Adventure Awaits!

Back in January (I’m so behind, y’all!) our young man turned eleven. Because the 11th birthday doesn’t hold any special milestone, we give our kids a mystery day for that year’s birthday, meaning their dad and I plan all the activities of the day without them knowing what’s coming. Our oldest daughter’s theme for her mystery day was Hawaiian luau, and our younger daughter’s theme was an all-day fall picnic.

One thing I’ve learned about raising a boy is his need to feel like a man–to have adventure, to test his strength, and to be respected for it! So, for our son’s birthday, we decided on the theme “Adventure Awaits”!

With our girls, their mystery days included surprise parties with their friends which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, at the time of our son’s birthday, Covid was at another spike and people were having to cancel events right and left so we decide we’d better hold off so we wouldn’t have to change plans at the last minute. We then decided to take him to Callaway Gardens for the day to go ziplining, until we found out the high on the day would be there was going to be in the low 40’s–yikes, not happening. After secretly deliberating and trying to come up with an outing, our son happened to mention one day that he would just enjoy a day close to home with the family. So, we decided to make him a little adventure in the woods behind our house.

We selected gifts that he could use in his outdoor pursuits and hid them all throughout the woods for a treasure hunt. While I decorated the table that morning, my husband and daughter hid clues and gifts in the woods. My son’s bedroom is decorated in a wilderness theme, so I had already snuck some decor pieces to the kitchen while he wasn’t aware and used them for the table. Everything else was just stuff in my party stash.

The cake came from Walmart, and I could not have been more pleased with how it looked! I just looked online at their bakery section and typed in “Wilderness cake” and they had the perfect one! I had them pipe “Adventure Awaits. Happy 11th!” My final touch–a last minute whim–was a wilderness chalkboard sign.

Once everything was ready, we called him in to see his birthday table and his first clue. Oh, he was so pumped!

His first gift really had nothing to do with the outdoors but before we had started birthday planning, he’d already requested a set of weights so we started with that gift in the workout area of our garage with the idea that he would need to strengthen before setting out on his mission. This also kept us from having to take 20 pounds of weights down to the woods!!

The next clue took him to our picnic table by the creek, which was a waterproof compass watch.

Then on to the thinking tree where he found a set of waterproof walkie talkies.

Following the creek and looking for a particular fallen tree…..

where he found a combo flashlight/lantern.

His next clue led him up a hill that is actually steeper than it looks in this photo (ask me how I know!) to a pond in another area of our neighborhood. His last clue was at the top of the climb which would lead him back home to his archery target.

But first, a photo at the pond that says “I conquered the climb!”

So, we trekked back through the woods to our backyard where a balloon was waiting to be popped with nothing less than the arrow of a fine archer! Archery is something he and my husband have taken up recently, so we knew we had to incorporate it into the mission some way.

Inside the balloon was his last clue directing him to his last gift in what we call “The Lodge” which is his bedroom. The gift waiting there was the go-cart seat attachment to his hover board.

The hike through the woods was a round trip of 2 miles. Once finished, we surprised the birthday boy with lunch at his favorite hot dog place downtown, and then back home for a movie with cake and ice cream.

All day long he kept saying, “This is the best day ever!” It was fun and special for us all and I love seeing this boy grow and do all the boy things. Well, I could do without his armpit sounds!

For the rest of this week, I thought it would be fun to share a few more boy posts, so come back for more adventure!