Happy 10th Birthday Rachel!

Another milestone in our house...Rachel is in the 2 digits. She's 10...10!


Rachel's top 10 things she wanted for her birthday...
1. A sleepover
2. Sleep outside in the family tent
3. A scavenger hunt
3. An orange birthday cake
4. An orange scooter
5. An orange ipod case (do you see a theme here?)
6. American Girl Doll Bed
7. A watch
8. Fabric
9. A small doll house for chickity (tiny TY stuffed animal)
10.Donuts and scrambled eggs for breakfast

Steve's darling "orange birthday cake" he made for Rachel. Orange is definitely her signature color. Or as Amy would say..."it's her famous color".

The Birthday Clan...Lily, Jessica, Lindy, Cammi, Kirsten, Rachel, and Kate.


Clue # 1
For and “optimal” checkout, a treat is deserved
You must go to a “kingly” place where ice cream is served.
Order a sundae for your group of 7 to taste.
Make sure to eat it all gone, there’s no time to waste!

Lord's Ice Cream

Thank goodness Kate wanted to eat the very last spoonful and for Kirsten for spotting the clue taped to the bottom of the dish.

Clue #2
You passed your 1st test, perhaps with some luck
You must now go to a store where everything cost a “buck”.
You must buy a special balloon from the manager of the store
To give to the gatekeeper, or you won’t get passed her door.

The Dollar Store

With a little persistance we finally got the assistant manager to get the manager...the only one who knew what was going on. She even gave Rachel a little present for her birthday...a cute coin purse.

Clue #3

The gatekeeper is a person you already know
Who teaches you music and also can sew.
She has the next clue, out back where it’s wet
In a floating device that won’t be easy to get.

Felecia Disbrow's pool.

Unfortunately she had gone...and her son fished the floating bottle out for them. We were hoping the would have to figure out how to get it out of the pool.

Clue #4

The next series of clues will require some skill
They must be decoded, using your smarts and your will.

20 8 5 14 5 24 20 3 12 21 5 9 19 1 20 1 16 12 1 3 5


15 6 12 5 1 18 14 9 14 7 23 8 5 18 5 25 15 21 3 1 14


3 8 5 3 11 15 21 20 2 15 15 11 9 19 21 7 7 5 19 20


6 9 14 4 9 14 7 “5 14 3 25 3 12 15 16 5 4 9 1 15 6


2 18 9 4 7 5 19 “ 20 15 6 9 14 4 25 15 21 18


14 5 24 20 3 12 21 5.

Here are the girls working on decoding the clue...

Cammi rocked on this!
After finish decoding...the clue lead them to the library were the had to look up the book...find the book...and retrieve the next clue.

Another code...this one in wingding font...Lily rocked on this one.

Civic Center Public Library

Clue#5
This book is on bridges, an interesting clue

If you’re clever and smart, you’ll know just what to do.

(this is what it said)
YOULL GO TO A BRIDGE THAT YOUVE BEEN TO BEFORE WHERE YOU LIKE TO THROW ROCKS RIDE YOUR BIKE AND MUCH MORE. LOOK ALL OVER THE BRIDGE FROM BENEATH AND ON TOP OR YOU WONT FIND THE CLUE AND YOUR QUEST WILL THEN STOP

Looking for the clue...

Lily finding the clue...

Reading the clue...

Clue #6

You’re now getting much closer to finding the prize
But, the clues now get tougher you’ll soon realize.
Go to a place of worship with a ball field out back
Find a bench where the ballplayers can watch the game like “Safety Jack”.

Ball field behind the church. Lindy was the luck finder on this one.

Clue #7

You’re now at the end this is the very last clue
If you can decode the message below, cool things will be coming to you.

G R S M D E R
O U E A T D E
T S U P H T
O S S T E R
T O E O B E
H H T F U A
E O H I R S
P U E N I U

Diggin' for treasure at Emily's sand pit. The girls had blast...and the treasure was found.

(party goodies with a giant magnifying glass for looking for future clues)

Home for presents and cake. Oh, and a cake eating contest.

Singing happy birthday to Rachel and Chickety.

Yes, that's the famous Chickity in front of Lindy..and a cake Rachel made for her to left of Rachel's cake.

The Cake Eating Contest...I think Lindy took first and Rachel took second.

Rachel being woke up before Dad leaves for work. The tradition of dad singing "Happy Birthday" in Spanish the morning of your birthday...something everyone looks forward to. I think it's a birthday tradition as important as cake around our house.

The clan outside the family tent they all slept in.

Cammi got sick the night before and went home.

The end to the a great birthday party...now family birthday stuff.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Rachel American Girl Doll stuff. A bed, a pet, an outfit and chair.

A watch from Amy and Alec.

The long awaited ORANGE scooter. A few months ago Rachel started riding Alec's old scooter and feel in love with it. The scooter wasn't easy to find. Razor stopped making the orange ones awhile ago. Luckily, Ebay had replacement parts...I bought the black scooter and just changed out the hand pads and wheels.

The look on Rachel's face when she opened up her eyes and found a very simple wood doll house for her "Chickety". I might be wrong...but I think it was her favorite.

"What a day!"