Clarksville- 3.5 out of 5 Cheerios

I am giving Clarksville Wading Pool and Park 3 1/2 out of 5 Cheerios. All the moms and kids enjoyed the shallow pool and I could see Nick playing just a few feet away from me at the playscape while staying with Noah in the pool. The wading pool is perfect for toddlers to pre-schoolers-depth is "9 to 2'. The pool is drained and filled everyday it is open but is only 10% shaded and has limited hours.The playscape is covered and has toddler swings. I plan to visit this location in the future and I believe it is especially easy for the more than one child mom-completely fenced pool and park. We did get to enjoy our snack at the shaded picnic table. Two life guards were present and the bathrooms were fine. Unfortunately there isn't a parking lot so parking is curb side, lucky for us it wasn't busy with other families. See out soon.

Treasure Hunters

This morning Julie and her four year old daughter Taylor met up with me and August at Mayfield Park for our first letterboxing adventure together.  Letterboxing or geocaching as it is also known, is basically a treasure hunt. People post maps on the internet of where they've hidden 'treasure'. In it's most basic form you would find a log book to sign for the hider once you've found it and the hider in return provides an artful stamp (mostly homemade) which you can then stamp into your own book. Sometimes there are treasure prizes, sometimes there are not, sometimes they are easy to find, sometimes it's like Raiders of the Lost Ark (and if you're with me, bring a sandwich because it could take awhile).

The one we found today was about as easy as it gets, a short quarter mile walk into the woods (a half mile if you're relying on me and my map skills...ah hem, sorry Julie) and the box was hidden under some rocks right off the traveled foot path. It's a wonderful way to take in nature and especially thrilling for kids to find treasure. You end up seeing places you would have never known about otherwise and be a part of a whole subculture that's magically hidden in plain sight.

We all had such a good time just enjoying the morning together - and that's what's so fun about it. You can get a GPS and go Tomb Raider or just put on your mucklucks and find a reason to take a long walk in a place you haven't visited in a while. Either way you'll have fun with a friend or your family.  The first one I ever went on, actually the first time I ever even heard of it, was from my friends in Vermont. I went up to visit them and we ended up going on an impromptu treasure hunt through the hills with his wife and three kids. Not bad a bad way to spend a chilly autumn afternoon catching up with old friends.

These letterboxes can be found anywhere all over the world. Some places are more densely populated than others, but you can also join in by planting your own treasures for other people to find. We used Atlas Quest today for our map, but there tons of other sites you can check out. 

Have you ever been letterboxing?

Fuel Your Creative Flame

I'm nerdy. I am not creative. When I draw pictures, they are usually composed of standard geometric shapes, like squares, triangles and circles. When I paint with my daughter, while she experiments with colors and textures and freely swipes her paint brush or paint covered fingers or feet, I paint letters or spirals. So, when I realized that topic of this month's Mother's Renewal meeting was Unleashing Your Creativity, as described in Renee Trudeau's book The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal, I was doubtful. I led the group discussion with a bit of apprehension, how was I supposed to encourage other moms to unleash their creativity when I couldn't unleash my own?

Our discussion was centered around three questions- What creative things did you do before having children? What creative things do you do now? What creative things can we do that involve our children and partners?

As always, the group was full of insights and ideas. I was not the only one who denied having any creative talents, and I left the discussion with a great list of ways to foster creativity in myself and in my family. All the answers to the three questions we discussed are posted to the APMC Yahoo Group message board for members, but below is our answer to the third question- What creative things can we do that involve our children and partners?
Garden
Tell stories and encourage story telling
Create puppet shows
Build forts
Play with dry beans
Create an ever-changing toy cupboard
Paint with water- can use Buda board or Aqua Doodle, or just water and a sidewalk
Create themed books with magazine pictures, exp. sleep time, animals, outdoor fun
Play with buttons- kids can string them and sort them
Learn and teach sign language
Play hide and seek- little ones can play some variation of this by 12 months
Dance! and make dance compilation cds
Make movies, scripted or not, shot around town or not, make a compilation of
movie clips you already have
Go geo-caching or letter boxing
Complete 3-D Balsa wood puzzles, sighted at Michaels craft stores for $1
Visit Teacher Heaven for inspiration and purchases
Repurpose cardboard boxes

By the end of the evening, we determined that each of us has creative talents, we just don't all have creative talents that are easily recognized. When we day-dream about fantasy vacations, the projects we are going to complete, the businesses we will some day start, or the fun family activities we will do as soon as the kids are old enough, we are being creative. Any time we come up with a solution or alternative solutions to problems, we are being creative. I headed home with a creative spark shining brighter than usual and I was excited about all ways I was going fuel my creative fire. Our next meeting will be at the end of August.