Escape Room....

 Not that the Primary Princess and I aren't generally creative, but Squeaker is another kind of child. At the age of eight, he has his own YouTube channel, understands the basic principles of computer coding, and enjoys discussing which Marvel Hero is the best, based on level of humanity vs mutant skill. In addition to all of THAT, thanks to an amazing stepdad, he's in wicked good shape. So, where do you go with all of that?

We recruited his dad and Hubby for some extra ideas, and came up with an Escape Room theme. 

Back to Hickories Park.  The creek is irresistable. The Princess, Babygirl, and Squeaker head for the creek, and dad and I manage the set up.

A moment of quiet.

Intellectuals can be braver than pirates.

Ever noticed that Babygirl has a couple of tattoos?  She's quiet but there may be some pirate in there...

This. Smile.

Still waters...

Ah, the two-cup catch....

Then, the story begins.  I arrived, out of breath (no difficulty there, I'd just set up the scene and then had to hunt them down LOL), yelling, "They took your dad!"

The goal is, of course, NOT to scare the crap out of the kid.  There was a moment, when his head snapped up.  Then he saw my face, and remembered, "Pirates. Princesses. THIS is MY thing." You could SEE the process.  AND he went RIGHT into it.  I love this kid.

I had a map.  There is no picture.  I am NOT the Princess.  

The first pictogram on the map had to word "book" and what looked like a bird house. He was ON it.

The bag had a puzzle and clue for how to solve it.  He had to determine that the little box had to be spun clockwise to get two marbles into holes on the outer edges simultaneously.

Look. At. The. Size. Of. His. Feet.  

I'm a size 11.

The puzzle gave him a series of numbers, a mystery. The map sent him to another "birdhouse" with a number.

He made the mistake of lifting the little door. "Why is there a bee's nest in here?"  Yikes!

Another puzzle, more numbers.

I understand the words, but....

 

Look carefully - the next puzzle is hanging in the tree. No pictures exist of the climb LOL.

It turns out that the numbers were needed to remove the lock from the puzzle.

Solving this one was harder. Everyone tried. I've solved it before and it took a few tries to get the majic ring free.

It's good to win the approval of the Princess.

The last set of numbers unlocked his imprisoned father. (Side note: He was locked to a tree, in plain sight, pretending to be unconscious, for about half an hour.  When we arrived, a woman was walking past, regarding him with considerable suspicion.  Not one person stopped and asked him if he was okay.) The magic ring from the last puzzle awakened him.  

And of course, he remembered seeing the bad guys hiding something, which we found. 

This was the one day when it was finally cool enough to have a fire and make some S'mores.

And to roll down the big hill. Some with more skill than others LOL.

No one died. 

So there we have it. The rest of the week is just us.  Not that we won't update you on THAT.

DeeDee