0:00

Hi, friends,

0:05

and welcome to

0:07

the Sparkle

0:30

Stories podcast. This is

0:32

Elizabeth of Sparkle Stories. A

0:35

couple of weeks ago, our theme was all about

0:37

getting outside. And I mean, it's winter here, so

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I'm talking about getting outside in winter because it's

0:42

so important to spend time outside. But

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you know what? There are really some days

0:46

when it's hard to be outside. The weather

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is so harsh, or for

0:51

whatever reason, you have to be

0:53

inside a lot of the time.

0:55

And so this week, I have

0:57

pulled together all of our best

0:59

projects and stories for inside fun.

1:01

So on the podcast today, I've

1:03

picked one of my all-time favorite stories.

1:06

It's called Living Room Camping. It comes

1:08

from the At Home with Martin and

1:10

Sylvia Collection. And in the story,

1:13

the brother and sister are stuck inside. It's

1:16

winter. Actually, I think this

1:18

story is autumn, but either way, the weather

1:20

is mucky, and they're stuck

1:22

inside, and they are missing summertime. They

1:25

are missing the easy play and the summer

1:27

adventures, and they start to think about camping.

1:30

And their dad says,

1:33

you can still go camping.

1:35

You can go living

1:37

room camping. And if

1:39

you know Martin and Sylvia, you

1:41

can only imagine that they jump

1:43

straight to it. So

1:46

the story you're just about

1:49

to listen to is a

1:51

part of our giant library

1:53

of original audio stories. We

1:55

have almost 1,500 original stories

1:57

here at Sparkle Stories. That's

1:59

a lot. a lot of really

2:01

sweet stories, and you

2:03

can enjoy them all for free

2:06

for a week. All you have

2:08

to do is go to sparklestories.com, click the

2:10

button at the top that says start free

2:12

trial, and then you can listen to as

2:14

much as you like anytime

2:16

you like. Okay,

2:19

listen in and find out all about

2:21

Martin and Sylvia's living room camping adventures

2:24

with the story, Living Room Camping,

2:26

from the At Home with Martin

2:28

and Sylvia collection. Enjoy.

2:48

Martin and Sylvia live in a

2:51

tall house with lots of windows.

2:54

From their second story loft bedroom,

2:57

they can see their entire backyard with

3:00

the tall maple and oak trees

3:02

on one side and the

3:04

horse fence that borders the browns

3:06

farm on the other. It

3:09

was autumn where Martin and Sylvia live,

3:13

and it was starting to get rather

3:15

cold outside. The trees

3:17

had lost all their leaves and

3:19

brother and sister could see their

3:21

breath when they went outside to

3:23

play. They

3:25

needed to wear thick jackets and

3:27

hats and mittens now, almost

3:30

like it was wintertime, but there

3:33

was no snow. This

3:36

sometimes made for confusing outside

3:38

play, and brother and sister

3:40

often came back inside to

3:42

read books or build things with

3:45

blocks by their wood stove. I'm

3:49

excited about snow, said

3:51

Martin one morning, but

3:53

I kind of miss summer a

3:55

little bit. Me

3:57

too, said Sylvia. I

3:59

like it. like summertime things.

4:02

"'Tell me some of the

4:04

things you miss about summertime,' said

4:07

Mama as she scrambled up some

4:09

eggs for breakfast. "'Trips

4:11

to the beach,' said Martin. "'Playing

4:14

in shorts and T-shirts,'

4:17

said Sylvia. "'Baseball,'

4:19

said Martin. "'Picking

4:22

flowers in the garden,' said

4:24

Sylvia. "'And camping,' said

4:26

Martin. "'We didn't do

4:28

much camping this year.' "'I

4:31

wish we could still go camping,'

4:33

added Sylvia. "'I

4:36

have a friend that goes camping all year

4:38

long,' said Daddy, coming out

4:40

of the bedroom with his work

4:42

clothes on. "'He has

4:44

a special tent that he takes out in

4:46

the fall and even in the winter. Camps

4:49

in the snow.' "'Really?'

4:52

asked Sylvia. "'Doesn't he

4:54

get cold?' "'He

4:57

has the right equipment so that

4:59

he's warm enough,' answered Daddy. "'A

5:01

special sleeping bag and especially

5:04

warm clothes.' "'Could

5:07

we do that?' asked Martin, hopefully.

5:11

"'Mmm, we don't have the right

5:13

things for winter camping,' said Daddy. "'We

5:16

would probably get pretty cold.'

5:19

Martin was disappointed. "'I

5:22

really want to go camping,' he said quietly.

5:26

"'You can go camping,' said Daddy,

5:28

matter-of-factly. "'But you

5:30

just said we didn't have the right things,' said

5:33

Martin with a confused look. "'Well,

5:36

to camp outside, but we

5:38

do have the right things to camp inside,'

5:42

he said with his eyebrows raised. "'Inside

5:46

camping?' asked Sylvia

5:48

with wide eyes. "'Inside

5:51

camping,' answered Daddy. "'It's

5:54

just like camping outside, but you

5:56

are, well, inside.

6:00

That is, you can't use any electricity and

6:02

you can't sleep in a bed. When

6:05

the sun sets, you need to use

6:07

flashlights and candles, and all your dinner

6:09

needs to be cooked over the wood

6:11

stove. At

6:14

that idea Mama made a, I'm

6:16

not sure about that face. Daddy

6:19

looked at her and then said, we could

6:22

try. There's always sandwiches.

6:26

I want to camp in

6:28

the living room, said Sylvia.

6:30

Yeah, agreed Martin. We

6:32

could get our sleeping bags and mats and

6:34

sleep on the floor. And

6:36

I get a flashlight, said Sylvia,

6:38

getting up to fetch one from

6:40

the basement door. Me

6:42

too, said Martin, standing up as well.

6:46

Let's have some breakfast first, said

6:48

Mama, placing two plates on

6:50

the kitchen counter, and then

6:52

we can start planning. Daddy

6:56

had his breakfast and

6:58

then headed off to work while Mama

7:00

got morning lesson ready for the day.

7:03

Aside from practicing letters and

7:06

numbers, she had both

7:08

brother and sister make drawings of

7:10

all the things they might need

7:12

for camping. Martin

7:14

even wrote out some of the words. When

7:18

they were finished, they knew what they

7:20

needed to collect and promptly got

7:22

to work. Martin

7:25

pulled out the mats and

7:27

bags and pillows while Sylvia

7:29

found the flashlights, candle, lanterns,

7:31

and headlamps. Then

7:34

they focused on food and water.

7:38

Sylvia filled three water bottles

7:40

and one bucket for washing

7:42

hands and brushing teeth. Martin

7:45

gathered different camping type foods from

7:47

the pantry like nuts

7:50

and raisins and sliced

7:52

bread they could toast over the

7:54

fire. And then he thought of

7:57

maybe bringing some cheese. Can

8:00

I get the cooler?" he asked Mama. Oh,

8:03

I think it's fine to use the refrigerator," she

8:05

said, nodding her head. But

8:08

living room camping doesn't use

8:11

electricity, reminded Martin. So

8:13

I should probably get the cooler." Good

8:17

point, said Mama, raising her eyebrows.

8:20

Then Martin marched into the basement

8:22

to retrieve the cooler. When

8:25

he returned, he and Sylvia

8:27

lined the bottom of it with

8:30

Ziploc bags of ice to keep

8:32

it cool until dinner time. Then

8:36

Martin put cheese and some

8:38

milk and eggs and

8:40

some breakfast sausage for breakfast

8:42

inside and closed the lid.

8:46

"'I'm going to bring this to our

8:48

campsite,' he told Mama, and

8:50

then picked the whole thing up

8:52

himself and carried it to the couch.

8:56

"'You're strong,' said

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Sylvia, impressed. "'Yeah,'

9:01

said Martin, brushing his

9:03

hands and breathing out proudly.

9:06

"'Phew! Now I'm

9:08

going to move the couch. I'll

9:11

help,' said Sylvia. And

9:14

then brother and sister grunted and

9:16

groaned as they shifted

9:18

the big couch bit by

9:20

bit back a

9:22

few feet to make room for the

9:25

camping mats. "'There,' said

9:27

Martin, brushing his hands again. They

9:31

went to consult their list and

9:34

noted they had all the essentials and

9:37

now could collect fun things like

9:40

camping books and games and snuggly

9:43

friends. Sylvia

9:45

decided on bringing Lion and

9:47

Doggie with her while Martin

9:50

was satisfied with Squirrely as

9:52

his snuggle buddy. Martin

9:55

also gathered a pile of books and a

9:57

deck of cards in case they wanted to

9:59

pay play go fish. Pretty

10:02

good, said Sylvia, brushing

10:05

her hands and standing tall.

10:09

Now, this is the

10:11

camping ground, she added delightfully.

10:15

And our house is the

10:17

forest. Then

10:19

Sylvia had an idea. I

10:22

like to build fairy houses when

10:24

we go camping, so I'm going

10:26

to use the blocks and things

10:29

to make fairy houses all over

10:31

the house. I

10:34

want to do that too, said

10:36

Martin, leaning his pile of books

10:38

against the couch. So

10:41

for the next hour, brother and

10:43

sister used some wooden

10:45

blocks, some magazines,

10:47

some potted plants, some

10:50

stuffed animals, and some Lincoln

10:52

log pieces to build

10:55

beautiful fairy houses in every

10:57

room. This

11:00

one is for music

11:02

fairies, said Sylvia, pointing

11:05

to the house she made next

11:07

to the music box in their

11:09

room. Its construction

11:11

included two recorders and

11:13

a harmonica. This

11:16

one's for the cooking gnomes, said

11:18

Martin, who built a fairy house

11:20

in the spice rack, made

11:23

of little cinnamon sticks and

11:25

bendy straws. And

11:28

this one is for living

11:31

room camping elves, said

11:33

Sylvia, who will keep

11:35

us safe and warm. She

11:38

pointed to a little gathering of

11:40

wood slivers and a few dried

11:42

leaves she had woven together at

11:44

the bottom of the wood pile.

11:49

Let's carefully add another log to the fire,

11:51

said Mama, so we can

11:53

get the stove nice and hot to heat

11:55

up our lunch. Martin

11:59

opened the window. wood stove the way Mama

12:01

and Daddy showed him to. Then

12:03

he carefully added a length

12:05

of firewood and closed the

12:08

door. What's for

12:10

lunch, Mama? he asked, brushing his

12:12

hands again. He was feeling very

12:14

capable in that moment. Camping

12:18

veggie stew, said Mama. We'll

12:20

use the camping pots you pulled out and

12:22

heated on the wood stove. This

12:26

delighted Martin and Sylvia. They

12:28

watched Mama pour the stew

12:30

out and then place the

12:32

pot on the stove. It

12:35

seemed to take a while to heat up.

12:38

But then it suddenly started boiling and

12:41

Mama had to take it off the stove

12:43

with an oven mitt. That

12:46

is wood stove cooking for you, said

12:48

Mama. Not much heat and then

12:50

suddenly lots of heat. You need

12:52

to watch closely when cooking on a wood

12:55

stove. They

12:57

ate sitting on the floor by the stove

13:00

and even though there were

13:02

parts of the stew that were still

13:04

a little bit cool, they

13:06

didn't mind. The excitement made

13:08

the stew taste extra good.

13:12

After lunch, brother and sister had some

13:15

quiet time, reading books in

13:17

their sleeping bags and

13:19

Sylvia even had a little snooze.

13:22

When Daddy came home, they both

13:24

gave him a report and a tour,

13:26

showing him what they had prepared and

13:29

showing him the wilderness all around

13:31

them. Then they

13:34

reminded him that he could not

13:36

use any lights or electricity. So

13:39

your tea has to be made on

13:41

the stove, said Martin, and

13:44

toast, too, and all

13:47

the things, added Sylvia. Wow,

13:50

this is really camping, said Daddy,

13:53

smiling at Mama, who raised her

13:55

eyebrows back at him. It

13:59

became over-poured. Overcast outside that afternoon. So

14:01

the house was a little dim for

14:03

the rest of the day Sylvia

14:07

and mama lit candles and put

14:09

them on the dining room table

14:11

and the kitchen counter and the bathroom sink

14:14

Which gave the house a magical

14:17

feel Daddy

14:19

read a recipe for dinner using

14:21

a camping lantern and

14:24

only used camping cookware and

14:26

Knives and bowls that brother and sister

14:28

pulled out When

14:31

he was ready he announced tonight

14:34

we are having campfire cook

14:36

bread and sausage patties for

14:38

dinner and Baked

14:40

apples with cinnamon date oat

14:43

nut stuffing for dessert. Oh

14:48

Yum said Martin and Sylvia Now

14:51

you know that cooking on a wood stove

14:54

is very different than a regular stove advised

14:56

mama Of course said

14:58

daddy smiling, but this

15:00

is how people used to cook for hundreds of

15:02

years. So we'll figure it out Of

15:06

course said mama taking a

15:08

deep breath in Daddy

15:12

put two pans on top of the

15:14

wood stove One with

15:16

the cornbread mix and the

15:18

other with the sausage It

15:20

wasn't long before the sausage started

15:23

to sizzle It filled

15:25

the living room with a

15:27

savory smell and Martin and

15:29

Sylvia sat in their sleeping

15:31

bags Smelling at the site

15:35

then Everyone smelled a

15:38

burning smell and daddy

15:40

quickly removed the cornbread. Ooh He

15:44

said bringing the pan to the outside

15:47

door the bottom of the

15:49

pan burned. I'll be right back Mama

15:52

looked after the sausage and

15:54

then daddy came back inside without

15:56

the pan Let's

15:59

have toast with the sausage,"

16:01

he suggested happily. Good

16:03

idea, said Mama, smiling at him.

16:06

But no toaster, said Sylvia.

16:08

You have to toast it

16:10

on the fire. Right,

16:14

said Daddy, grabbing the tongs. Toasting

16:18

the bread worked pretty well, and

16:20

though it was a bit uneven, no

16:22

one cared. They ate it

16:25

with sausage and salad, sitting

16:27

on the floor and leaning on

16:29

the couch. It

16:31

was now dark outside, and

16:33

their faces were lit by a

16:35

combination of candles and wood fire.

16:39

Mama and Daddy came up with a

16:41

plan to bake the apples by wrapping

16:44

them in foil and then placing

16:46

them in an iron Dutch oven

16:48

baking dish. They

16:50

placed the dish on the stove, and

16:53

it seemed to work, filling the

16:55

room with a delicious smell of

16:57

cinnamon and apple and roasting

17:00

nuts. By

17:02

the time the apples were cooked, Brother

17:05

and Sister were yawning and excited

17:07

to crawl back into their sleeping

17:09

bags. They

17:11

unwrapped the apples to let them cool

17:13

and all marveled at

17:16

how well the baking worked. Daddy

17:19

told them a campfire story about

17:22

a brother and sister who raced

17:24

a deer and a bear and a

17:26

fox all the way around the world,

17:29

and were only able to win the

17:31

race by helping each other as well

17:34

as all the other animals as they

17:36

ran. Between

17:39

the warm flickering light, the

17:42

sweet comforting taste of the baked

17:44

apples, and the

17:46

soothing sound of Daddy's voice, Martin

17:48

and Sylvia were barely able

17:51

to keep their eyes open as

17:53

he finished the story. They

17:56

slowly brushed their teeth and Slid

17:59

into the room. They're sleeping bags while

18:01

mama saying them a sweet lullaby

18:03

that they hadn't heard in a

18:06

long time. About. A train

18:08

car. Going. To Morning Town.

18:12

Then. Mama and Daddy kissed them

18:14

lightly on their heads. And

18:16

went into the bedroom. Leaving.

18:19

Brother and sister. To. Lie on

18:21

the living room rug. Looking.

18:23

At the flickering light of the wood

18:25

stove fire. And listening.

18:28

To. The refrigerator softly hum in

18:30

the kitchen. And. A hot

18:32

water heater, Gurgle. Gently

18:34

in the basement. A.

18:36

Wild sounds. Of

18:39

living room camping. If

18:43

you enjoyed that story, there are

18:45

hundreds and hundreds more in the

18:47

Sparkle Stories library. You can listen

18:49

to them all for free with

18:51

a Sparkle subscription for to go

18:53

to Sparkle stories.com and click the

18:55

button that the top the says

18:57

start free Trial and you can

19:00

jump right into a giant library

19:02

you can listen to as much

19:04

as you waste any you like.

19:15

This. Has been an original

19:18

story by Sparkle Stories of

19:20

Sparkle stories.com. Copyright.

19:23

Twenty Twenty Four. All

19:25

rights reserved. We. Hope.

19:27

You enjoyed it.