The Hemsath Alteregos
Watermelon Belly (me), Banana Face (Kanan), Strawberry Head (James), Cherry Buns (Ben), and Apple Brain (Owen). Peach Cheeks will be coming soon. 🙂

Tonight, my son Jameson took me by the hand and walked me to his bedroom, and asked me to tell him a story before bed. How could I resist? We have a running series of stories that we like to tell which are essentially about us, but use alter egos in order to make it fun and add a bit of magic to the story.

This was the story I told tonight:

Once upon a time there were three little boys named Banana Face, Strawberry Head, and Cherry Buns and they lived with their dad, Apple Brain, and mom, Watermelon Belly.

One of the things the boys loved to do was in the evening time–when Mom and Dad would make dinner, they’d go outside and jump on their trampoline. And they would jump so high, they’d fly high into the sky and visit the stars and the moon. Then right before dinner was ready, they’d fly back down, land on the trampoline, and come inside to eat a warm meal with their mom and dad, keeping their adventures a secret.

One day, when the boys were out flying in the sky and visiting the moon, Apple Brain and Watermelon Belly went outside to watch the boys jump.But when they went out there, they didn’t see them. They were gone.

They looked around all outside, calling “Strawberry Head, Banana Face, Cherry Buns, where are you?”

They looked all around inside, calling their names again.

But they could not find them.

Apple Brain and Watermelon were very sad. They started to cry.

Just then, Strawberry Head, Banana Face, and Cherry Buns landed on their trampoline and came inside to eat dinner.

“Here we are Mommy and Daddy!” They called.

“Where were you boys?” their parents asked, “We couldn’t find you and we were very scared.”

“We went and visited the moon!” They exclaimed! “Sorry we didn’t tell you.”

“Boys, you have to tell us when you want to visit the moon, so we know where you are and so we can make sure you are safe. You can’t just leave without telling us. It’s just not safe.”

“Ok, Mommy and Daddy.” They said with heads down.

So the next day when Watermelon Belly and Apple Brain were about to make dinner, Banana Face, Strawberry Head, and Cherry Buns asked if they could go visit the moon.

“Sure,” they said, “but that sounds like so much fun, we’d like to go with you too.”

“You want to go with us?” They asked, jumping with glee.

So the whole family went out, climbed into the trampoline and started jumping.

They jumped higher and higher and higher until all 5 of them, Apple Brain, Watermelon Belly, Banana Face, Strawberry Head, and Cherry Buns were flying in the sky, on their way to the moon.

And when they landed, they all put their feet on the dirt floor of the moon and left their foot prints. And you can still see their footprints to this day.

I then asked Jameson if he wanted to go look at the moon and see if we could find our footprints. He eagerly nodded his head. So we held hands and walked outside. I picked him up and held him high enough to peer through the branches of the big tree in our backyard where the moon hung. It was a crescent moon tonight. And the man in the moon stood on the glowing right side. I asked him if he could see our footprints their in the dark patch. He smiled broadly and nodded yes.

Then we went back inside. He kissed his dad goodnight and went to his room, ready for prayers and snuggles, and sweet dreams.

It was a great end to a great day.

Thought I’d share.

Maybe one day, I’ll write some children’s books about all of our adventures. More will surely come, especially when Watermelon Belly has the fourth baby, Peach Cheeks.