Last Christmas, I bought Addie a set of five Scooby-Doo Action Figures – the whole “Mystery Inc.” Gang. Oddly enough, in the six months since those figures arrived here at Rock Father HQ, we’ve been finding that somehow one of them keeps going missing. We’re not sure how or why it’s always her, but Velma Dinkley disappears about 33% of the time. Yes, it’s a certified mystery, and one that needs solving… often under the cover of darkness. With that in mind, I set out to score some bright headlights that would help us in our next search, as Addie tends to run around the backyard like the Energizer Bunny when she can’t find something. “It’s lost forever!,” the almost-four-year-old will tell me. No. No, it’s not.
I went out to Walmart and bought two Energizer Headlights – one for each of us. For me, I went with the “Bright Beam” Trailfinder, a powerful unit with 70 lumens of output, and a whopping 250 ft range. For the little one, the basic LED Headlight did the trick. At only 8 lumens, it’s not the brightest Headlight available, but for a kid it’s fantastic – and she loves it… for many reasons beyond hunting for lost toys.
As for this pesky Velma, let me give you a little background on her last two adventures…
The first time, Velma disappeared for nearly six weeks. We looked everywhere for her – and multiple times at that. When she finally surfaced, she was hanging out in a desolate nook of the couch – one that we only see when we take the cushions out for some deep-cleaning. She was back for only about a week before she took off again.
After playing outside in the front yard with my two girls and a few of the neighbor kids, we thought that Velma hitched a ride to stay at someone else’s house for awhile. In one of the most bizarre moments in recent memory, we returned home one day to find her sitting on our porch. How did she get there? We’d later find out that the next door neighbor was mowing his lawn when he spotted the young lady lounging in the grass. But this time?
Time to strap-on, light-up, and find out…
We headed out into the backyard well after dark. I switched-on my “Night Vision” (it’s red) for no other reason than it looks cool. Addie has “creeping” down pat – it’s an art form, and she’s mastered it. While we weren’t having any luck locating Velma, we did attract the attention of the next door neighbors, who apparently thought some E.T.-style action was taking place near our shed.
Our beams had managed to infiltrate our neighbor’s kitchen window – through their blinds (keep in mind, my Headlight has a 250ft range!) – and they were now peeking out at us. I sent them a text to let them know that the coast was clear, but switched over to spotlight mode for further searching.
After our journey took us back inside, a truth became quite apparent: you always find things in the last place you look, and for us, that’s usually under the couch, or in this case… Baby Finley’s Pack-N-Play…
Velma Dinkley was back under our control!
With summer now officially here, I know we’ll be having more nighttime adventures outside and that our Energizer Headlights will come in handy… well, actually – they’re hands-free, which I why I dig ’em. I’m usually rockin’ it with two little ones in-tow, so having a Headlight is a bonus – I feel like Inspector Gadget or something, and it’s awesome. More adventures to be had. More mysteries to be solved. And I know that at some point soon, I’ll need to take a peek into our attic, which is a scary place, and one where I’ll need my Headlight to #LightMyWay.
Have you ever rocked a Headlight? Share your stories with me below…
