By Hilarie | Uncategorized

What kind of adventures are you having this summer? Wherever life takes you, seize opportunities to do memorable things and make priceless memories with those you love. As you know, the days of family life may be long, but the years are definitely short. Don't sweat the small stuff. Each day is what we make of it... so make it great!

big big adventure family travel

GoApe had advertised a youth writing contest, and our little author was all in! As soon as we were back to our hotel, she went to work on her adventure story and finished it the next day. It was so interesting to see how our travels and adventures and memory-making experiences inspired her writing... and I was caught off guard by the plot twist near the end!

You can read her composition below... and if you'd like more of Little Sister's writing and unique brand of sunshine, check out her ebook to help families play and make memories together: The How to Be Silly book.


"No!!" Richard had not meant what he said, the words were just coming out like lava and now he was being taken away by Beefeaters. He had said, "That's your dress? It's totally out of style, you know. I mean, who wears plaid with polka dots?" to the queen and here he was. The Beefeaters took him through beautiful ballrooms and dining rooms. He had never been in Buckingham Palace before. The Beefeaters dragged him to a beautiful throne room. Golden chandeliers draped the room. Gilded frames of beautiful kings and queens in lots of jewels and accessories filled the walls.

Queen Elizabeth was in the throne ahead of Richard looking very angry. “Richard David Scotts,” she said, “You are hereby declared as an official servant of the Queen.”

“What?!?” Richard was sent to his room, which was quite big, a nice big bed. Boxes were delivered so he could situate himself. He had an office with a mini fridge and snacks inside it. By his bed was a nightstand with an old-fashioned alarm clock, a lamp, Ipod, Ipad, phone, tablet, Kindle, Chromebook, earbuds, and a brand new water bottle.

Richard decided to run away. He grabbed a backpack lying down on the floor. He grabbed a lot of snacks, all his electronics, clean clothes and a bunch of other stuff. That night, when no one was around, he snuck out.

When he was a few miles away, he built a fire and laid out a sleeping bag he had found in the closet of his bedroom. Then we went on his phone and dialed his Mom. “Oh Richy, I’ve been worried sick about you!!”

“Mom, I need you to pick me up tomorrow at 9:00 at the Big Ben.”

“Okay, honeybunches, see you then.”

The next morning, Richard woke up at 7:30 by his alarm clock, packed up camp and set off. A few minutes after, he saw a sidewinder snake slithering towards him. Its bloodthirsty fangs jammed straight toward his legs, and bit! The pain was rising and he couldn’t walk.

His mother finally found him. After a surgery, he was okay, and he went home.

And Richard never, ever was rude to the Queen again.