Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Treasure Hunt!

Monday was the day we told the children about our trip to Disneyland in TWO weeks. To make the announcement extra fun for them, I made them a treasure hunt! They found the treasure map when they opened the front door to go out for a walk--and they were SO excited!

The treasure map was very basic, but Princess loved it and read it all to her brother.
The first step was to touch the mailbox and next they were instructed to find an apple tree. They knew right where to go for these tasks!
The next task was to sing to a stop sign--I put this stop in for my own amusement. They opted to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" to the stop sign at the top of our street. I could barely hold the camera still enough to take a picture of that because I was laughing so much. It was so cute and funny!
After consulting the map some more, they were off to the next stop!
Next they found a basketball hoop and jumped five times and then they walked around our Jeep.
They checked the map again...
And went over to sniff the yellow flowers before heading into the backyard to count the tomatoes
After counting the tomatoes, they climbed up on the wall and clapped three times
Then they looked behind the stump...and shouted with glee!
Yes, that's right, an ammo can!! (You have to remember, our family enjoys geocaching and ammo cans are the children's FAVORITE type of cache to find because there usually is good treasure inside that they can trade for.) My two year old shrieks "AMMO CAN!!" whenever we find one--he really loves them!

After they were done dancing a jig of joy, Princess hauled out the ammo can
And they settled down to open it...
And were thrilled to find presents inside!
Inside the presents were custom Mickey and Minnie shirts that I had made for them to wear at Disneyland. Both children were SO excited...but I really think they loved the treasure hunt even more than they liked hearing that we're going to Disneyland!

10 comments:

Virginia said...

Looks liked they had lots of fun.Those are memories that they will always treasured. Enjoy your trip.
Blessings, Virginia

Anonymous said...

Hello! What a WONDERFUL idea! I was almost giddy reading it! :o}

Shannon said...

So cute and such a fun idea!!

Buzzings of a Queen Bee! said...

That is such a fun idea! I can't wait to do that when my kiddos would "get" the concept of a scavenger hunt! :)
Carrie

Naomi said...

All that and no pics of the shirts? Tsk tsk; I want to see!!!! :)
Nom

frillsfluffandtrucks said...

These shirts have their real names on them...and one of the children has a less common name. ;) Some of their Disney wear will be non-personalized though!

~Sarah

Joy said...

That is such a fun way to surprise your kids with an upcoming vacation.
Now you just need to make one of those paper chains (the ones that every school child makes at Christmas) to count down to vacation day. ;~)
I hope your family has a very memorable time!

Our Complete Family said...

What a super duper fun thing you did for your kiddos! I love that! And I am so glad you linked to the 'geocaching'. Do you remember when it was in Family Fun last year? I accidentaly recycled the mag and forgot to tear out the page. We racked our brains trying to remember what it was called and where to go for info. Now we know! Thanks hun! Happy Disney trip ahead to you guys! Can't wait to see pics of that adventure!!! ~ Les

Kitty Scraps said...

Oh what a fun way to tell your kiddos' you were going to Disney! Lucky kids! I've never been so I can't wait to see your pictures, I know you'll have a great time.

Marie said...

What a cute idea! I love the pictures you took of them on their treasure hunt. :o)