Make Me Smile Monday

Our family had a treasure hunt a little while ago. The clues had a theme. Think you can figure out what it was? Here's a few of them:

Each clue solved earned a word to fill in this puzzle:

When the kids arrived at the last clue, all of the spaces were filled. But the last word was actually a fill in the blank, so there was one clue left. We explained that the last clue would be the word to fill it in and we asked the girls to read it out loud as soon as they saw it so that their younger brother could discover the answer with them. The clue: 

Find me where mom and dad sleep,

and laundry is sometimes piled in a heap.

This final clue led them to the master bedroom. They couldn't wait to discover what the word was. They tossed around a few ideas and settled on "The Toronto Zoo". :)

Here's what is really said:

And their reaction? They were surprisingly quiet. They read the word and then just kind of sat/stood there and stared at it. Confused looks on their faces.

The reason why became clear when we discovered the girls thought they had to unscramble the letters to get the "real" answer. Jason and I couldn't help but laugh. :) How mean would THAT have been? Seriously!

So, when they finally put it together that this did indeed mean we were going to Disneyworld and that we'd actually be sleeping there they were beside themselves. That's when we got all of the squeals and jumping and laughter we'd expected in the first place! (We had just watched the Disney Christmas Day parade ago a couple days before doing the treasure hunt with them, so they'd have a feel for what was in store. They were so excited about the idea of going "one day" and they had no idea we we'd already booked our trip.) Since we've been counting down the days and watching promo videos, planning what clothes we'll wear.

I've been pretty happy to see that not only are the girls excited but our little man is too (he turns 4 in May). I wasn't sure if the concept might be a bit over his head until we get there. So, I've been pleased to hear him talk about seeing Lightning McQueen, Jack Sparrow and Winnie the Pooh. The one moment that totally melted my heart though was when I was making supper one night last week and I called him down into the kitchen to find out what he was doing. (Children often find productive things to do on their own, but sometimes need a little direction.) He came down right away and looked up at me very sincerely and said, "I'm packing my toys to go to Disney World."

P.S. In case your wondering about the clues. The ones I shared with you led to: a glass slipper (Cinderella); an umbrella (Mary Poppins); a red wig (Ariel); honey (Winnie the Pooh) and Lightning McQueen (Cars).