September 4 - Birthday Adventures

You are now Level 1
Roses are red, violets are red,
Everythings red, 'cause everyone's dead.
The legion has come, take up your steed,
Your father's a questgiver and senses your need.
To fight off the dread legion you must first level up,
So now mount your dreadsteed and come giddy-up!

~ First of the birthday clues

We have a fun tradition for birthdays of sending our kids on scavenger hunt/quests.  The have progressively gotten more and more involved, sometimes puzzle solving, sometimes performance based, one of my favorites tasks was a silly poem about burping and farting and boogers which they had to recite without giggling.

My oldest boy turned 15 yesterday, a man by most measures - but always my little Aiiya, his name for himself before words.  He has been playing World of Warcraft obsessively over the past couple weeks because the new expansion just released -- so that was the backdrop for his birthday hunt this year.

Here are some earlier adventures:

Last year his favorite game was Destiny on the Xbox One (X-bone), so he boarded his rocket and traversed the universe to rescue and befriend alien companions.

Earlier this year, my youngest awoke to find himself deputized as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Lola, Agent Coulson's car waiting to whisk him on an adventure, recovering Thor's hammer by imbibing a potion that gave him temporary Hulk strength.

I'm risking some trouble for posting this, but my wife is not free of the birthday balloon crazy quests. In this one, Crush the Turtle came with a mission to find all of the missing princesses. The final was a crown with a mirror, the caption read: "The last and most lovely princess!"

Here is my oldest son this year, riding his Dreadsteed, having just re-assembled the Sword of Kings, recovered the Enchanted Shield of Ages and donned the Crown of Command to unite the horde and alliance against their common foe. With his faithful companion, Bowie, at his side - he has driven the Dread Legion away and is about to uncover the tarp and claim his birthday prize.

Keeping it weird