The Candy Land Event

The day finally arrived for the event that we've been anticipating for the past month or so. Yesterday morning, we got in Blue Butterfly's van at 6:00 a.m. and headed down to Humble for The Candy Land Event.

We estimated it would take us about three and a half hours to get to Mercer Arboretum, then we got on the road. We stopped in Livingston so that I could check on my HANK HILL box and the rest of my crew could stamp into it. This was a nice diversion after having been in the car for a while. The boys got to run around and burn off some energy and I got to see all the wonderful boxers who'd visited my box.

After getting on the highway for a little while longer, we arrived at the designated pavilion and were greeted by Mother of Five, Dewberry, and Sandibox. We presented Dewberry with our popcorn that we brought to share, and she rewarded us with a bonus clue for bringing a treat.

We sat at the "sweet treats" table and discovered there were some LB's hidden right there inside some of the candy boxes, so we got busy! Dewberry also let us know that there were several gingerbread men who'd gotten loose in the park, and if we saw them, there was a letterbox hidden near them.

After finding a few boxes and meeting a few people, it was our turn to start the Candyland game! We were super-excited to get our packet of clues from Gryzzled Gryphon, who also told BB and I about having found our boxes in Breckenridge Park in San Antonio (Thanks GG!). We started our game by collecting the CANDYLAND KIDS, then headed for our life-size game board. The boys had a lot of fun looking for the next colored square, near which we would find another Candyland figure. We earned 8 boxes in the Candyland game.

After finishing our game, we took a little break. We ate some sandwiches and talked and exchanged with other letterboxers. Then, it was time for us to go try to find a couple of more boxes at a different part of the park.

When we drove around to the other side of the arboretum, the first thing Roarin' Lion and Stinky Monkey noticed was the playground. We told them that if we hurried, we'd have time to play for a while before we left. We hit the trail and discovered the Busybees, RunsforChocolate, and Sandibox stamping into the pinata box. This was when I remembered that RFC was going to hide a box that day, and I hadn't recieved the clue from her yet! So, I asked her for the clue, and she kindly obliged me. When she was telling us where the box was located, I realized that this was going to be a temporary box, and that I wouldn't have time to get it that day. I was a little disappointed, but I understand that I can't get every stamp at every event.

That being said, we offered to let RFC and Sandibox take the images from the stamps we were planning to leave in the PINATA BOX. Then, we joined Batty B and oohed and aahed over all the candy/prizes located in the box. This one was a real treat!

After the PINATA BOX, we headed down the trail to find SANTA'S SWEET TOOTH and SSSSNAKE STORY. We ran into GG again and chatted with him for a moment, then we were on our way. We stamped into both of these boxes. As we were finishing up, a couple came walking down the path, so I told BB to go ahead to the playground while I waited for these non-boxing people to get out of sight. I re-hid that box and when I got to the car, BB was there with RFC. RunsforChocolate was nice enough to come back to the park and let us stamp into her temporary box before she went home. We really appreciated this extra effort that she went to in order to give us her special sweet treat. THANK YOU RFC!

After stamping in, Stinky Monkey and Roarin' Lion FINALLY got to play on the playground. They enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to everyone at the event! We had a great time and enjoyed meeting old friends and new friends!