Pirate Booty

This month, while Felix was staying with us, the kids received the following letter from one Ezekiel Haul IV:
This was the beginning of a several hour adventure during which seven clues were found hanging in trees, under a grate, off a fencepost, inside an old wood stove, underground and in a treehouse. The walk was crazy amusing... Larkin could hardly believe this was actually happening and talked nonstop (literally... we couldn't get a word in edgewise, even when she was supposedly asking us questions) about whether there was actually *real* treasure at the end of all the clues and who the pirates were and why the letter would have been sent to her and Finn and what the treasure might be if it turned out to be real and whether the next clue would lead to another clue or to the treasure and I think you get the general idea. Meanwhile, Finn was turning over every leaf and picking up every stick and declaring them all clues ("AHA! I found a CLUE!") and generally needing to be cajoled to keep up with the leading treasure hunt party. In the end, I think Finn ended up finding two of the clues and Larkin found the others. Here are a couple of the discoveries:


Finally, they found the X that marked the spot and started to dig:
When the treasure turned out to be a whole chest of booty, Larkin was initially stunned completely speechless (and that's saying a lot). Note shocked posture here:
But, really, if you dug a hole in your backyard and discovered this:
Wouldn't you be flummoxed? Finn's response was a little more sanguine. He gave a great shout of "YAY! Treasure!" and threw a handful up in the air. Larkin's summation of the experience: "Pirates might be mean, but they sure have beautiful booty!" Many hours admiring, sorting, wearing and generally fondling the treasure have since been joyfully spent.

Full photo documentation of the hunt can be seen at our Picasaweb site.