We were supposed to go to Olympia with Ben and Syndi to spend a few days with friends. One of our friends got really sick, strep throat and scarlet fever! We had some very disappointed

 children and a whole day with no school plans.

Syndi and I came up with the idea to do a giant scavenger hunt with the children. Syndi brought over breakfast then deciphered the first clue which led them to the fire station.

We received an impromptu tour of the station and saw them working on some of the engines, we got to hold the Rammer tool which was quite heavy and used to Ram heavy objects (such as cars) out of the fireman's way.

Liberty loved the outside of the engines, and she was brave enough to go into the truck but not brave enough to stay there.

The children all received stickers, bracelets,  fire safety rulers and their next clue.

This clue led the children to a local bakery located inside a historic red caboose. We were really excited to try some of their food (the bacon smelled wonderful)!

The man who worked there was quite shocked at the number of people we had and bluntly told us there was not enough room in his restaurant for us.

We skipped the bacon and skipped off to our next destination. Well, we did not really skip we ran, except Ruby who hops.

The children had to run stairs at the Plaza. Erik was done in supersonic speed, unfortunately we did not hand out lap markers. The rest of the children had a blast before running, jumping, swinging, and spitting before we wandered over to our next destination.

They had to locate a particular book (Ruby decided to color instead). The book was the clue to the next destination. We went to a country store and found the clue inside a vest pocket. This clue told them to travel near the Woods. When they are Outdoors they must be prepared. Their feet will take them where they need to be, make sure that they are warm and toasty.

Dave's Outdoor Sports Shop is located near Woods Coffee and was the place our next clue was hidden inside a pair of warm socks.  They looked near the fireplace, inside boots and by fire starters before locating the clue.

Of course, while we were there they had to hold some knives and guns. Their challenge here was to get their photo taken with one of the many mounts hung on the wall.

Second Chance Thrift store was the location of our next challenge. The children had to find an item and tell me three different ways that item could be used. Aaron's spatula won the contest. He said it could be used to flip pancakes, spank children, and if you had two of them you could use them as arms on your snowman.

Our final stop was a treasure hunt following clues through Safeway to get our lunch. Syndi bought us a latte from Starbucks and the barista made mini smoothies for the children, even soy ones for Taylor and Erik! It was the perfect ending for a memorable day.

I can definitely see with a little more planning that this could become a regular event.