One of the reasons I decided to start a blog about my family's outdoor adventures is that more often than not, something funny or unusual happens. We seem a typical family with two elementary school-aged daughters who have a variety of interests, including a real love of nature and animals. But my friends are often entertained with the antics and stories of our family life so it seemed fitting to give this blog a go.

My kids are 4-Hers and one of the projects they are working on this summer is a community mapping project. They are gathering GIS data (global information systems). It sounds a bit ominous but it's pretty simple. The kids have made a list of their favorite places in Maine and now they're in the process of collecting the necessary information to post online so others can learn about each place.

We use our GPS to mark the coordinates of each favorite place and take a photo of it. Then we get the street address and write a few paragraphs about why it's a favorite.

The list the kids have developed is an eclectic mix of hiking trails, beaches, ice cream stores and commercial businesses.

A couple of weeks ago we started the project with stops at Scarborough Marsh, Mackworth Island and Old Orchard Beach (of course we had to get some pier fries and ice cream at the beach; and build a new fairy house at Mackworth).

The other day we headed to Gorham to gather coordinates on Baxter Library and Goodwill. Yeah, Goodwill. The kids love it there - they can buy a lot of stuff for only a couple of dollars (which is all they ever have anyway). While gathering coordinates my 7-year-old spotted Darth Vader on the roof of Burger King. This brought on speculation about the SpongeBob theft and the hopes that Vader didn't suffer the same fate. So she decided she wanted a picture with Vader for posterity "in case he got stolen."

This is very typical Almeida children humor.

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