Our First Geocache!

In a word, it is fun! Last weekend, we ordered pizza for lunch and had 15 minutes to wait for it to be done. Allan, the genius, decided to look for our first geocache. We had previously downloaded geocache sites onto our GPS for future use.
For those not familiar with this activity, here is how it works: People hide geocaches all over the world. You can go online to geocache.com to find the locations. You must have a GPS to locate the geocache. The GPS will direct you to a pretty specific area. From there, you have to hunt for the "box". Inside the box will be a log book to sign and "treasures" as termed by our children. You have to leave something, if you take something.
For our first hunt, we headed to a local park. We parked the van and had to hike into the woods to find our geocache. Will and Emma were literally running down a path trying to be the first ones to find the "treasure". They didn't understand that it wasn't going to just jump out at them! Of course, Allan had the GPS in hand and Jack and I brought up the rear because his little legs had a hard time maneuvering over the logs and around the puddles. :) After Allan had directed the big two to the general spot, they began searching. All of the sudden, we heard a scream. It could only mean that Miss Emma had found the geocache! They waited to open it until Jack and I arrived at the spot. It was a green metal box and inside was a log book, which we signed. There were also a few trinkets that we could choose from to take. We left an American flag and took a geocoin.
The kids talked about this "adventure" and "treasure hunt" all day long. It was SO much fun! And it was free! We haven't gone hunting again yet, but plan to make this a family activity as often as we can.