H is for Welcome Home Scavenger Hunt

Alyssa's father left for a three day out-of-town job last week. He works a second job to pay for bills, curriculum, and entertainment. He came home LATE Saturday night. The first day he left Alyssa was very sad and missed him dearly. She said she wanted to write him a letter for when he comes back home. She wrote the letter quickly with very little help.

I suggested that she create a scavenger hunt and make him hunt for the letter. She wrote riddles for him to answer as he searched for the hidden "love" letter (at least that's what she called it). As soon as he walked in the door she told him he needed a shower because he was "stinkafied" - that's their word for REALLY stinky and in dire need of a bath. After his shower she handed him an index card before he could even brush his hair. This was the beginning of an adventurous hunt.

The riddles or clues she wrote sent him up and down the stairs of the apartment. She told him it was good exercise and would get his blood pumping after such a long drive. Apparently, the trip took him 9+ hours to drive there and 9+ hours back not including pit stops and two vehicle breakdowns. I LOVED watching her giggle and crack up as he gathered clues. She got a real kick out of making him work for his letter!

She disappeared towards the end of the hunt because she wanted to hide at the last location with the letter. She gave him a huge hug and kiss when he opened the door to her "special" reading place. The closet in her bedroom became her "special" reading area. She calls it her reading room and she'll spend an hour or so reading in the morning. You see ... when we moved we gave her the master bedroom with the walk-in closet so that we could use the downstairs bedroom for the classroom. It comforted us knowing that she was upstairs close to us and that we could close the door to her room at night. Believe it or not ... we currently sleep in the living room. Our couch backs up to our bed. She has two bookshelves inside the closet with a mini Elmo sofa couch. It is one of those that opens up and has a sleeping bag attached to it. She plans to hang her favorite Orca whale poster by the couch so that it provides a sense of serenity or calmness. She explained this to me in her own words of course which was hilarious. One bookshelf holds classic books, a few poetry books, dictionary (she reads for fun), and Bible books. The other bookshelf contains a variety of her easy picture books for independent reading.

Sorry about that little detour. Daddy was thrilled to receive a handwritten letter from his daughter upon his arrival. I am sure that he will cherish it forever! It revealed how she truly felt when he left ... poor Jeff felt bad after he read it. Please feel free to read what she wrote to him in the photo below at the bottom. I also posted a few of the clues that she wrote for him. Some were in question format and others were simply commands. She also gave him some money (change) in the envelope. He always gives her some of his change when he comes home from work (if she can tell him how much it is) so I guess she decided it was the right thing to do when he got back from his work trip. Yes, she did ask him how much money she gave him. I don't think he expected a math lesson too.

This is what she wrote in case it is hard to read:

Dear Jeff,
I love you so much but I can't handle you gone for three days. I miss you so much and I wish you were here for three days and left one day. I feel so so so so bad when you are gone for three days. When you come back can we play games with you and mommy and play puzzles. I can't wait unil you come home. Why did you leave for three days insted of one day. Love Alyssa

I will post this link up at Blogging Through the Alphabet. This week we are covering the letter "H." Please come join in on the fun!