Summer Obsessions

Summer is rolling along. We are keeping busy. The kids have been enjoying a week at art camp. And we are getting through our summer adventure list. Additionally, we have found some new things to obsess over this summer. Here are three of our new-found obsessions.

            Postcrossing

            I found this idea online. Postcrossing is an international website that allows you to send and receive postcards from around the world. We signed up over a month ago, and went to work sending out postcards. We have used this as an opportunity to teach the kids about geography and some different cultures. We have sent postcards to Germany, Russia, Belarus, China, Taiwan, Netherlands, and Finland. Once your postcard is received and registered, you get placed on the list to get a postcard sent to your address.

            It took a little bit of time to gain some momentum with sending and receiving postcards. However, in the past two weeks, we have received our first three postcards. They have arrived from Taiwan, Russia, and Australia. It has been fun to go to the mailbox and hope that there is some fun mail in the box (and let’s face the facts, most mail that is delivered these days isn’t fun). We look forward to finding some more postcards in the middle of our bills and junk mail.

            You can sign up, too. Who knows? We may send a postcard to you. Check out www.postcrossing.com.

            Geocaching

            I signed up with geocaching.com after Christmas when I got a Garmin GPS system. However, we did not attempt a geocache find until this summer. We have gone on two successful searches. The kids like searching for the hidden geocache. They also love opening up the geocache to find what hidden "treasures" are inside. We have loaded the glove compartment in my car with some treasures to leave at geocaches we may discover on our trips. A tip for families with young children: Do some research before you go out. Look for a geocache that is not too small and that has a treasure with it. There are many geocaches out there that are nano-size or micro-size. We have not been able to locate these, and even if we had, I doubt our kids would be interested in them because they don’t have a treasure for the kids to take home.

            American Ninja Warrior

            Our son found this show somehow while looking for a sport to watch on TV. He loves it (of course, he likes anything that is related to sports). What is surprising is that the rest of our family has enjoyed watching this competition as well. Even our daughter pretends to be a competitor and runs an obstacle course. The show presents player profiles, in which you learn how each player trains and prepares for the competition. The show presents the competitors as dedicated athletes who work hard to achieve their objectives on the obstacle course. My wife and I like that.

            So our kids, especially our son, have gone into training for the competition. Our son makes obstacle courses at home. He climbs everything. At the children’s museum, he has created an obstacle course, which includes the rock wall. At neighborhood parks, he has turned the jungle gyms into American Ninja Warrior courses. It isn’t what I would have expected to become a family favorite, but it has become a summer favorite.

            With so many days of summer left, I’m sure we’ll find some more things to obsess over. Only time will tell what those things are. For now, we’ll pin our world map with postcards and sit down to watch athletes complete a daunting obstacle course.