Leprechaun traps | Grey House Harbor

Mar 17 2016

told ya so

Posted by hayley

For anyone who doubted about those leprechauns being real yesterday, I submit for your examination Exhibit A:

There’s the tell-tale trail of green glitter (this has happened every time they’ve come), as well as the appearance of some unlikely characters to the scene.

Remember Mr. Legoman from the zipline trial run? Well, we think he warned the Lego Avengers about the possibility of a mischievous or hostile leprechaun entering Bug’s room. As soon as the leprechaun had slide down the zipline and was in the container trap, Nick Fury radioed the others to surround him.

Unfortunately, no one could have guessed that leprechauns carry flamethrowers! He easily melted his way through the plastic walls and escaped right as the Avengers approached. The leprechaun was even close to making off with some of our golden bait. Ultimately, he was just too fast for our superheros to capture – if only Flash had been there, we may have had a chance!

Now for Exhibit B:

Again with the glitter… even on the swing. And it looks like someone dropped a couple shamrocks from their pouch on their way in.

More than a few things were different about the interior of Songbird’s hotel room.

Most notably (pun intended) was the handwritten letter of appreciation.

For those who have difficulty deciphering the impossibly tiny text, it reads:
“Dear Management, I really enjoyed staying in your lovely room last night. After traveling all day, it was pleasant to rest awhile by the fire, read the newspaper, and catch up on my mail. I’ve never even seen a hotel my size before! Escaping from leprechaun traps is such exhausting work and your comfortable couch was just what I needed to catch a wink of sleep. Hope you don’t mind that I helped myself to a bite to eat and a swig of water too. Please accept my apologies for not staying long enough to meet you in person. My neighbor called to let me know the rainbow is running low on batteries again and I’m the only leprechaun on our block tall enough to change them! I guess even leprechauns can’t escape getting our chores done.
See you next year!
– Clover O’Conner
p.s. your hamster is so nice! I got lost on my way to your room and she gave me great directions.”

I mean, I’m not sure what other proof you doubters need. They even sent a rainbow to the hallway right before school!

In years past (2014, 2015) the leprechauns have played hilarious tricks on us throughout the house. This year there weren’t any though! Songbird thinks it’s because she enjoyed relaxing in the hotel and forgot. Bug thinks they were too scared of the Lego Avengers to try anything naughty. I think that maybe their spouse has been working out of town for a whole month and the one day this week that all their kids would have been in school so they could shop for trickery supplies, their eldest child ended up home sick – so they didn’t have a single child-free moment for 7 days straight to plan a single thing.

Pure speculation, of course.

Abundant green in the outfits today – no way these two are getting pinched! Happy St. Pats!

Tags: bug, holidays, Leprechaun traps, our life, songbird, St. Patrick's Day

4 comments

Mar 16 2016

leprechauns are real

Posted by hayley

I never made a leprechaun trap as a kid – it just wasn’t a thing. Yet somehow, after stumbling upon this idea 2 years ago, it’s become a new family tradition. The first year, Songbird was 5 and I did the majority of the construction.

Not this year.

The kids raided our recycling bin for potential materials and started with a serious brainstorming session.

They remembered how last year the leprechaun evaded capture with a grappling hook and easily cut his way out of Bug’s cardboard trap. They re-evaluated their tactics, discussed construction pros and cons, and drew diagrams of new ideas. It was pure entertainment to sit and listen to them hash out their battle plans.

This year the roles reversed. Now I was the one helping Songbird figure out how to make her vision a reality.

Bug insisted on handling the rainbow painting himself, too.

After much deliberation, Songbird decided on a rather imaginative course of action. Having seen the leprechauns work their way out of all our traps thus far, she decided to catch them with kindness. She figures that after a long night of hunting for gold, they may be in need of rest. A tiny hotel would be just the place they can kick up their feet and stay awhile – maybe even until morning when she can politely ask for a pot of gold.

She spared no details, thinking they would love a swing!

The best part is that the entire front folds forward to reveal a carefully curated interior including wallpaper, furniture, carpet, a fireplace and some hand drawn wall art.

Bug decided a zipline would be fun, especially if it leads to a canister full of golden treasure.

We had to complete a proof-of-concept with the help of Mr. Legoman, of course.

Songbird came home from school today and said, “Mom, some kids in my class don’t believe in leprechauns. AND they don’t believe in Santa. They think the parents fill all the stockings!”
Oh yeah? What do you think?
“I think that’s crazy. I mean, I’ve seen the damage a leprechaun can do to a trap and I know flying reindeer are totally real.”

There are only a few short years that children delight in the imaginary. My parenting philosophy is let them be little. Build creative memories every chance you get because those sweet moments will soon enough be replaced with eye rolls and earbuds. I feel zero need to rush my children into logical adulthood – growing a robust imagination is so much more fun.

Traps (ahem, excuse me… hotel – she keeps reminding me “it’s not a trap“) are set! Songbird even stoked the flameless candle fire for her potential guest. Good-luck, sweethearts!

Tags: holidays, kid stuff, Leprechaun traps, St. Patrick's Day

10 comments

Mar 13 2015

precision engineering (aka : leprechaun traps)

Posted by hayley

Last year Songbird built this golden leprechaun palace. And this year she absolutely remembered that the wee lil’ green guy escaped because he was able to cut through the trap door entrance. So we have literally spent a week discussing every facet of how to improve this year’s design.

Each suggestion I made (mostly because it’d be easy) was immediately rejected on the likelihood of escape. Instead she dreamed up a contraption with multiple layers, sneaky deception, and several design features.

Bug, on the other hand, was happy to go along with a simpler mom-directed design. He’s basically on-board with anything that involves going to town with a paintbrush.