Celebrating Robinson Crusoe Day

What? You didn't know there was a Robinson Crusoe day? Well, I didn't either until Monday. It began when the alarm went off Monday morning. The radio DJ announced that Monday was "Hula in the Coola" Day - a day where you're supposed to do summer-type things in the middle of winter. I told Craig that to "celebrate" I wanted for us to go to our gym's pool and then grill out and have some ice cream for dessert. Well, then I found out that the pool closed before Craig got home from work. So, I looked for other fun days that we could celebrate. Monday began our month of enjoying the fun days that some random person created. Monday was Robinson Crusoe Day.

The day began with Xander and I heading to the library to see if we could find a child's version on Robinson Crusoe. No such luck. So, we scoured the stacks until we found a book about a shipwrecked sailor. We also picked up a couple of books for Groundhog's Day to read on Tuesday. We came back home and began getting the fun together for the night.

After everyone was home and schoolwork was done, we began our exciting adventures. Each child was told that they were the captain of their own ship, however their ships had become wrecked somewhere in a few rooms. They headed off to find their paper ships. Once they were all found, they were given their captain's hats and ship flags to decorate. They had fun with it.

Then, they were given a treasure map to fine where our next happening would occur. The map included "the bay of girls" (Kalyn's & Trinity's room), "the boy cove" (Xander's room), "sweetness swamp" (Craig's and my room), "the unmovable mountain" (the wall separating our front and living rooms) and "the pit of fire" (the kitchen). The girls' job was to decipher the different landmarks on the map and figure out where the X on the map would lead them.

The X led them to our dinner on the front room. We had laid out beach mats where we had fish and fruit, a perfect meal for a shipwrecked sailor. We also included some fries and cheddar garlic biscuits, just to round out the food.

After dinner, Trinity asked if we were going to "present their flags." What a treat that was! Trinity tied together her hat into her flag with hearts and stars. Xander's flag presentation included his pretend guitar and a musical show. Kalyn was short and simple. They were very entertaining.

Then, we did what any good abandoned sailor would do - we built shelter. We had pulled out our long, lost Lincoln Logs and taught the kids how to use them. We had a blast building our little houses. However, we also found out that over time, Lincoln Logs can warp. Oops.

On a deserted island, what else is imperative? A fire. We talked about how the fire would be useful to the ship wrecked sailor. When you have a fire, what do you need to do? Of course, roast marshmallows. Yum!!

Our night ended out with our book reading time. I've really wanted to get back into a habit of reading together as a family. It's so fun to curl up on the couch - all five of us together - and dive into a book. It was such a great night. The best part of the whole event was Kalyn's comment as she said, "Mommy, this is the best day of my whole life!"