I must confess -

I did not write the rhyming riddles for the clues. Those were all Chuck. He is an Emmy award winning writer (HERE), so this is right up his alley. It is almost effortless for him to do things like this. If only I had that kind of talent.

And I also must confess, the gifts were really not all that exciting. But the treasure hunt made them more thrilling. The first gift was a craft kit (got at Target clearance for $2). Then she got the lamp (which she needed for her new bedroom). Next was a bag of gummy bears (almost frozen in the freezer). And I always save the birthday cards so she can open them as part of the hunt. Under the TV cabinet she got a vest (I had picked it up a Goodwill months ago and found it when we were moving). And just as a side note, Tally said she could tell that vest didn't come from Goodwill because it was so cute (shhhh, what they don't know won't hurt them). Then the hula hoops (also $2 a piece - and in my opinion one of the best yard toys you can get). Then under the couch were little snack cups (for the snack fairy to bring goodies at night HERE). The next gift was a notebook set (also picked up on the clearance rack at Target). Lastly there was a big gift of a VCR player. You know the old fashion video tape player. We have a few video tapes that the girls have been so eager to watch for years and our player gave up years ago and we never replaced it (DVDs are all we use these days). But there are often video tapes at the library that I wish we could watch and then of course these few that we have here at home. Mainly one video called Brambly Hedge. You can't get it on DVD (formatted for our country) and it is one of their favorite videos. Such sweet little stories and adorable little mice.

So I must confess...I can't do the treasure hunt on my own and the gifts were pretty simple. But she felt special and that is what matters. =)