SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

now that worked out quite nicely didn't it. met michelle czeszynski and purchased her treasure hunt in historical pleasanton on thursday,

and that friday, the very next day: no school.

and not only was there no school, but it was a gorgeous day! so, what's a mom to do with her son, nephew, daughter and daughter's friend on a gorgeous, no-school, friday afternoon?

of course!

we went first to blackhawk for lunch, because there is no better place to be on gorgeous days, than driving down tassahara, with the rolling hills graduating toward their upcoming, breath-taking green

the calm, curvy, country road, with so many cows, horses, birds and trees to i-spy along the way

and then

that landscaping i've come to cherish at blackhawk plaza.. the fountains, waterfalls, lake-ish waters, the ducks, the swans.. the happy people sprinkled all around

instant mood elevator

hamburger and fries food enhancer

joy spot.

and after lunch we window shopped around a little.. and hit doodlebug to purchase the kid-friendly gift we would exchange at the end of our upcoming historical pleasanton treasure hunt.

by vote, we decided on this fun see-through bouncy ball which had a bunch of tiny rainbow plastic balls inside, and then signed our names all around it with a sharpie pen

and the girls.. they could have stayed shopping all day. but the boys...

and so i promised we would come back and stay longer when it was just the girls, and gathered them all up and headed back down tassahara toward pleasanton to begin the treasure hunt

first stop: alviso adobe. -and i had been there with my kids for a picnic & monopoly game some time ago, but the buildings were closed

great treat to find the whole place open on this day, so we could go inside and really see where the cows were kept, where the ranchhands stayed, the original meadowlark dairy

and i have a confession here

because, if it weren't for michelle's book -the hunt- we maybe would have stayed longer in each building, at the park in general. but the kids were really anxious, determined to find their clues and keep going

and so i also realized, that if it weren't for michelle's book, we would not be here at all, and so i didn't complain about their pace

i took several pictures and thoroughly -so completely- enjoyed myself.

and we didn't go exactly in order for the balance of the clues, but we did hit them all:

kottinger's barn -where the owner ( a spiritually gifted clairvoyant ) shared some stories, and introduced luca, her dog.. the kids LOVED visiting/petting luca. and adored how when terry hit the chime, luca would howl~sing. and i lucked out with some home-made, fresh-baked apple-bread being passed around -and-

took several more pictures. ( i'll spare you throughout, by only posting a select few)

the pleasanton hotel -where my children told their cousin and friend, all about the haunted hotel.. the lady murdered... "we don't have to go inside do we mommy?"

and they didn't, because the clue is on the outside of the building (that's why we are still alive to share this story, you see) -and-

i took several more pictures.

gay nineties -where my kids shared more stories about the ghosts, the underground tunnels

and i took one or two more pictures.

the johnston building.. where my daughter hopped out of the car to verify the clue they had all guessed correctly on their own

the presbyterian church... -where they found another clue and mommy took one or three more pictures

kolln hardware... where the boys finally, at last, got to write in the clue because "we haven't gotten to do one thing.. the girls are doing all the writing!"

main & spring... where the girls wrote in another clue, and i took a couple pictures -and we enjoyed running into family friends, kerri, noah, madeline, and getting in a quick visit

the museum.. decorated so fabulously for halloween.. and where my daughter purchased the pleasanton ghost stories dvd which kept her and jack awake from fear for three nights in a row a couple years back, but which today, she claims to her friend, cristina, "must be seen!" -because "it is so scary!" and then a few seconds later, "it is not that scary"

and where i took a couple pictures. and "look!" the girls each drew me a card/picture.

the train depot.. our almost grand finally -where all four kids were quite burnt out on me taking pictures, but "this is charles huff's building" and so all agreed to pose one more time.

and then we gathered back in the car..

and the boys cried, "the girls are doing everything again! they are finding all the clues.. we haven't gotten to do anything!"

and the girls ignored the boys

and i tried to get the girls to include the boys somehow

but really,

the girls did their thing anyway, with the boys fighting to look over their shoulders

and they de-coded the final puzzle, using all the clues from the hunt:

62 = o

32 = 5

1 = 6

etc.,

until, with less than one third complete, they all guessed the answer.

" _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ !"

and so we went there to find the treasure chest. sign the log book.

and mommy took only 2 or 3 more pictures i promise

and we exchanged the see~through bouncy ball with the colorful plastic balls inside for...


/and how they worked this out among themselves i have no idea

but for a small, blue, rubber frog

and then the girls (with boys watching enthusiastically) decided to see how far they could stretch the little blue rubber frog before it...

s legs came off

then the boys complained

but i just laughed

gathered my four beautiful, smart, mamarazzi~tolerant, treasure hunters and treated them to frozen yogurt with all the fixin's at yolatea for our successful treasure hunt adventure celebration.

and where -i swear- i did not take one picture.