You say it's your birthday....well it's my birthday too!

Yes, in addition to the other birthday most of you moms with young children are celebrating today (Webkinz, of course!), this is the day I turn the big 'ol Three - Five. Kind of a milestone, eh? Yes, I know...you needn't make excuses...I know you all wish me well and have very busy lives. :) Plus, you know *I'M* not very good at remembering dates either! teehee

So my kids have been VERY excited waiting for today to start. First, it was Mom's birthday. Then it was the Webkinz extravaganza!! THEN, Mom decided to go nuts and FINALLY have baby sister Linnae's late birthday party today too. THEN - Ohhh my...Grandma is taking the whole family out for dinner at one of our favorite places...Red Lobster. Please, those of you coastal people, just let me believe it's good seafood, ok? I DO live smack dab in the MIDDLE of the freakin' States and fresh seafood, like a trip to the beach for the day, is...well...probably not truly possible in my lifetime. So I'll have my coconut shrimp and 'fresh' snow crab legs tonight and truly tell myself that it couldn't possibly be better on the coast. It's ok...I don't really know what I'm missing, right?

So the kids were on me the moment I awoke to get my presents opened. Of course Hubby was sleeping in so that was on hold while I cleaned up the kitchen, fed the baby, contained over-tired Rose and stumbled through making coffee because I wasn't in bed last night until ohhhh...about 1am. Just watching TV shows and chillin' out. Of course at 2pm now and just a couple hours before the party and then dinner out, I'm REALLY wishing I hadn't made that choice last night. Do they actually make mini toothpicks to hold eyelids open for you while you sleep? Hmmm

The kids gave me my first Webkinz of my very own...a very cute Panda bear. He's the pet of the month for May so I'll wait a few days to register him. Hubby got me a GPS. Yes, I actually asked for one, along with a few other items. My interest is mainly in geocaching. First, it looks fun. Second, it's something the kids can do with me (and Hubby)! (For so many politicians harping on 'family values' these days, it amazes me that here in the midwest, we have movies, dinner, hick dancing and bars. There are outdoor things like walking, parks, zoo, etc. but those things are very weather dependent and small children tire quickly when walking. There are bowling alleys and skating rinks but those are overrun by smokers or unsupervised, mean kids far too often. Where are any family events still coming?? Through CHURCHES. But that's another post) Where was I? Oh yes, geocaching. Third (and a very distant third) is because it will teach us great life lessons (you know how I hate to use that E word).

If you live in a cave, geocaching is pretty simple. There are hundreds, nay thousands, of sites that log geocaches. A geocache is like a buried treasure. Doesn't have to be buried - could be hanging off a tree branch, etc. But there's something to find. Sometimes you leave the object for the next geocacher, sometimes you take what's in there and make a new one. The sites give specifics about it. They're in local parks and all sorts of places. If you want to get an idea of where caches are around your area, check out Geocaching.com. I've been interested in this for over a year and I'm really excited to have the GPS to do it now. I think kids will also get a lot from it - sense of adventure, mystery, problem solving, directions, knowledge of how to read and follow maps, topographical information and more. I'm very excited to get started!

My particular GPS has major highways and interstates but no smaller roads. I would like to upgrade the map later on to include roads - it would be extremely helpful for this woman who sometimes finds herself in the middle of nowhere. ;) So now when you tell me to get lost, I truly can.