The Amazing Race... Your Way!

*First things first!* A WINNER has been chosen for our GIVEAWAY! YAY! Don't forget to check out the previous post to find out if it's YOU!

Although I'd never seen the show, I now know why The Amazing Race is such a popular hit... it's WAY FUN! This date is totally perfect for groups! Obviously there are a million variations you could choose, so twist and tweak things to fit you and your friends, your location, and your favorite places to play!

Our Amazing Race consisted of a host couple and four competing couples at one of the happiest places on earth - the mall!

Where else to start a good date, but where the food is! We all met in the food court for dinner together. At the signal of our host couple, we each ran off to buy our choice of grub. YUM! At the end of the meal, we handed out packets containing four clues, each with a task. (Prior to the date each couple came up with a clue to one destination and a task to be completed at that stop.) Thanks for compiling our clues beforehand, Corie! She typed them up and slipped them into a small envelope decorated with scrapbooking paper... CUTE!

Our Clues

You can download them here! However, depending on where you live, what your resources are, and the personalities you have competing, every date can easily adapt to stops, clues and tasks tailored to you, so use your imagination! Choose a stop that has an "inside joke" meaning to you and your Mr... or a stop that will just make everyone laugh. The clues and tasks shouldn't be too hard, and to prove that you completed each stop, just bring your digital camera, snap pictures along the way and then swap cameras at the end of the night to really get a good laugh at each other.

We also handed out the one extra thing we each provided for the date as well such as a water bottle for each participant, a granola bar, and a "power pellet" candy band... yeah, ok, I admit it was just a candy necklace, but even the little extras can make it more fun for everyone!

With that, we were off! Each couple's clues were in a different order
so we all headed in opposite directions.

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Our first stop? Build-a-Bear Workshop, baby! The task was to tell or read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" story to someone.


RUN! Stop#2? Barnes and Nobles, where we needed to find a book written by an author with our same first name. (Like this stop? Did you see THIS date?!)


Stop #3 - The Apple store, where we snapped pictures of ourselves with the new iPhone...


...and the movie theater (Stop #4), where we were supposed to sing each other a love song!

Believe me, there is a lot of laughing going on at this point! There was also a twist on how to get to each destination. The "how" directions were on the clue cards. One stop required you to link pinkies all the way there, another to skip at least part way, etc.

The last "to-do" on the list was to all meet at the mall fountain and run up and down the stairs holding hands. Oh! And team shirts! Ours say "Got Husband?" and "Got Wife?" Of course, they don't have to be like ours - just a team color works great! For a look at how to do your own iron-on transfer shirts, check out Tara's description when she did it for this awesome LOST date!

We actually all reached the end at different times, and the winners' prize was good ol' fashioned bragging rights! To end the night we all enjoyed ice cream together. YUM!

This date can totally be done easily by a BIGGER group and the possibilities are endless. Challenge your friends to an Amazing Race today!