Obviously this Easter has looked different for everyone. We haven’t really spent many holidays with family for a few years now, so we have done Easter Egg Hunts here to keep up with Grandma Rain’s tradition. This was the first Easter since Kaiden had come to terms with the fact that the Easter Bunny was just a small part of the big web of lies we told him to give him a magical childhood. Trust me when I tell you, that news didn’t go over well.
This year I wanted to do something fun and exciting. I went to the Googles to find some egg hunting ideas. Traditional hunts, numbers for prizes hunts, and scavenger hunts were popular, but I needed something more. I went in for a brainstorm session with Tay. I sat down on her floor close to her unfinished, one piece missing puzzle. As I was making fun of her for losing a piece, that I most likely threw away, it came to me! I would create puzzle pieces to go inside the eggs. The letters would come together to form a word, which then became the clue to a mystery prize. This would be beautiful! I played it all out in my mind. I finally figured out a way to have a meltdown free hunt. But if only it could be that simple.
I stayed up working later than expected. Honestly, I lost track of time because I jumped down the creativity rabbit hole. I designed, I printed, I cut, and I stuffed. I knew that I would have plenty of time to get everything hidden in the morning because my children are also night owls and will sleep until noon if I let them. Kaiden was eyeballing me on his way to bed, sure that I was up to something. I took the stuffed eggs and treat bag up to my room, just in case my curious little nosy Nelly couldn’t sleep and wanted to figure out the surprise before it began. He comes by that honestly, I just happen to be one step ahead…sucker!
We are fortunate enough to have some property. This has come in handy during this stay at home order and has definitely prevented us from going stir crazy. During egg hiding time and I had so many choices to make. The obvious choice, was to utilize the lawn space. Of course, that would be way too easy. I wanted to challenge them. I wanted to soak in as much joy from this day as I possibly could. With that in mind, none of the eggs were hidden here.
The boundaries were drawn. The eggs were hidden. And so it began…
I got everyone outside and gave them the rules. They would need to work together to find 41 of the eggs. I had one hidden in my pocket to prevent them from the finding the final clues to the golden egg too quickly. I thought I was being so clever.
They got started on their hunt. Everyone was laughing, having a good time, and wandering around. Problem solving and critical thinking skills were all coming into play here (I am counting that as home school, ungraded credit). Of course, the best part of any egg hunt is watching everyone walk by so many eggs in plain sight. I would stop and try to nonchalantly take a picture. They eventually caught on and figured out there must be a hidden egg nearby.
With all of the silliness and craziness of the morning, the look on Kaiden’s face in the next picture captures everything I could have hoped for: one day where we could feel joy as a family. Laughing. Working together. Having fun. AWWWWW…
BUT…….
The famous last words of almost anyone who has even hidden eggs: Don’t worry. I will remember where they all are.
Other thoughts I also had today were: I should take pictures of where I am hiding these. I didn’t. I should maybe write down how many in each area. I didn’t. Guess what? I know you know where I am going with this.
I lost an egg!
This is problematic considering I put together little puzzles to be solved.
Tay and I circled the boundaries four or five times. Kaiden tried for a little bit but finally got impatient and wandered off to play some video games leaving me to actively participate in the very search I created. Hmmm…weird.
I am not a quitter (a.k.a. stubborn and all knowing) but by admitting defeat, I would also be admitting that my brain doesn’t hold onto short term information. Considering how often I forget what I am doing the very second I go to do it, I am not sure why I continue to be suprised by these types of situations. I decided to let go of my perfect plan in order to keep the entire group engaged. I figured they could still solve the puzzle without one measly letter. I rallied the troops and we moved on to phase 2.
Let me remind you. This was designed to be a team activity. It would be a positive, happy experience with a few little twists and turns. Everyone would work together so no feelings were hurt. (ahem: Kaiden) The group got busy opening the eggs to solve the puzzles.
I had 7 sets of eggs linked to prizes in various locations. I hid treats up with the cups. I know for a FACT that I printed off a clue that said CUPS. I had it on my list, coordinated with an egg color and everything. The only thing I can figure was I must have printed it off and threw it away without noticing because CUPS was definitely not a puzzle that was put together. To be fair, I was putting these together around 1 in the morning. Taylor heard the confusion in my voice and casually went to get a drink so the prize would be found without a clue. I MEAN, REALLY!
I had also tucked a few coupons into the eggs to make sure they were all filled in some way. I added a No Chores Day, No Yard Work Day (after yesterday working 4-5 hours in the yard, this one was pure gold), Dinner Date, Movie Night, and Any Activity of Your Choice. I am pretty sure they were more excited about these than the actual prizes. Except Rob. He got a No Chores Day card and whispered to me that this coupon wasn’t helpful because he doesn’t do inside chores. I told him that he could sit in here and tell everyone which chores to do. He was satisfied with that. I also suggested that he try to trade with the kids. They might even be willing to give up candy for that card.
The egg I had cleverly hidden in my pocket turned out to be a dud move. After losing the one egg outside, the group knew they could solve puzzles without all of the letters. The big build up had been a big let down.
My hope and dream for this part of the game was that they would get to the puzzle with my missing piece and wonder where the other piece was. I would pretend to be surprised as I pulled out the last egg, laughing, somehow cluing them in that this puzzle was important. Losing that dumb egg outside was a total game changer. I just watched as they opened the eggs to the final puzzle, waiting for any opportunity to surprise them with the secret egg. When they figured out there was a missing egg, I awkwardly put it on the table. I had missed my moment.
My saving grace came when the group decided to search for the prizes after the all of the puzzles were put together instead of as they were solving them. I was able to deter them from the hiding space where each of them would get an egg with a final clue. Back on Track!
The moment was finally here. Four eggs. One word in each egg. Again, my hopes and dreams saw this moment going differently. Chocolate, George, Waffles, Paninis and grilled cheese. I saw them running to the pantry, elbowing each other to get inside, searching for the golden egg while they were wondering who George was. I would be laughing hysterically off to the side. Magic.
But there wasn’t any running. No throwing of elbows. No one trying to crowd into our small pantry. Cassie and Tay figured it out right away. It wasn’t the pantry at all. It was in the forgotten cupboard. The one under the bar that nobody uses. I probably should have made this part a little harder.
First person to the golden egg won. Tay was closer to the cupboard. Tay won.
When it was all said and done, we sat and stared at each other much like you do after the last gift at Christmas has been opened. As we gathered our winnings and everyone got up from the table, I saw an opportunity. “ I will give a cash money prize to the person who can find the lost egg!“
