jewelry (necklace, bracelets, earrings and even a ring), sparkling in all its princess pinkness. She was in heaven, no doubt.

Whilst she reveled in her princess treasure, the little Jelly on my back enjoyed sampling the plant life. He used his Go-Go Gadget arms, and before I knew it, leaf was in hand and hand was in mouth. The sample was quickly extracted–and good thing, because judging by the expression on the boy’s face (and the “bleh” type sounds coming from him for the next 2 or 3 minutes) it did not taste as good as it looked.

We moved on to search for the next cache, which required us to go off trail and into the woodlands a bit. We found it easy enough and Lidia enjoyed partaking of the free-range organic blackberries, whilst I got poked a few times retrieving them. This is the first time she has discovered such a treat and she was quite excited to sample the berries. Of course we had to explain that not all berries outside were edible, and to check with mom and dad first–but she won’t be doing any solo hiking for a while, so that’s probably a moot point.

Anyhow, we finished our hike with some playground time. Peanut Butter and Jelly enjoyed the swings while Princess alternated between playing and freaking out over the bugs that were flying near her (that’s a whole other post).
I must say this was one of the most pleasant and relaxing evenings we have had in some time! Though, both of us were a wee bit sore the next day–my, we are out of shape…

Bonus shot: The rare photo of my husband and I together! (self portrait, as per tradition)