This event was losely based on puzzle hunt weekends held by Microsoft employees. The goal was to challenge their children's critical thinking and teamwork skills, while engaging in a fun day of play. There were 4 sets of brothers and sisters, ranging in age from 3+ to 8+, who knew each other well and had a history of doing all sorts of activities together as a group. The puzzles were specifically created for these children, knowing their strenghts & weaknesses, their likes and dislikes, and their various skill levels.  The puzzles were also designed so that the children would have to work together to come up with the solutions. The puzzle designers, mostly the dads, were not at all certain that the kids would pick up on the concept of the event, be able to solve any of the puzzles or even enjoy doing it. But it seemed like a good idea.

At first, the kids couldn't figure out why the families had all gathered at Adrian & Nathaniel's great grandmother's house. The weather was cold, dark and drippy. What was there to do? David gave everyone a tour of the grounds, then some parents started a frisby tossing activity and got the event started by (accidently on purpose) landing a toss near the Little People's Winter House. Once the kids found the little house and the note, they were off and running. The older ones grasped immediately what was going on and jumped to the challenge of solving the first clue.  Everyone got into the act, including the littlest.  Even the parents got excited and had a hard time not helping too much.