My favorite camping trip

by Nicole
(Paragould, Arkansas)

When my children were young, we'd always take them camping every summer in the Ozark Mountains. We'd roast marshmallows and hotdogs and tell spooky stories once the sun went down.

The children would cuddle up to us and scream as the scary parts were read, usually with a flashlight being held under our faces for more effect. As the kids got older, they stopped being frightened by our tales of men with hooks for hands, giant grizzly bears, ghosts, and spirits that inhabited the lands we were camping on.

When my daughter was about 12 we went camping, and being the age that she was, she didn't even want to sit around and listen to the ghost stories. Her younger brother convinced her to stay, and as her father was telling a story about a ghost that lived in the woods, I sneaked away to "get more marshmallows."

I dawdled in the woods, and when the story got to the scariest part, I leapt up behind my daughter and grabbed her by the shoulders. She screamed louder than I've ever heard her scream, and after her anger subsided she laughed until her stomach hurt!

It was a great family bonding experience, and taught her that she's never too old to have fun with her family!