December 21 (favorite thing friday [motorola walkie talkie])

These pictures are from last year ... when Elizabeth fractured her ankle and was house bound for several days.  To pass the time, in between playing Candy Land, Memory and Go Fish ... we would play hide-n-go-seek in the back yard. The object of the game was for Elizabeth and her team to sit perched with one walkie talkie and a pair of binoculars while the other team would run around and hide in the backyard.



We don't play this particular variety of hide-n-go-seek very often in the winter months because I always manage to fall in the freezing cold creek but we do use our walkie talkies all the time. We'll sometimes play hide-n-seek in the house and one of us will hide, while the other one(s) will go around the house looking.  As for me, I like to bring one of the walkie talkies when I'm hiding and turn it down low so that I can whisper to the children, "You're getting warmer ... warmer ... COLDER ... COLDER ... COLD! You're going the wrong way!!"  



My favorite places to hide are in the closet, tucked behind the clothes. Another good spot is in the recycling closet, crouched behind the recycling bin.  The next best place, albeit scary for the kids to go investigate which makes it all the better for the scream factor, is in the basement beneath the stairs, next to the furnace. Whenever the kids go down stairs looking for a hider, they'll bring the calvary. It's always the four kids and the dog and to jump out and scare the FIVE of them ranks up there as one of my favorite things to do - next to cuddling with them and convincing them they can never leave home.

We also use our walkie-talkies when someone is home sick and sequestered to their room. What better way to summon for more tissue, cough drops and orange juice?  We use them when we go for hikes. Or bicycle rides. Or any time that we're out together as a family, but might split up to varying degrees.  We'll use them when I'm in the house and the kids go outside to walk the dog. If I'm not able to go with them, they'll bring a walkie talkie and keep me apprised of what's happening in the outside world. Those conversations typically go like this, "Breaker one nine, breaker one nine. Yes, I can hear you.  Yes, I'm warm enough.  No, we don't see any strangers. Yes, we know how much Mama Bear loves her Baby Bears.  Yes, I'd love to live at home with you until I'm 40. That's a big ten four!"

Walkie talkies are big fun for all ages.

Over 'n out.