Jump to content

It's a family affair (or not) !!


Trafcon

Recommended Posts

I have been geocaching for almost a year now and have seen many logs of family finds.

 

How many family cachers are there out there?

 

My wife thinks I'm nuts icon_rolleyes.gif but tolerates my geocaching quirks well.

 

I have also taken all four of my kids out at one time or another and they are all kind of ho-hum and I get no volunteers when I ask enthusiastically "Who wants to go Geocaching?" icon_biggrin.gif

 

I really envy folks like Ger in Florida and PDXMarathonman here in Oregon. They both have wonderful young kids who love to go caching with them. Some folks even have spouses who race them to make the find. I envy all of you.

 

So what does your family think of this crazy sport??

 

KTF !!! GBWY !!!

Link to comment

Trafcon, my geocaching experience with my wife and three kids is almost identical to yours - even down to the gray hair!. My wife and kids will occasionally come with me "to humor the old guy". In fact, for a fathers day gift my 16 year old son agreed to come geocaching with me - it turned out that he really did enjoy it (I think) .

 

You may not agree with what I say, but I will defend, to your death, my right to say it!(it's a Joke, OK!)

Link to comment

While my wife is a fan of the 1/1 caches and really like to go on those. The rest of us (daughter and son) like the more difficult caches and really enjoy going when I say "Who wants to geocaching". For the kids it's still the thrill of the treasure hunt.

 

A182pilot & FAmily

 

He who angers you, controls you.

Link to comment

My family loves it! That's the wife and 3 kids. Ages vary so when the terrain and difficulty increases we have to make ground zero changes. Normally my oldest boy and I do the crawling, poking, scaping and screaming thru the thicket while the wee little ones enjoy the nearby parks, but we all keep in touch with radios. icon_smile.gif

 

~Honest Value Never Fails~

Link to comment

My wife enjoys going along with me on the hunts. She helps me keep proper perspective on the hobby, or I could easily get obsessed. My 7yo and 10yo like to go also, but they hate driving longer than an hour to get to the cache site. Once at the site, they love the hikes, and the hunt. Especially if there are toys in the cache. My wife and I actually have more fun when it is just the two of us. It is our quiet time alone. I usually do the boring caches myself and save the family caches for the four of us

Link to comment

Hubby-thinks I'm too obsessed, occassionally goes on easy ones, better to leave him home.

Dad-thinks I'm too obsessed, has gone on a couple easy locals, he did enjoy Extremophile and would go on others that involve a good hike.

Mom-has enjoyed a few easy locals.

Brother-enjoyed Extremophile and would go on others that involve a good hike.

Son-age 25-has gone on a few-would be a great caching partner if he didn't live 2 hrs. away to the NE and work on weekends when I'm off.

Daughter-age 23-went snow-shoe-caching with me this winter. Would do a lot more but she's 1-1/2 hrs. away to the S, working and going to college.

If this had existed 10 years ago, when it was just me and my two teen-agers, I'd be pushing 1000 for a find count. They would have been great caching partners!

Link to comment

My family is lukewarm about it mostly. Daughter (13 yrs) is more of a Nintendo freak than stomping through the woods/ferns/brambles kinda gal. icon_frown.gif Son (16 yrs) has gone a few times and seemed to enjoy it. Amazingly, he is always most anxious to open up the cache and find some cheap trinket. icon_biggrin.gif Husband has never been much of a techno-geek so geocaching is not high on his list of priorities.

 

It never does to leave a live Dragon out of the equation.

Link to comment

My wife and I are equally as enthusiastic about our new-found hobby. The kids (19, 18, and 15) think we're dorky... but they thought that even before we started Geocaching. Our 15 year old daughter has gone on a couple occasions, but would much rather "hang-out" with friends. Typical, I suppose.

Link to comment

We started geocaching as a family, and usually plan our Saturdays for geocaching. Anywhere from 1 to 4 kids go with us.. 20, 18, and 16 yr old girls, and 10 yr old boy. Sometimes, unfortunately, other activities keep the girls from geocaching with us, but we try to plan around their activities, too. We even gave the most frequent babysitting clients our cell-phone number, since they often call with just a few hours notice! I will admit, though, that the 16 yr old misses the geocaching expeditions when she has plans with her friends or boyfriend. Both 16 and 20 yr old have taken their boyfriends geocaching, though, too, and other friends of each kid come with us from time to time.

 

We have tried solo-caching, and it isn't near as fun! icon_wink.gif

Link to comment

My wife seemed to enjoy, or at least tolerate Geocaching. We enjoyed hiking together, so it wasn't that much of a stretch. But we were out in Sacramento recently and I had printed about 2 dozen area cache pages before we left. It soon became her mission. I'd be sitting by the pool enjoying a local micro-brew and she would come down and suggest that we head out to look for some more caches.

 

Our 12 year old daughter on the other hand, doesn't look forward to it. She's been hiking and backpacking since she was 3, but never developed a liking. When she's actually out there Geocaching, hiking or backpacking, she seems to enjoy it, but when I suggest a Geocaching, hiking or backpacking trip she is not pleased

 

"Life is a daring adventure, or it is nothing" - Helen Keller

Link to comment

My husband was not at all impressed when I first discovered geocaching and thought I wasted my money on a GPS unit. He's since come around and enjoys it as much as I. However, he is (unfortunately) the more responsible of the two of us and will actually stay home to mow grass instead of geocaching! icon_eek.gif

 

Our 7yo is the most enthusiastic of all the kids. He has always loved hiking and loves computers and gadgets so this is a perfect activity for him.

 

Our 5yo is our reluctant hiker. Geocaching has made him a bit more willing to tolerate a stroll through the woods but I'm sure once he's old enough to stay home alone, he'll be done geocaching.

 

Our 2yo loves hiking and geocaching. She can hike about 2 miles in moderate terrain already. Up until last fall we used a backpack carrier for her (or all-terrain stroller depending on conditions) but she now refuses either. She will ask to be carried briefly from time-to-time but usually is fighting with her oldest brother to be the *leader*.

 

We also often geocache with my sister and her son or a friend and her two boys. It's hard to keep all the kids quiet and discreet at times but we do enjoy geocaching as a family activity.

 

GeoMedic - team leader of GeoStars

Link to comment

My husband will go geocaching if there isn't anything else to do....my 17 year old son used to go, but now girls seem to be more important. Luckily my 80 year old dear dad loves it. He is in excellent shape and actually wears me out sometimes. He has planted a couple of caches himself. I guess, like father like daughter. icon_wink.gif

 

"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."

Link to comment

The Federation is a collective whole.Dad,Mom,Son-in Law, 4 grandkids 3months to 10 years old. We all hunt together and in different combinations. Usualy Grandad, Grandma James 10 Phillip 7. We all like various types of caches, but havenot tried benchmarking yet. We love the variety of activities that geocaching offers us.

Link to comment

Yes I am lucky. The wife really likes it and so do the kids (son 12, daughter 6) but the dog goes just nuts over it. We do other things on the same hunt day like start out at a dollar store or Wal-mart and get stuff for the hunt and stuff for each of us (dog included). Then we do the hunt and spend time in the area if there is other stuff to see or do. If it is hot we work swimming into the equation. If it is aways from the home coords we do the camping thing....life is great!!

Link to comment

When my husband first started geocaching I thought he was crazy. I didn't really get involved in the sport heavily until this spring. Our son (5 years old) is a 1/1 kind of guy. He likes the caches, but sometimes whines about the hikes. He enjoys the outdoors and visiting new places, though, so that usually convinces him it will be a fun day!

 

It's a family affair when possible and a partial family affair (husband and son, me and son, me and hubby) often.

 

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. E Roosevelt

Link to comment

My wife has to work on sat. and I have the kids (boy 12, boy 11, girl 6). The 12 year old has his choice on sat. (it is 50/50 with him) whether to go with us or not. The other 2 have to go but they love the swapping of the toys. Sundays my wife likes to chill at home and relax from the her work week, but she does do the more family oriented caches (picnic caches) with all of us on a sunday.

Now if on Sat. I burn out the kids and my wife say's it is cool with her (I ask out of respect) than I will leave very early and go 3 hours away (or so) and cache till it is very dark.

In summery we as a family do caches about 50% as a family. Me I am 100% addicted!!! And my wife tells me I have lost at least 10 lbs icon_biggrin.gif

Link to comment

My wife is lukewarm on geocaching, however, our 16 year old daughter will usually go along. I do fear that she is about to become too cool to hang with Dad so I may become a solo-cacher! I guess the dog can keep coming. She is the real enthusiast!

 

icon_eek.gif Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son!

Link to comment

We cache as a family and individually. The kids (Girls 10 & 8, Boy 4) love it. It's hard to get them out of the house on a hot Memphis afternoon, sometimes, but they have a ball hunting caches.

 

The boy thinks everything -- everything -- is something good to put in a cache. The girls have each planned and placed their own caches.

 

Since my wife doesn't get to go with me every time I go out, I set her up with her own ID. I think she likes getting out in the woods, but she hates spiders. icon_wink.gif

 

- "This river don?t go to Aintry. You done taken a wrong turn." -

Link to comment

No kids here but my wife has really taken a liking to this. She has been very helpful, punching in coordinates, reading maps, helping me keep track of logs at the different caches. Of course we are still newlyweds, only been married 17 years, so maybe we just enjoy hanging around with each other no matter what we're doing! icon_razz.gif

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...