A Birthday and a Treasure Hunt

February 14, 2015 - This afternoon was the long-anticipated birthday party for Benjamin!  Kate has been scheming around here for weeks and has been up to some very dubious and clandestine activities for the past few weeks.  So, let's try to figure out what she's been up to, shall we?

Oh, and a special thanks to Matthew and my Mom who commandeered my camera throughout the day and contributed to the photos in this post!

Hmm..some adventure related decor.

No, we don't normally keep a powder horn hanging on our mantle - as awesome as that would be!

Flashlight, magnifying glass, journal, compass, and...wine?  - I don't think that was supposed to be in the shot.  Either way..."hurrah for Reformed Baptists!"

Ah, a crossword puzzle, methinks that we have a treasure hunt on our hands.

All the folks "mingling" - as Mycroft would put it

Out of focus

In focus

Trying to solve the crossword puzzle.  

I love that all of the firstborns are up here trying to figure out the puzzle. :)

Don't we look so official with our notepads?

706.209.1109.604.714.412.112.1317.803.504

(Oh, and as a sidenote...this is the first and the last time you see me attend a party in a hoodie.)

Hmm..."skip code?"

Okay, so the clue was the book of Three?

Volume #3 in the speeches of Patrick Henry?

The Trinity Hymnal
The excitement of finding one of the clues!

After a major amount of math - even for an Asian ;)  - we discovered some nearby GPS coordinates.

Bundling up

The obligatory "gang" sign

So the clue isn't in the tree stand...

..or in this tree. (Which would have been terribly inconvenient.)

Looks like Ben found something in the woods.

A bottle with another riddle.

Time for a group shot!

Melanie reading the next clue...what did the riddle say about "shots?"

Time for some target practice!

Team #1

We were laughing now, but this was before we lost the relay shooting match.

A few more photos taken by Matthew:

Benjamin instructing us on proper BB gun safety and the gun range rules.

Man, he looks like a natural.

And the first shooters are off in the relay...

There's a story behind Kate's hat.

Just thought you should know.

Alright, well that was a little humiliating - well, at least we popped a couple of balloons on our target.

Seriously though, the BBs kept bouncing off of the balloons and the wind was affecting our shots.

Anyway, the humiliation was just starting because it was time to play "Telephone Pictionary"

How to play Telephone Pictionary >

This game was absolutely hilarious...and lead to quite a workout for my abs.

The calm before the storm

Laughing over one of the drawings

Oh no...Micaiah found my drawing of a "Valentine's Day bear" that appeared to have a closer affinity for Halloween than St. Valentine's.

Yeah, that was pretty creepy, but nothing compared to...

...the "constipated dragon" that I was supposed to draw...

...yeah, I mean, how would YOU draw a constipated dragon?

Alright, the treasure hunt lead us outside where we came across a very long string which we followed-

-to a small treasure chest!

What's in it?  I can't see!

Ah, another clue - and...gold coins?

The gift will be found at "the end of the bed."

So, after we all rushed inside and invaded the confines of Benjamin's bedroom, we then realized the clue was referencing the bed of his truck:

And, of course, a party that was such a blast had to conclude with some ammunition.