Warren's 6th Birthday GIFT

In 2013, Warren was the first baby born in Clinton County, Iowa. Last year, I made the mistake of telling him, "honey, your birthday is always gonna suck."...and it was very upsetting to him.

Hey -- it could be worse -- he could've been born on Christmas Day (I'm looking at you, Deena!)…

Anyway -- he will be 6 this year, and we need to MAKE HIS BIRTHDAY SPECIAL...

So, I decided to start a Warren Birthday Tradition!   One good thing is that the kids are out of school the week between Christmas and New Year's.  So this would be a good time for me to TAKE THEM TO A NICE HOTEL...so we can go swimming in the pool....

We checked out a few hotels -- and decided on the HOTEL BLACKHAWK

The BEST Revolving door in Davenport, Iowa.

And an AMAZING lobby!!

Warren was DELIGHTED with his sgift.

He got to push the elevator button EVERY TIME.

After one tutorial from Lilly -- Warren was in charge of the Room Key.

It's a BEAUTIFUL hotel!!

President Barack Obama stayed here!!

The kids explored every single square inch of this luxury hotel...and the staff couldn't have been more accommodating...

The Escape Room

On so many levels, the 2018 Grandma Rita Escape Room was the best idea I ever had.

For one thing, I am a terrible Christmas gift-giver.  Honestly…the year Ross was 9, Santa brought him a brown parka from Sears. Ugh. I just suck at it…

Another thing is that, like many kids today, Lilly and Warren already have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. Too many toys, too many clothes, too much of everything. There is no way they can play with the toys they already own…

But, mostly, the reason for the Grandma Escape Room was because I want Christmas Eve at my house to be something special. And they already spend a lot of time here – so the challenge was to make it an entirely different experience.

After Thanksgiving, my friend Linda told me about going to an Escape Room with their daughter's family – and it was like a bell went off in my head.

To help figure it out, I booked a real Escape Room adventure for us in Davenport. Uncle Ross went with us – and, well –IT WAS AMAZING. I knew I couldn’t come close to their professional set-up. But, hey – Lilly and Warren are 9 and 5 years old….and this Grandma’s got some game…

However – there are a LOT OF MOVING PARTS. Youza. I had no idea how much work this was gonna be…and if I had, I NEVER would have gone down this road. I am not kidding.  I had to clear the room of SO MUCH CLUTTER…things that weren’t involved with the GAME. I told myself that Lilly will be moving into this room after the holidays – so it’s high time I went through some of this stuff anyway – right?

Then, I did internet research for Escape Room ideas.  As it turns out, I’m a little ahead of the curve…so there wasn’t much help there.

I went shopping…in my basement, at the Goodwill store…for gadgets or games, small prizes that could be hidden inside cases, locked away in a safe that they had to open…

HEY – Harbor Freight was a huge score!! A bicycle lock, a keyed padlock, and a 3-combination locker lock….AND a couple of head lamp flashlights ($2.99 each!)…

After two weeks, I had a huge box of random junk….and a very long list of ideas and possible activities. But, I was stuck on how the REAL Escape Room worked…and my ideas all felt kind of less-than…

I spent many days working on the room...and then I'd lay in bed for hours every night, with all the different ideas banging around in my head keeping me awake.  By Christmas Eve,  I had decorated the room…and cleared out most of the drawers and shelves in the room.  I'd planned most of the "gifts" or "prizes" they would find, and five or six activities were plotted out…

But by the afternoon of Christmas Eve…it felt like NOTHING WAS COMING TOGETHER.  Then, my sister Deena called…just to chat…and I said…I NEED HELP..!!

After she came, we walked through several of the scenarios…IT ALL STARTED TO COME TOGETHER in my head.  I knew there were three parts to the room.  The first would be figuring out the Decoder ring…which would have their “mission”…which would be a flashlight scavenger hunt…which would lead them to their first “key”…

OH, YEAH – THIS IS GONNA WORK…!!

Here’s another thing.  You know I am a BIG FAN of surprise adventures!  But, sometimes, the anticipation of an event brings just as much joy.  So, the week before Christmas, I told Lilly I was making an Escape Room for Christmas Eve…but she was not to tell her parents about it.  And SHE LOVED keeping the secret…she was SO excited about the Escape Room.

I’d love to tell you that everything went perfectly.  They had a Walkie-Talkie and so did I.  I sat just outside of the room…and could give them clues if they were stumped.  Elliott and Emily went into the dark escape room with Lilly and Warren (who were wearing headlamps) – and, after a bit of a search -- they found their first clues and, working together, found and created the “Decoder ring”…which was the key to their mission.

 

After their successful flashlight scavenger hunt, they moved on to the GAME DRAWER…and the four of them laughed and played games...Emily and Elliott would be amazed at how good Lilly is at Banagrams...and Warren might kick their ass in a rousing game of Old Maid...

But, alas, they never got that far. The parents only lasted about 20 minutes.  Although Lilly guessed how the Decoder ring was supposed to work…nobody would listen to her…they dropped the piece of paper which had the CLUE to the combination lock…. and they couldn’t move forward until they figured that out…

So they never got to Stage Two…MUCH LESS THE SPEED ROUND of Minute-to-win-it activities (in a locked duffel)…with MAJOR PRIZES at the end!!

**********

I went into the room,  turned on the lights and gathered up the unopened packages so we could take them downstairs for a conventional gift-opening.  The big hit of the night was the unveiling of Warren’s LEGO table…

Hey—you might be thinking Grandma Rita’s Escape Room was a colossal failure…maybe even THE WORST IDEA I EVER HAD.  All that work...hundreds of trips up and down those stairs...A WHOLE LOT OF WORK for nothing…

But here’s the thing.

The next morning, at their Christmas Breakfast, Lilly and Warren COULD NOT STOP TALKING about my Escape Room.  Their other Grandparents were blown away!!  SO WAS I!!  They were reliving it as though it was the most exciting thing EVER!!  They couldn’t stop smiling…and talking…about their headlamp flashlights, the Decoder ring, the scavenger hunt, the keys and the locks…

Holy Cow!!  If I hadn’t been there myself (to experience the dismal failure of the thing) – I woulda thought it was a RIP ROARING SUCCESS.

Then it hit me.

IT REALLY WAS.  Because the only thing that matters is their memory of it…and, in this life, the truth is, many, many things REMEMBER better than they LIVED…

I am soooo happy....!!

THE New Lego Table!!

Like many little boys, Warren is taking the trains-to-Legos ride through life. Right now, he loves, loves, loves to build things with Legos.

Since Ross moved into his own home last year, he's taken up woodworking. I thought he was kidding when he told me he was learning how to do it on YouTube...But then -- he made a pretty spiffy room divider shelf, then some nightstands for his room, then a bed for the kids' room.

This fall, he made a new dining room table.

WOW!! Right?

So -- I asked him if he could build a Lego table for Warren...and THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED...

Warren's Lego table is so big, it had to be assembled IN THE ROOM...

It is BEAUTIFUL...with two big bins on each side, to hold the Legos...

Ross put in a large center drawer, to hold pens, pencils, books, etc...(at some future date, he could make a flat top so it would be a desk).

I was VERY CLEVER to cover it with a tablecloth  -- just in case Warren ran into the room before we had a chance to make the big PRESENTATION. (and that happened)

Warren KNEW it was a Lego Table...but he had to wait for hours to do the big UN VEIL...

He COULD HARDLY WAIT to see what the table looked like!!

And I have never seen a child more delighted with a gift...

He could hardly wait to add the bags of Legos to the bins!!

Lilly was almost as excited as Warren! (she received a 36" ART table -- for her new upstairs room).

Here's the thing...the kids have always shared a little bedroom across the hall from our room. Even though the biggest room in the house (upstairs) is empty (except for when Mary comes to visit) -- and has a really nice full size bed.

But it's time for Lilly and Warren to have their own rooms...so Warren gets a Lego table for his room (he'll stay in the little room)...and, Lilly got an Art table for her new upstairs bedroom.

This big move will be A LOT OF WORK...and it'll be our big project during their winter break.  I got a good start in the upstairs bedroom when I had to clear out LOTS OF STUFF so I could create the Christmas Escape Room...!!

But this room change will be our Big Winter Project...so...fingers crossed...

Mini-Gingerbread Houses

So -- again -- going back to November (because I have a few pictures on my camera that I can access)...I was walking out of Walmart when I noticed a mountain of Gingerbread House kits.

This was an adorable little dog house.  PERFECT for Lilly!!

And this one was a "tiny house"...Warren will love it!

I put some extra candy/cereal/marshmallows in a tray...

And we made an extra batch of royal icing...

The kids put on their Santa hats

...Posed for an opening picture...

And WE WERE OFF...

The small size made them the PERFECT afternoon project.

Lilly is getting pretty good with a frosting bag...

Warren wants to do EVERYTHING she does!!

HEY -- these little kits were only $4.99 each!! THE PERFECT AFTERNOON ACTIVITY.

Our Holiday season was off to a great start!!

The First snow of the year...=

I am still trying to figure out this new laptop -- and how Windows 10 works with Blogger...But, trust me -- I WILL GET IT SOONER OR LATER. Since the meltdown, there have been so many things I wanted to blog about...it will take some time to catch up.

Like -- for example -- making a Snowman. When's the last time you did that? We had our first real snow sometime back in November...and it was beautiful -- but pitiful at the same time.

The weather was mild, so the snow wasn't going to last long...but it was the PERFECT CONSISTENCY to make a snowman. And it hit me that morning that it had been many years since I'd made a snowman...and, really, in my entire long wonderful life, I probably only made 5 or 6 of them...

So -- Even though I had some exciting pre-Christmas things planned for that day -- I decided that the kids and I would stay home and MAKE A SNOWMAN.  We didn't have to rush it...we had all day...and I'd make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, with hot chocolate (and lots of marshmallows)…

The problem was there was only about 2" of snow on the ground...and when you tried to roll a snowball, it got full of leaves...

The kids were spending more time picking out leaves than they were spending rolling snowballs...

But Lilly and Warren were working as a team...

I was trying to encourage them...but this wasn't looking very promising...

Lilly was determined...Warren was losing interest...

At some point, I thought the lesson was "size doesn't matter"...a small snowman can be just as interesting as a large snowman... 

We had to "make do"for their snow clothes...(Warren is wearing Lilly's old snow boots, three pair of jogging pants, and a big pair of swimtrunks)...

The kids took a break to make Snow Angels.

Of course, the fun part is the accessorizing...

Warren wanted it to be a boy (thus, the safari hat)...Lilly said it looked like a girl (so, the shawl)…

I said it doesn't matter...and we didn't have to decide if it was a boy or girl...actually, it might be best if we let our Snow creature decide for him/her self...

When we were finished...we stepped away...and I said the kids did a wonderful job...

Lilly got a serious look on her face...and she said, "So, we've built a transsexual snowperson?"

Oh, yeah. It's a new world they're living in...

2018 Grandma Escape Room

Outline for 2018 Grandma Rita Christmas Escape Room:

To welcome them to the 2018 Grandma Escape Room -- I placed a musical Frosty on the stairs...

I'd also put strings of lights everywhere I could...up the banister...in the room, on the windows...

ROUND #1: Flashlight Scavenger Hunt…the kids need their headlamps, and they will FIND flashlights for their parents. They need to find the Decoder circle…and then, the directions…and finally, the KEY to the Decoder.

THEN, decode the message, telling each of them what they’re hunting for.  (7 New York City items for Lilly -- and 7 Snowmen for Warren).

AFTER the kids find their things, and line them up on the shelf…they ring a bell, and they will earn the first KEY.  But what does that key open?  Here's the clue:  "This key is the secret to Grandma's Super Power"...(which was, of course, my Featherweight case!)

Inside the Featherweight, they found several little gifts (Minions, some decorating bags, etc...) AND a shaving bag (locked with a padlock)...holding a Dreamcatcher necklace for Warren and a dog bracelet for Lilly.

Of course, they had to figure out the three numbers that would open the combo lock on the shaving bag...and that involved counting the number of "bracelets" in the red velvet jewelry box FULL of costume jewelry.

Everything was a mission, of course...with rewards at the end of each accomplishment.  

ROUND #2: THE GAME DRESSER:

I had emptied three drawers...and they were numbered.  Each drawer held some wrapped presents, and a game they had to play.

Drawer #1: OLD MAID
Drawer #2: Headbanz
Drawer #3: Bananagrams

After they completed the game section, they would receive another GIFT CLUE...which would open the bicycle lock on top of the picnic basket. (they had to play Hangman to get the four digit number...it was their mother's birthday).

ROUND #3: THE MINUTE TO WIN IT SPEED ROUND.

I had a lock on a duffel bag -- which held three different activities.

1. The Solo cups (for stacking)
2. A deck of cards (to make a card house)
3. Peppermint sticks (to play the dunking game)

I thought they could play the GIRLS against the BOYS. And then, they could play the kids against the parents.  They could also list All 50 States and their capitols (this used to be a card trick Elliott could do in about 3 minutes).

*************

So?  How did it go?

Where is Rita?

I am fine. But my computer is another story...I cannot figure out what's going on with this blog...as the last three times I TRIED to post, things came out all wonky. Life should not be this complicated!! But the good news is -- I'M FINE..!! Life is always busy at this time of year (HEY -- I'm not telling you anything!)...but, along with the usual holiday crazy -- my computer problems continue to plague me.

It's a combination of my trusty laptop taking a dive...and me NOT BEING ABLE to get a handle on the NEW technology that promises to be SO MUCH EASIER, but right now feels like I'm trying to learn algebra, but I'm not allowed to use numbers....or English.....or my fingers....(I'm looking at YOU, Windows 10)….

But, the GOOD NEWS is that my holiday plans just keep rolling along. Last Saturday, I arranged for Lilly and Warren to have their special "Uncle Ross" outing. We went to AN ESCAPE ROOM..!!
omg...SO MUCH FUN...

I promised the people at the Harrison Street Escape Room that I would not reveal any of their secrets --but it was EPIC..!!

We had a GREAT time..!1 I chose the experience called "Night at the Museum" -- and it was amazing. The props were wonderful -- and even Warren played an important role. the deal is -- you only have ONE hour to figure out all the clues...and we managed to get out with 23 seconds to go!!

I SWEAR TO GOD, it took me almost two hours to write this simple little blog post. In my good old-Windows-7 days -- I could have written FIVE OR SIX posts full of crappy photos, good humor and deep thoughts...ugh...

But I'll figure it out, Kathy -- I PROMISE..!!  thanks for worrying about me...

Merry CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY...I'll keep trying.  Please don't give up on me....

Mugs and rugs