The Luck O' The Irish

 Well, another holiday (I can't believe I even call it a holiday) has come and gone. St. Patrick's Day is my least favorite, but for some reason, my kids love it? I think it's because everyone in VA makes such a big deal out of it. At least, it's bigger there than it is in UT. There are a lot of catholics there, and maybe a lot of people with Irish ancestors? Anyway, it's a big deal. And it has made my kids HUGE fans of the ridiculous holiday.

 

Their teachers in school would tell them stories of how the leprechauns came and made mischief and the room would be messed up, with little green footprints everywhere, and green food coloring in the toilet, and they would go on a leprechaun hunt and make leprechaun traps, and the leprechaun would leave gold coins on their desks, and the whole nine yards.  

 

I have always had them wear green, maybe we ate green food and milk for breakfast, and more recently, we would have a nice leprechaun deliver us a treat in the evening. And it worked, because at school, they got their fill for all of the other silly stuff.

 

Well, as you know, St. Patty's Day fell on a Sunday. My kids have been talking for weeks about how the leprechaun must be coming to our house to make his mischief, because they won't be at school that day. And here's the thing.... my kids actually believe in leprechauns. I am not kidding.

 

They also believe in the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny, and Cupid. It's true. They all do. Even Laylah. And I have to say, I really love it. It is fun and exciting, and they get so eager for holidays, and to me, it is worth it. It is worth a little extra work on my part (and only a few dollars) to make my children happy. They are always grateful and they never have a greedy attitude about it, so I am okay with it. I am okay with having a leprechaun come to our house. I know it will all end someday, but at least they'll have their memories, and I hope to them, those will be the real treasures.

 

So anyway, the leprechaun came, oh yes he did. And he sent us on a fun little scavenger hunt. The first clue was taped on the wall next to the bathroom where everyone would be sure to see it first thing in the morning. And the kids were so surprised, they came right in my room to show me clue #1 which read:

 

Top O' The Mornin' To Ya!

It's s St. Patty's Day scavenger hunt, it's true

look in the fridge for clue #2!

 

The leprechaun had turned some of our milk green (which Magnus was so confused by, but he really wanted to try some, and I had to pour him some right that second) and also left another clue which read:

You found the green milk, hooray!

Now, go look where you pee for clue #3!

They were baffled when they ran to their bathroom and couldn't find a clue, and then someone figured they better check my bathroom. And whattya know, there it was...

 

Now, I can't actually remember what I wrote on this clue (It was like, 1 in the morning when I was doing this), but it was something about finding the green grass and shamrocks and checking out the door for clue #4.

 

I had taped it to the front door and it read:

 

Isn't the grass nice? Now, to find clue #5, you must watch the story of St. Patrick's Day, live!

 

I found a darling VeggieTales youtube story about why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I didn't even know the reason why, so this story was also very informative! My kids loved it. Click HERE if you're interested in watching it.

 

After we watched the video, we read the last clue that said:

I love this story of how I came to be.

Thanks for playing my game, it has been fun

I left you a prize in a machine that can run!

 Baron is actually the one who thought of it being in the dryer, and he was right. There was a green bucket with gold treats, and green glowing necklaces. It was a fun little scavenger hunt, it took about 15 minutes to figure out the clues and set it all up, and I spent about $8 on the prize. I printed off the cute clue sheets HERE.

 

 

 

I then made shamrock pancakes and we drank our green milk.

 

We also wore green. Green skirts, ties, socks, shirts, bracelets, rings, and fingernail polish. I really am not a fan of the color green by the way...

 

It ended up being a really fun day.

 Oh yes, and I must add that Baron left this out for our "leprechaun" that night. He gave him some of his very own "gold" from his piggy bank. I wrote Bear a note back on a green shamrock and left it on his pillow. He was beyong thrilled that the leprechaun responded.

Oh, to be a kid again :)