Goodbye Crash and Joshua

Well as with all good things.... Our visit is over and the travelers are on their way home. I so hope the little boys recieving these love them as much as we loved putting them together.

Just to give a little idea of things we include to send back since everyone keeps asking me that.. We made a nature book of our area, we tried to get a printed something of everywhere we went and some pics. The kids made rubbings of stones and tress as well, brochures about popular places whether we went or not, postcards and maybe a project to do or a candy from our state.

We had fun with our travelers and I have enjoyed getting to know the moms as well. It has been a great expierence and the kids all wanna know when they are getting to go somewhere else??

Bunny The Travelin Girl Has Come Home

Skyler was so very excited to see her Bunny girl come home. She was also thrilled with all the little goodies that came with her. She wantes to know when Bunny is leaving again??

Something very important to remember when doing these activities

      Something to remember about geo box and flat traveler swaps is don't forget their are real little kids doing this. Real little kids who run to the mailbox everyday and are sadly dissapointed when their partner does not follow through. If you agree to a swap then it is not unreasonable to be expected to fufill your commitment. Everyone knows life happens but to just ignore messages from your partner or not bother to even send travelers home is just wrong. You are hurting other people childrens feelings. Kids put alot of time and effort into their travelers and are sad when they never come back.

     Geo boxes take time effort and cost to do and it's very dissapointing to feel as if you have been taken advantage of. If life happens send the travelers home. If you can't do a geo box tell your partner don't just accept theirs and never contact them again. This is a great activity for children and they get so excited about it, so please keep that in mind. After all you would never want your child to be made feel this way.

Building an airplane with our friends

Crash and Joshua got to go to Lowes today to build an airplane. They seemed to have fun and I know my kids have really enjoyed taking them places. They will be missed when they go home.

Our Nature Day With The Travelers

 Nature Walk!!! Joshua loved to climb the trees, though it was a bit hard with that surf board. We had fun, at Falling Creek Park today. We took alot more pictures but no way was I posting them all up here lol. I will put them in journals though. We made bark rubbings, had a picnic and visited the Rivers cemetary. Those were early Florida settlers of this area.

This area is also on the travels of Desoto in his search for gold and glory so long ago.

 Crash enjoyed some shade on a very hot day.

While you cannot see them very well the travelers are standing in front of a general store from the 1890's. Nature, history and fun all in one park day.

Crash and Josh's week with us

Well this week the travelers have been hanging around doing school with us. We are learning about sharks and plan on disecting a dogfish shark next week so the travelers have had fun learning about the sharks. Joshua is a little worried about surfn now though. Crash really don't seem too concerned as he says he can just drive off.

On Saturday we will be building a wooden airplane at Lowes so the kids have been reading a little flight history. We have also been using my paper airplane book to make a few planes. Josh enjoyed his ride on the Eagle and Crash was O.K. with the Dragon.

Joshua the surf'n dude has finally reached us!

Well, Fox's Hawaii buddy finally arrived! It's a surfin dude he said lol. We had alot of plans for the cultural center until the rain came so hopefully next weekend. Joshua is already meeting up with his fellow travelin friend Crash and has told Fox he is very excited to have a friend who can carry his surf board!!

Our Newest Geo Box New Hampshire

We got our second geo box and it was just great. A nice lady in New Hampshire put it together for us. Besides all kinds of souvenirs and brochures she put in a mini lapbook set to make!

Crash was helpin out at Build and Grow

He was such a helper at Build and Grow!!

Looks like Crash got stuck in the sand lol

Well at Crashs outing to the beach poor lil guy got stuck in the sand!!

Really cool swap souvenir idea I came up with

Me and my daughter came up with this little idea to add a bit of nature to our souvenirs. We are taking baggies and putting things in them, labeling them making bark rubbings to go along with tree leaves that sort of thing. We will put them all together to make a nature book.  I am still working on an idea for a cute cover?? Maybe my little ones will get a brain blast lol.

Our First Visiting Traveler From TEXAS!!!

We have never seen a traveler that was a car before so that was awesome!!! We are looking forward to taking (driving) him around town lol.

Skyler is heading on out to New Jersey!

And excited she is to go!!! Her dolly Bunny the travelin girl is heading out today and will be home the end of the month. We are still waiting for our little vistors and I hope they go home with alot of fun stories!

Damian the Travelin Boy has shipped out!

Damian is very excited to send his traveler to Texas! That was the first state he ever learned about besides our home and he has always asked to go to Texas, so this will be a wonderful vacation for him!!

Our first Geo Box OHIO!!

Well we got all our goodies from our first geo box put away and WOW!!!! We traded with a wonderful Ohio family and she sent us everything but the state itself lol. Postcards, newspaper, souvenirs, even a little crafted ladybug for their state insect! There was also a ton of Easter candy for my kids, this lady went above and beyond and my kids loved it! She also sent pencils, brochures, bimperstickers any kind of souvenir you can think of came in this box. My kids LOVED LOVED LOVED it and I hope all our next boxes are just as great! We really enjoyed trading boxes and I think my kids have found a new hobby, BOX COLLECTION!! They are constantly asking if we should get such and such to send away lol. My kids still talk about our Ohio friends and are wanting to actually visit this summer on our way to Indiana to visit family! All in all this was a wonderful swap and I even made a new friend in another homeschool mom!

Little Man Foxy is about to head out

Foxs bags are packed and he is ready to go to Hawaii!! This is his first trip since we stopped doing this a few years ago and he is so looking forward to it!! I am just as excited to get our little visitor from Hawaii as well especially since he is coming from a wonderful family with an awesome homeschooling mom who makes great workbox cards!!  

What is a flat traveler?

A flat traveler is anything you can laminate and stick in an envelope to send to another family. They usually make a journal or fill out a paper you send with your traveler about their state. Again you can send back pretty much anything you want about your state and pictures of the traveler with your family doing just about anything you do. My kids love their traveler dolls as they call them. They are sad to see them leave and thrilled when they come home!

What is a geo box?

A geo box is a shoebox size box or so full of stuff about your state. You can use brochures, maps, souvenirs pressed leaves or flowers native to your state. Candy made in your state is a great thing to include! Postcards are great too. I usually find really good stuff at travel centers off the highway and any kind of state park place usually has brochures or souvenirs. I have decided to make a box from something like this for each state. Not quite sure if that is the right exact size but you get the idea. I hope to make one from every single state, thought it be a really cool project for the kids. I plan on decorating the boxes with stickers or maps of the state they go along with. Hope that explains it all!!