The Adventures of the Phillyfab Family

By Mikel Mahoney and Betty Munn Rouse

The Adventures of the Phillyfab Family is a highly imaginative childrens

adventure book for children aged 5 to 10. On the Phillyfabs summer vacation

something out of the ordinary happens at each stop. The familys first surprise

is when Mr. Phillyfab announces to the family that they are going to fly over

Grand Canyon--on the wings of a dinosaur. Later, when stuck in traffic, Mr.

Phillyfab presses a butt on on the dash of their van, and much to the familys

astonishment, the van turns into a flying machine. Sadly, this wonderful van is

destroyed in an earthquake in Alaska; however, to take its place Mr. Phillyfab

rents a Harley with a trailer. With that they head to Zion National Park where

he takes them down a narrow, winding canyon; too narrow for the trailer which

gets stuck. They must spend the night in the canyon. In the morning they wake

up to find themselves being stared at by something very unusual.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456730048

Mikel Mahoney

Betty Rouse is retired and lives on the shore of Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland. Her story of the Phillyfab family is based on her travels and visits to many of our national parks. She takes the Phillyfabs to Grand Canyon where she went rafting down the Colorado River, to Denali National Park where she hiked, and to the Oregon coast where she went deep sea fishing. She enjoys doing volunteer work with young children. She was a Children's Story Hour volunteer for 10 years at the Oakland, Maryland library and for several years she led a children's Great Books program in Rockville, Maryland. Currently she volunteers at local schools and at Head Start, reading and telling stories to children. Betty is on the board of directors for the Garrett County Arts Council where she is responsible for the selection of entries for the literary magazine, Ginseng. Betty also organizes the annual 'Page-to-Stage' evening where local writers share their works with the community. She is a member of a local writers group. Other interests include water skiing, downhill skiing, boating, biking, and white water rafting.

Book preview

Contents

CHAPTER 1 - THE PHILLYFAB FAMILY

CHAPTER 2 - RIDE OVER GRAND CANYON

CHAPTER 3 - RAMBO SAVES MR. PHILLYFAB

CHAPTER 4 - WE’RE GOING TO CRASH!

CHAPTER 5 - MAN OVERBOARD

CHAPTER 6 - MRS. STOUTWAY AND DAD DISAPPEAR

CHAPTER 7 - IMPROMPTU PARADE!

CHAPTER 8 - MUFFY GETS INTO TROUBLE

CHAPTER 9 - MT. ST. HELENS IS SMOKING

CHAPTER 10 - MOTORISTS GET MAD AT MR. PHILLYFAB

CHAPTER 11 - PETRO SAVES THE DAY

CHAPTER 12 - WHAT ARE ZEBRAS AND LIONS DOING IN THE DESERT ?

CHAPTER 13 - BRIGHTON AND HOPPIE’S ADVENTURES--DID IT REALLY HAPPEN?

CHAPTER 1 - THE PHILLYFAB FAMILY

Hey, I’ll race you to the house! Brighton yelled to Hoppie as they got off the school bus.

I wonder what Dad’s come up with for our summer vacation, Hoppie said as she caught up to Brighton. They ran into the kitchen and Hoppie started to drop her backpack to the floor, but she only got one strap loose when she let out a chilling scream and grabbed Brighton.

Brighton stood stiff and whispered, It’ll be OK Hoppie. It’ll be OK.

The man sitting at the kitchen table said, Hey kids, how was your day today? A chill went up Brighton’s spine as he stared at this man. His voice sounded like Dad’s, he was tall and lanky like Dad, but his Dad was BALD with just a tiny fringe of hair around the edges. This man had lots and lots of dark brown hair!

Hoppie grabbed Brighton tighter and nervously whispered, Look, look behind you! Brighton slowly turned around. This was getting really bad! He sucked in air and held his breath. There stood another stranger! The woman was short and stout and wore glasses with bright pink frames like his Mom wore; however, his Mom pulled her hair back tight against her head and wore it in a big round braid. This woman’s hair was very short and all puffed up, and this made her look kind of like their cat, Muffy. Who were these people in their kitchen?

Brighton held Hoppie close and tried hard to sound brave as he again whispered, It’ll be OK, Hoppie.

Then the man at the kitchen table let out a loud laugh and said, Come here kids, it’s me. It’s me! Your old Dad.

D-D-Dad? Brighton stammered.

Well, Mom and I didn’t mean to scare you kids. We just thought we’d surprise you.

Brighton slowly let go of Hoppie and started to relax a bit and said, That was really some surprise, but you ‘bout scared us to death!

Hoppie was so relieved she ran over and gave her Mom a big hug. Mom put her arm around Hoppie and said, Come on Hoppie, sit down at the table. I’ve just taken your favorite cookies out of the oven.

Dad shoved some maps with highlighter marks all over them aside, and said, I was just sitting here planning our summer vacation.

So, where’re we going? Brighton asked, looking over his Dad’s shoulder.

"It’s a surprise, but I will tell you we’re going to be out in the hot sun a lot. This afternoon I was thinking about that sun and my bald head. When your Mom walked by, I noticed all that long, thick hair that comes clear down to her waist when she unbraids it. That’s when this great idea popped into my head.

At first your Mom said, ‘That’s absolutely ridiculous.’ But I soon had her convinced that if she had short hair it would be much cooler and, well, we got out the scissors. I helped your Mom cut her long hair and we saved it in a big towel. Then we got out the crazy glue and your Mom squirted it all over my head and.…presto! Look at my new beautiful head of thick hair. How do I look? Dad asked, as he tossed his head around.

Brighton was beginning to relax and a little mischievous smile started across his face as he said, Looks great, Dad. Just hope no one gets you confused with Stinky. Brighton gave Hoppie a poke and they both started giggling.

They heard scratching at the back door. It was Stinky. The dog had long, shaggy black hair with a strip of white going down the middle of his back. Stinky had been their dog ever since the Phillyfab kids saved his life. One day while ice skating, Brighton and Hoppie had heard yipping and whining coming from a nearby stream. They yanked off their skates and followed the sound. There, in the middle of the stream, was a shivering puppy swimming frantically. Brighton found a large log. He and Hoppie dragged it to the stream and shoved it toward the puppy. Brighton straddled the log and laid on his stomach as he inched his way out to the puppy. Hoppie started to watch but it was too scary so she closed her eyes tight and crossed her fingers on both hands. The puppy was getting tired. He started to sink. Brighton reached into the icy water and grabbed the puppy and tucked him in his jacket. When they got home, Hoppie dried him off and laid him on a blanket in front of a big blazing fire. Brighton brought him some warm milk. The puppy lapped it up and licked Brighton’s hand.

Next the question , Can we keep him? He was not wearing a collar. They put an ad in the local paper but no one claimed him.

What shall we name him? Hoppie asked.

Well, said Brighton, With that white stripe down his back, what do you think? He sort of looks like a skunk. How about Stinky?

Perfect! shouted Hoppie. So his name became Stinky.

This little puppy, now a full grown dog, was scratching on the back door. Hoppie let him in and proudly announced, Meet your new parents. Stinky barked and backed away.

Mr. Phillyfab said, It’s OK Stinky, it’s me. Stinky whined. He crawled on his belly and inched his way to