This is a guest post from Rebecca Burgener, who strives to introduce the people in her circle to their God-given creativity. Living in Tennessee with her husband and children, Rebecca blogs at Communicate Creativity and plays the editor for Pond Ripples E-zine.

While dinner cooked one evening recently, my children and I took a quick trip to the moon.

Captain Blackie
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It all started with a map of Arkansas. My Mother-in-Law requested an Arkansas vacation guide to dream over. These people were so generous, they sent her two. She gave one to my kids.

As I prepared dinner, I noticed they were quiet. Any parent knows that smells like trouble. I found them with the large map of Arkansas spread out on the floor while they industriously colored out their upcoming route to the moon.

A mama must think on her feet. I considered that I didn’t give them permission to destroy this map, but did we really need a map of Arkansas? True, we could use it to study Arkansas, but we are focusing on learning about the state we live in at the moment. I didn’t foresee a trip to Arkansas in the near future, either. I thought of their perspective. Were they destroying something or stretching their creative muscles? I think I mentioned something about, “Ask next time,” and let their game continue.

Before I knew it, we were strapped into our Living Room Space Ship. When I say we, I mean my three children, the dog, several stuffed animals, all the current imaginary pets and friends, AND me. Little Lady pushed the pink button. Little Man helped everyone (and I mean everyone) with their space helmet and then pushed the fast button.

Blast Off!

Upon landing we all double checked our space helmets and stepped out to explore the dining room, I mean, the moon. Little Man took pictures with my old 110 film camera (my first camera!) as everyone else stood by the American Flag on the moon. Then we consulted the map.

According to our map, we must find buried treasure. Little Lady quickly found an X, but Little Man checked the map and informed us the treasure is under the P. He found the P easily, and we began digging.

Before long, we uncovered a treasure chest full of money. Pirate Money.

Moon Pirates.

We decided it was time to go home. We quickly piled into the space ship with the pirate treasure. Little Lady heard the pirates say, “Arghh! Where’s our treasure?” We sealed up the ship and strapped everyone in. Little Lady pushed the pink button, and Little Man with the help of Captain Blackie pushed the fast button.

Blast Off!

We arrived home just in time to take dinner out of the oven.

Editors note: I thought that this story perfectly demonstrates how an adventure can be had without having to spend a lot of money, make huge plans, or even leave your house! Children are amazing: we should learn to follow their lead more often.