We found a great new family past time called "letterboxing".  It is a little like scavenger hunting while you are out for a hike/drive/walk.  We went to this great website called letterboxing.org.  There was a list of 18 hidey holes on Oahu.  We couldn't wait to find one.  So, off we went to Diamond Head State Park to find two!!!!  Here is what I did to get us started:

 

1.  At the above website, I printed out clues for two locations.

2.  I bought the kids each their own small sketch journal (nearly pocket sized).

3.  They each picked out a rubber stamp from our collection

4.  We went hiking/sightseeing at Diamond Head and when we found the boxes, we stamped our stamp in their journal.  Then we used their stamp in our journals.  What a great keepsake.  When we got home, the kids added dates and notes on the location where we found the letterbox to the page in their journals.

 

It was very fun, one was very easy to find and the other took a few minutes of looking around under bushes.  If you like the outdoors, you should check into this!!! Highly recommended!!!! 

 

Now, about Diamond Head Crater (extinct volcano).  It is called Diamond Head because some sailors saw some crystalline formations sparkling at the top in the sunlight and thought, "that mountain has diamonds all over it".  They were wrong, but the view was probably worth their climb, anyway.  We drove there in a few minutes and through the north-facing edge of the crater wall into the crater.  It took us about 40 minutes to climb up and 35 to get back down.  There was a good deal of rough, scary spots, a tunnel and TONS of stairs, too.  On the news, they are always hauling tourists with broken legs off with helicopters.  Sometimes, it is heart attack or heat exhaustion.  Still, the view is well worth the effort.  We also saw a humungous centipede, which are poisonous!  We almost lost the hats over the cliff at the top.  Winds are 10-20 mph here a good deal of the time.  When we got to the bottom, some french tourists were trying to convince half their party to climb up.  Morgan came around a corner, and I knew the humiliation would be too much to bear.  Morgan looked at them and said,"I did it!!!"  I was right, they climbed out of their car and joined the rest of their group.  I mean if a very small 4 y.o. can make it, well...

 

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Love

Kathy

 

 

I realized I never loaded these photos from the homeschool commencement graduation.  Enjoy!