Sasquatch Research Squad

It's that time of year again... time for Pax's annual birthday bash! This year may be one of my most favorites. Seeing as my guy is an avid Cryptozoologist (as well as zoologist) we thought what better way to celebrate turning 9 than going on a Big Foot search?

Our friends met us at one of our favorite spots - Lair of The Bear in Morrison, under the big tree by the outdoor classroom. Upon arrival, the kids got a map with an interesting bit of warning on the back. Apparently Sasquatch were in the area! 

Each kid recieved a Sasquatch serach kit complete with trail mix, mustache (because cryptid catchers are advised not to show their true identity), fresh "squatch scat" to taste, sample jars for collecting specimens, a "legend hunter" card and a set of "Cryptid Catcher" cards which Pax recieved in the mail from the amazing author Lija Fisher. She wrote one of Pax's favorite books, The Cryptid Catcher and sent the cards so Pax could give them to his friends at his party. She is so incredibly kind and generous and I can not thank her enough!!! 

Upon opening their kits, the kiddos were off to search for tracks, scat and signs of Big Foot. Amazingly they found lots of hair and dried scat!!! 

• ok, so I made the hair by purchasing a small square of reddish brown felt from Michaels and     brushing it with a wire pet brush to break all the fibers apart. It looked so cool and squatchy!!!
• the dried scat was basically "treasure stones" or "dino eggs" made to look a little more poopish. The recipe is super easy and all over the internet, so no need to post it here. I filled the scat with harmonicas and compass rings and bits of red flannel - as mentioned in the Big Foot sighting on the back of the map.

After the scat was dissected and hair was collected in the specimen jars, the kiddos needed to practice cryptid catching by playing a bit of reverse hide and seek. Instead of one person looking for all the others, everyone looked for one person. Being in the woods really helped to make that game extra fun and challenging!!! 

Another game we played was a Big Foot race. I attached flip flops to some giant cardboard feet and we timed each kiddo as they ran a stretch of path. The fatsest won a little plastic trophy. It was pretty hilarious! 

Before heading off to hike about looking for Squatch, we played in the river, ran amuck, ate some Big Foot birthday cake (my husband's annnual tradition of making the cake was once again awesome!!!) and took some "Patterson's Film" photos. 

Last but not least, we hiked around Lair Of The Bear for a good hour with one good pop out of the bushes scare supplied by the best dad ever and my hilarious husband. We ended with our family camping tradition of Big Foot calls in the wild. T'was a perfect day! 

It was three hours of fun and sunshine and laughs and hiking. The best part was how easy and cost effective this whole event was. Perfect for a curious 9 year old and his groovy pals!!!