Sherlock Holmes was there on the docks to welcome and warn us of spooky
happenings in Jolly Old England...
along with his trusted assistant, Dr. Watson, I presume.
It's a mystery!
England is the land of foggy mist and spooky moors. No wonder it is the home of mystery writers such as Agatha Christie, Anne Perry and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of Sherlock Holmes.
Today we join their ranks and help to solve a mystery involving death, last wills and priceless family jewels!
Aunt Agatha
Poor dear Aunt Agatha!
Gramma Luvlee received a package in the mail all the way from England. In it we found to our surprise, a DVD containing the last will and testament of our Great Aunt Agatha. Most of us didn't even know we had an Aunt Agatha! Apparently she visited us in "The Colonies" many years ago when Danii and Merrill were but "Wee babes". At that time, knowing she had no closer remaining relatives, she hid her precious family heirlooms in Gramma's house. The video said if we were watching this she had "kicked the bucket, croaked, met her demise, she was pushing up daisies, ten feet under, in other words I am dead, dead, dead!" She then proceeded to "give us the clues in the form of a rhyme, when this thing stops you're out of time."
Hmmm, I wonder where that next clue is
Oh my, is this Aunt Agatha?!!!
Super sleuths that we are, we solved ten different clues that took us everywhere from flower gardens to the crows nest to the creepy cellar. Her jewels were hidden were no one would suspect...
In plain sight!
Decked out in jewels
This idea was adapted from a party found here:http://thedecorologist.com/wp/party-proposals-mystery-birthday-party-part-ii
Super Sleuth Spy Academy
Spy Academy was running a special on their half day course so we took them up on it. We went through a super intense condensed version of their usual eight week course. First class-
Marksmanship
Spit ball target practice
Dead eye Kamryn
Please ignore the slime all over my walls! We did scrub them afterwards.
Danii must have passed her marksmanship class!
Obstacle course training
The prospective spies had to:
Crawl on their hand and knees around traffic cones on a water drenched tarp. Then...
...crawl through a wet tunnel.
Which wasn't easy for everyone!
Then through the wiggly sprinklers. Then...
...through slippery tires. And finally...
..under an electric fence. Shock me, shock me, shock me!
Winner of the fastest course time, Kamryn! Why doesn't that surprise me!
Bomb removal 101
A spy needs to be able to remove bombs from off the premises. Here we are practicing that art.
This is just hot potato but played with dynamite with a timer.
High Tea with the Queen of England
Being invited to tea with the Queen was an unexpected and unforgettable experience. What a distinct honor to rub shoulders with the reigning monarch of Great Britain. This is something we'll never forget.
Dressing for Tea
We knew the girls would love this night on our tour. What we didn't expect is how much the boys loved it! The boys made ties from scrapbook paper and loops of elastic. They wore dress shirts and some even came with jackets. They had bowler hats and some even sprouted moustaches for the night.
Trying on "staches
These boys clean up nicely!
Escorting their cute cousin to tea
The girlies
The girls had fun too! They got to dress up in pretty dresses, some in old prom dresses. They donned hats that they designed and decorated themselves, along with purses, gloves and way cute bubblegum necklaces made by Mandy.
Pretty as a picture
The tea room
Before tea was served a tea etiquette lesson was taught. The kids took
everything quite seriously and were on their very best behavior.
Two kinds of herbal tea was served, along with lemonade. They enjoyed
three kinds of scones, three types of tea sandwiches, tea breads, petit fours,
cakes, veggies and dip and two types of cookies.
The Queen was a very gracious hostess and shared her many tales of Merry Old England with us
(Grandma and Grandpa Homey actually served a mission to England so she really did tell us of her adventures there.)
Many thanks to the Queen. A grand time was had by all!
We'll see you next at the Night Time Terror - The Hound of the Baskervilles
Tie template
Party City has a big selection of different colored gumballs.
Gramma Luvlee
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I cannot believe how fun you are! Love the tea party! Your grandchildren must love coming to your house...Heck, I want to come over and party with you! ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat party idea! Looks like it was so much fun. Thanks so much for sharing at Project Queen's Link Party. Definitely looks like the party was a hit!
ReplyDeleteSo fun! I may steal this for a b-day party (I've got a few years before I can host Grandma camp).
ReplyDeleteGreat Party! So many good ideas, thanks for sharing on Simple & Sweet Fridays!
ReplyDeleteJody