If you go out in the woods today...

Heather singing:

If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.

 Anna: Heather, you idiot, stop singing and help me with this!

Can't you hear? There's something alive inside!

Heather keeps singing:

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

 

Anna: *pries lid off* Hello? Is someone in there?

Muffled voice from deep within the box: Help meeeeee.....

Heather sings loudly:

Picnic time for teddy bears,
The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.
Watch them, catch them unawares,
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily dance about.
They love to play and shout.
And never have any cares.
At six o'clock their mommies and daddies
Will take them home to bed
Because they're tired little teddy bears.

 

Anna: Oh my goodness! *reaches in to help him out* HEATHER, STOP SINGING!
... wait... what ARE you singing?

Heather keeps singing:
If you go out in the woods today,
You'd better not go alone.
It's lovely out in the woods today,
But safer to stay at home.

 

 Anna: Aww, come here little guy, what's your name?

Kidogo: It's Kidogo (pronounced Kid-oh-jo)... I've...
I've been trapped in that box since the picnic!

Anna: Wait... so this junk Heather's singing about...
There really is a teddy bear picnic?!

Heather still singing:

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic

Kidogo: Yup, there's a picnic.

Anna: Wow, so it's not just a song, it's a warning...

I wonder if it's safe to be out in the woods now?

Kidogo: Oh yes, the picnic is over... but...
*sniffle* I WAS LEFT BEHIND!

Anna: Oh no!

Heather (still singing):
Every teddy bear, that's been good
Is sure of a treat today
There's lots of wonderful things to eat
And wonderful games to play

 

 Kidogo: Yup, that part of the song she just sang is right, too.  There are cookies and cakes and everything a little bear could want...
Anna: Then how did you get trapped in that box?

Kidogo: I found it hidden there, and thought there might be a cookie inside.
So I crawled in, and then someone came along and closed it.
It was probably the other bears. They probably thought they needed to hide the box before they left again... and now I'm all alone!

Anna: You're not all alone! You can go adventuring with me!

Kidogo: Really?

Anna: Really!

Kidogo: Are there cookies? 

Anna: Uhm... yes?

Kidogo: *skeptical* You don't sound too sure.

Anna: Heather? A little help here? Are there cookies?!

Heather, still singing, and glad it's the last verse:

Beneath the trees, where nobody sees
They'll hide and seek as long as they please
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic

Anna: Bah... she's worthless. I say, "YES" there are cookies!

Kidogo: All right! I'm in!

And thus, Anna got herself a new Geocaching partner, and a new little friend...

and since the song is done, I can stop singing and go find some cookies, because there's nothing worse than a grumpy little bear.

(Anna also took another prize... this shiny marble!
If you look, you can see me reflected in it!
Well, ok, mostly you just see my cell phone.)

Kidogo is made by the extremely talented Ginger Brame of The Piece Parade.

Her blog is always fun and exciting and is called bearbits

Into the Woods again

 Hello, everyone!

Guess what I've been doing... again?

Yup! Treasure Hunting!!

It's good exercise and fun!

This time we went to Fanghorn Forest!

Have you ever heard of that?

Heather had, and she laughed and tried to warn me about Ents, but...

I have no idea what she was talking about.

We actually went the wrong way, and ran into a river.

Then we had to backtrack until we found a bridge to cross over it.

There were some trees that had fallen across the river, and I *totally* could have made it, 

but Heather was all like, "Noooo, it's dangerous"

She has no sense of adventure.

When we weren't going the wrong way, there was a path to follow... right up until the very end.

Then we had to "off-road" it into the woods!

"Help!"

The way became fraught with perils, and I was almost lost!

Then Heather said she'd carry me and it was all ok.

VICTORY!!!! This was our first Ammo Box find! It was bigger and had really cool, waterproof log books in it! I took a dinosaur from this box, and left behind some buttons with Kana on them!

I wonder if Kana knows she's famous in the Geocaching world now?

This was Heather's favorite note in the notebook... it cracked her up.

She made me post this picture.

This cache had been there since 2004!

People have been treasure hunting for quite a while!

And LOOK!

I even found a Morel to this story!

HAHA!

If you go out in the woods today...

 Hi everyone, it's me, Anna... out hunting the world for treasure again!

This one was just a quick stop... or... so I thought... but, if you look below, you'll see what I saw when I got to the spot marked "X" on the map.

HOW is a little Neemo supposed to move all those logs?!

*whew* I found it, eventually!

Why are there always pricker bushes?

Treasure hunting is dangerous!

I don't know, what do you guys think, do I need a Treasure Hunting outfit that isn't quite so...

girly?

Inside the cache was a lot of fun stuff, some computer bits, some toys... but what I thought was most exciting was the boyscout stuff! I had to ask Heather what a boyscout was!

I WANT TO BE A BOY SCOUT!!!!

but... Heather says I can't be one...

but she says she'll start the Doll Scouts for me...

because she says, technically, I can't join Girl Scouts either. T_T

Do any of you dollies out there want to be a Doll Scout with me?

Here is what I left behind... a mini uglydoll!

I took the Cub Scout sticker... because...

uhm...

I like stickers.

I think the Doll Scouts will need a sticker too. Yup.

I hope that little uglydoll finds a home!

Geocaching is fun for all sizes...

Well, after our first experience finding treasure, Anna just couldn't be stopped, so the next day we went out geocaching again... this time to some very swampy lands!

Anna: Hello, everyone! I'm reporting in from the middle of a swamp! Wasn't it nice of them to put a bench in it? I'll bet soon, though, this will be the bench where they will find bodies drained of blood.

No, I don't mean vampires... I mean mosquitoes.

It's Michigan's national bird, you know... or did I mean bug? Hmm...

This cache required us to travel through many swampy lands, over many bridges and past quite a lot of marshy area... at one point, Anna tripped and her treasure from the last geocaching trip (the small flashlight) went flying off into the swamp!

Thankfully, there was someone very tall along, with very long arms, to rescue it for her.

There was a lot of hiking, but finally:

Anna: Heather! Heather, I found it! But these logs are too heavy, please help!

This cache box was much bigger than the first one we found!

Plus, when we went to find it, we spooked three deer...

or maybe WE didn't, because a second later, three dogs ran up to chase them (although whenever the deer stopped, the dogs stopped too and gave them a look like, "Uh, wtf, why'd you stop?")

I think they played this game a lot.

One of them was a tiny pug who was very happy to see us.

Anna: I think they were the guardians of the cache! I wonder what's inside?

Something that was inside were these, cards for people who geocache!

Anna: Look! These people have cards!! We should have cards!

Me: That's not a bad idea... I think you should be on it, as our mascot.

Anna: You mean Team Leader... YOU'RE obviously the mascot, mule.

Me: 0_0 again with the pack animal name calling!

Anna: There's a lot of fun, little stuff in this one, but I'm not going to take any of it.

Me: Why?! Don't you wan treasure?

Anna: It's because I found something better!

Anna: I found BIGFOOT!

Me: Whoa! You did!

Anna: Yes, but catch and release is very important.

Me: How responsible of you... where are you going to release him?

Anna: That's a surprise :)

Anna: See, on the back there are instructions and stuff. We can't keep him... I'm kinda sad about that... but it's ok, he's meant to be roaming the country.

Me: It's true, it's his goal. See... when you find a trackable item, you can look them up, and they often have goals associated with them! This one is just out to travel :)

(There was a code number on the back, but I erased it from the picture, because only the people holding the trackable are allowed to know it)

Anna: It's very exciting to have a trackable! We'll be able to watch him travel the world!

Me: It's true... treasure hunting is pretty fun. I never thought I'd see a bigfoot!

Anna: It's cuz you're too fat to see your own feet.

Me: HEY! (and no I am not, thank you very much!)

al

Intrepid Treasure Hunters!

Anna: Hello, everyone! Anna here, reporting from Heather's front coat pocket!

Me: Are you ok? You look a little frazzled...

Anna: Nope! Good to go! Get a move on, mule!

Me: 0_0

Anna: It's got to be here somewhere, it's just got to... it says we're only 6 ft away!

Me: Maybe you should let people know what you're doing, Anna?

Anna: Oh! I'm Treasure Hunting! Like... in that movie, National Treasure! I'm going to follow the clues and find lots and lots of sparkly treasure and then buy a house!

Me: Uhm... kind of. You're Geocaching. ( www.geocaching.com ) and yes... it is a treasure hunt, of sorts... so at least you're not wrong there.

Anna: I'm up so high, but I still don't see it! Maybe the treasure is a lie! A great family hoax!
We'll be laughing stalks!

Me: LOL, that's it, no more adventure movies for you... and we won't be laughing stalks, we'll be laughing stocks... if... you know... our family name's reputation was actually riding on this.

Anna: Oh, it is. *looks very serious*

Anna: *smacks gps* WHERE IS MY TREASURE!!!

Me: I think you just have to look harder.

Me: Maybe we should just give up... maybe there isn't any treasure after all... and it's raining. A lot.

Anna: NO WAIT! I found it!!!! I FOUND TREASURE!

Anna: Isn't it magnificent?!

Me: It's tupperware -_-

Anna: The treasure is INSIDE, dummy.

Anna: *gasp* Look at this bounty! We're RICH!

Me: Anna, you can't take it all... remember, you can only take out as much as you put in.

Anna: T_T

Me: Aww, don't be upset, look inside there, I see something pretty awesome for you! Plus...

Me: We have some cute little gifts to leave behind!

Anna: Yeah, our stuff is pretty cute... I hope people like it!

Anna: And you're right! This is the perfect treasure for me! This little light is just my size, and perfect for future treasure hunting! Every treasure hunter needs a good flashlight!

Me: Well done, Anna :)