Brooke Keith's blog

I remember when my friend Karen took her youngest son camping for the first time. I wasn't there, but I remember so well because it went so badly. The day, well, the day was fun. The day brought fishing trips with his Daddy, flower hunting with his mommy and even scavenger hunting with his big sister . . . but nighttime, now that was a horse of a different color.

I've always been a creative parent. Chalk it up to a childhood with little money to spend on anything but imagination or call it all a product of never quite growing up.

I still remember the first time we took our youngest son camping. He had just turned the "fantastic four", no bigger than the weeds that overtook the backyard garden. You know, that brilliant age between being mommy's little man hiding behind the shadows of her skirt tail and being an ends-of-the-earth explorer, heart set on discovering all that the world had to offer.

There's one thing to be said about camping and fireside snuggles, they go hand and hand like chocolate and marshmallows squished between a graham cracker. And while I love a good old fashioned sing-along as much as the next girl, I much prefer more creative ways of enjoying the cozy glow of the campfire.

As a fellow parent, I know what it is like to have to squeeze a dime out of a penny. You save and save and save all in anticipation of the trip of a lifetime. Then, the moment of truth comes; you have to choose between the romantic getaway fireplace-side where sparks fly wildly and the family camping trip where you try desperately to keep your danger-loving eight year old away from sparks campfire-side.