This year for Husband's birthday, I wrote 26 (because he was turning 26, get it?) scavenger hunt clues for him to find his birthday present. While I was writing the first one, my brain was like, hey, you should make them all rhyme! Silly brain. Of course, this meant that it would take me about eleven years longer to accomplish the task, but I attacked it with vigor. And since I spent so much time writing them, I figured that they should be remembered forever in the Land of Blogs, so here they are. (I've added descriptions where necessary.)
1. Happy Birthday! It's truly meant
26 Clues lead to your present!
Go look somewhere nice and cold
Where hopefully you'll find no mold. (Fridge. I ended up putting this clue on the door of the fridge, because there was also a clue in the freezer, and I just knew that if he found the freezer clue, he would skip all the previous clues and therefore lose out on reading each flavor of my awesome poetical genius.)
2. Where Lucy claps her hands and smiles,
Cuz she can watch her shows awhile. (TV. Lucy = female offspring.)
3. Pics nearly six years ago
Show our newly married glow (At this point, Husband knocked on the bedroom door and said he was stuck because he didn't know where our wedding pictures were. I just assumed that he wakes up most nights around 4:30am to secretly gaze fondly down at them and cry about how lucky he is. What a rude wake up call for me.)
4. This is where I spend my time
Typing things, reading online (Sad for me.)
5. Balloons were laying 'round the floor
"Happy 2nd Birthday Dino-Sawyer!" (The sign from Sawyer's (male offspring) Dinosaur Train birthday party is still hanging in the kitchen.)
6. This tries to keep the kiddos out
But doesn't work cuz Sawyer's stout (The gate that we bought two years ago is now officially broken because a two year old man likes to barrel through it as if he were a bull and it was a china shop.)
7. You put this in your cereal
And in your coffee cup as well (Can you guess the ones I don't comment on?)
8. Hot in the evening and at noon
It's where we'll cook our dinner soon
9. This is where the pizzas are
Don't worry, love, it's not too far
10. Loaf of bread, cream of wheat
Llama, llama wants his treat! (Ok, so this is where I started getting frustrated with the rhyming and used a children's book rhyme to give myself some forward motion. This clue was on the loaf of bread.)
11. This will let us go outside
Once the stupid snow has dried
12. Babies playing in their bath
Splash and giggle, pour and laugh (See how I didn't even try to disguise that one? I was getting tired.)
13. Sawyer learned a word that's new
For things in vases, and dirt, too!
14. When Lucy's naughty (quite a lot)
She goes into her time out spot (When I was placing these, I realized that this clue was pretty much right out in the open and next to like five other clues, so maybe this hunt would take about eighteen seconds, even though it took my an hour to put together, but by then it was too late!)
15. Here I might sew, or make a dress
Right now its mostly just a mess
16. Sawyer has the sweetest cheeks
Can you see them? Just to peek? (Ok, so in my son's room there is a window that looks out into the hallway, because I think his room was supposed to be an office, but now it's his room. Anyway, when I was typing this I was thinking, this kind of looks like I left a piece of paper on my son's face, or maybe even in his diaper, and that is not the case. It was on the windowsill.)
17. Coats and mittens, heels and boots
Games and other unknown loot
18. Newer than records, older than CDs
When it plays, the babies are pleased (Ok, this one is just embarrassingly bad. We don't have that big a house and I needed 26 hiding places you guys! It was a lot, and I think I rewrote this one a billion times until it ended up the way you see it today. Awful.)
19. If I wasn't scared or if you'd care
We'd probably burn a fire there
20. The babies play with bulbs of light
Til our bright day turns into night (We do not actually let our children play with light bulbs. I know you are all quite relieved now. What I was referring to is a chandelier that we have which has a dimmer switch. The babies love to play with it, and the light bulbs are constantly burning out because of their childlike wonder.)
21. Underneath our welcome mat for this whole time a clue has sat
(It's probably been laughing at you; it's kind of a mischievous clue) (This was my favorite one, by far. But I just discovered that I spell "mischievous" wrong. Mischevious is incorrect. Yay!)
22. Today I had to clean up slop
I did it with our handy mop (This is in reference to when I was in the shower and Sawyer got past the aforementioned gate into the refrigerator and spilled hazelnut coffee creamer all over the floor, a couch cushion, and himself, thus the need for the bath-time also mentioned above. These clues are really more a testament to my day than anything else.)
23. There's something for you on the chair
(The one that sometimes twirls a bear) (Reading these back is so enlightening. I ended up not putting this clue on the "twirly" chair, but on a rocking chair that used to be in Sawyer (nickname: Bear)'s room. There was laundry all over the other chair which I meant to clean up before he got home, but didn't. Oops! Looks like Husband outsmarted me and found the clue anyway. He's a fighter.)
24. Your birthday's marked with an elephant
(You're really close to your present) (There's an elephant on our calendar for the month of March. He's pretty.)
25. It's where I play and sing for you
(the next one is your final clue)
26. Where did I go? Where could I be?
Stop playing games and come find me! (This was another favorite line because there's nothing like forcing someone through the inane ritual of an everlasting scavenger hunt, only to berate them for their participation and tell them to just come find you for their prize at the end. What can I say? I'm just like that.)
So, I hope you all enjoyed my birthday masterpiece. Of course, if anyone is looking for something to fill some time on a loved one's birthday, feel free to use it! (You may have to change just a few things...)
