<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/285204588872255461/" target="_blank" rel="attachment wp-att-11809"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-11809" alt="285204588872255461_B1ZkhZLG" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/285204588872255461_B1ZkhZLG-300x168.jpg" width="300" height="168" /></a>My friend Dawn sent me a list of playdate ideas that were lifted from a Pinterest Bucket List.

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The ideas were enticingly fun:

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* Get in a taxi and yell, "Follow that car!"  (I've always wanted to do that!)

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* Have a paint fight

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* Build a treehouse

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And . . . .

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* Let go of a floating lantern.

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Maybe I've been hiding under a rock (or behind a computer), but I had never heard of Floating Lanterns aka Sky Lanterns aka Wish Lanterns.

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But when you know how to work The Google, then Pinterest Bucket Lists are your oyster.  I promptly ordered a set of 5 Wish Lanterns.  (For the record, I chose the eco-friendly ones.)

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<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11811" rel="attachment wp-att-11811"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-11811" alt="World&quot;s Most Precious Pooch Plays Vanna White with Wish Lanterns" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC140034-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a>

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Dawn arrived at my house for din din and a Wish Lantern Extravaganza.  We quickly watched a YouTube tutorial on how to work these thingamajigs and then set off for our adventure before we got rained out.

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That's right.  Rain in the desert.  It hadn't rained since . . . . September maybe? . . . . and then it rains on our Wish Lantern Parade. Humbug.

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Although in retrospect, a wet desert is probably a good thing when playing with fire.  I have no desire to become a newsworthy Wish Lantern chick.

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Dawn and I drove out to the edge of the preserve in an effort to keep my neighbors' homes out of harm's way.  We were alone save for a deserted car.  Probably a night hiker.  Doesn't he know that javelinas run amuck in these parts???

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I volunteered Dawn to go first, as I tend to be a bit <a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/2011/10/11/day-356-my-very-first-concussion-italian-style/" target="_blank"><strong>accident prone</strong>.</a>  This was a wise choice, if you ask me.  Dawn is a tough mudder -- Literally.  She runs those races! -- and she nearly pulled a Michael Jackson on me by bringing that fire too close to her hair-sprayed head!
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The mother of all coinkidinks!  Not only did we have a lurker in the not-so-deserted car, but he just so happened to know a thing or two about Wish Lanterns!  Who woulda thunk it?

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I'm not sure if we would have ever figured out how to cast those suckers had it not been for our young Car Friend.

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Perhaps if we had read the directions (found by me 48 hours after our Wish Lantern Extravaganza), we would have never known that Car Friend lurked in the night.

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<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11816" rel="attachment wp-att-11816"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-11816" alt="Read the Wish Lantern Directions first! " src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC160004-1024x768.jpg" width="574" height="430" /></a>

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Our night would not have been the same without him.

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Favorite line of the night (in case you couldn't make it out in the video):

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<span style="color: #ff00ff;"><strong>Me:</strong> </span> What are you doing in there?

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<span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong>Car Friend:</strong> </span> Watching a TV show.

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Dawn and I shoot each another the "What the?!" look.

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<span style="color: #ff00ff;"><strong>Me:</strong> </span> Do you have a girl in there?

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<strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Car Friend:</span>  </strong>I wish!

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Well, young man.  This was a night for wishing!  I hope your dream comes true!

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Time for Ms. Accident Prone to let go of her floating lantern and two accompanying wishes.  (You may as well wish big or go home, right?)

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<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKSgEwqXZK4" height="360" width="640" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe>

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So there you have it!  I experienced two firsts within one week:  <a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/2012/12/19/playdate-48-geocache-virgins-no-longer/" target="_blank"><strong>Geocaching</strong></a> and Wish Lanterns!  (And a third first is coming for Playdate #50.)

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May all of your wishes come true in 2013.

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Have you ever let go of a wish lantern?

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