we're going on a hunt

It was a long but productive Friday - zipping through work at home while Aaron and the kids went looking for mischief. Sometime mid-morning, I received this email:

"Get in your car and head to Mecca... At least until you get to the tree that bears fruit. Then turn your sights on someplace warmer... like Mexico. Drive to Mexico until you see a house with an orange paw print in their yard. Make a left turn, then an immediate right. Drive until you see the street that bears the name of 9000 cathedrals and turn left. Continue driving 1.34 miles and make a right. Be certain that before you turn, you pass the path that the black bird takes. You will see a place where small people tend to congregate. Park your car and pretend you are one of them. Do what they do. While you are at it... Make some music. If one of the three instruments is making a funny noise, investigate and you *might* find your first clue.

Good luck and God speed. P.s. You will be better served if you bring a small shovel with you for the last step."

And so... when the evening rolled around, we all jumped in the car and went on this year's first scavenger hunt! We had a blast trying it last year, where we discovered Geocaching in our area and found a handful of surprises hidden in different pockets around town. Aaron spent the morning with the kids scouting good places and writing clues all while entertaining the kids with this idea of hiding "something" for mommy...

My first clue took me to a neighborhood park. Make music...hmmm... could be inside these drums here...





Uh-oh. Coordinates! I plugged them into our GPS and found myself arriving here...



And behind this pole, taped inside a ziploc bag, was my 3rd clue:
"Look for the tired tree and see if it has something for you."

Back in the car, with new coordinates, I found myself circling our lake, looking for the "tired tree" and spotting it immediately here [do you see it?]




Wrapped around a tree branch sticking out of this tired tree trunk, was another ziploc bag with the final coordinates and clue: "Look for Ava's chalk and start to dig." By dusk, we arrived at our final destination - hunting for the treasure buried somewhere here....





Ava couldn't remember and my other little guide was already fast asleep in his car seat. The mosquitoes started to swarm on this hour, and I had no choice but to give-in and ask [beg] for another clue....





Slowly, Ava revealed today's treasure hunt prize - unearthed 7 hours later ...





The personalized treasure hunt for "mom" was a nice touch. The gnome has always been a favorite of mine - from concept to novelty - he has always somehow magically appeared [literally] at some of the most striking periods in my life. The first being almost 10 years ago when I arrived at work and found one on my desk from a co-worker who had left her job. [She later went on to travel all around the world].

And then there was Amelie, which inspired Aaron and I to do something similiar on our first roadtrip together to Canada and the north east. We took pictures of a "roaming" album in some of America's iconic locations [Sticking out of a backpack overlooking Niagra Falls... and being held by an Elvis impersonator in Memphis...] which lead to some bizarre and memorable moments...


And in recent years, the roaming gnome has found his way into my life on different occassions - most recent being with my career!



We've been hiding the roaming gnome [in the fridge, upside down over the bathroom sink] and in other silly scenery around the house - just because.

He brings a smile to my face. Maybe it's his cheerful cheek bones radiating happiness or the long white beard fashioning his knowledge and wisdom... or his funny red-coned hat that loudly emphasizes how life shouldn't be taken so seriously....