The Hobo in the Gully

Okay, so maybe we aren't the best parents, but Maddie sure had this coming. On the way to Steve's brother's house, we have to go down a big hill (gully) and then back up. Maddie is convinced a hobo lives there because of an ancient rumor that spread in Ashleigh's (cousin) school. So every time we go, Maddie screams about the hobo. When I go at night, I usually slow down and roll down the windows and yell, "Hobo, Maddie's here." 

Anyway, about three months ago, Steve and I were talking with Amy and Cameron. We were discussing the silly girls and I got an idea. I said something like, "What if there was a hobo in the gully one night while we were driving through." Cameron immediately caught on and we all decided it would be a great joke. 

So the perfect night came a couple of weeks ago. The Sabins came over for dessert and Steve and Cameron snuck back to Cameron's house to dress him up. He got a mask and a hoody. Amy and I followed about 30 minutes later with Cara, Maddie and Ashleigh. We told them we were going to see Syd and Dave's new house (aunt and uncle). We didn't even have to set anything up. As soon as we got in the car, Ashleigh started talking about Hobo Hill. Maddie said, "Yah, my mom is going to stop in the bottom and roll down our windows and yell for the hobo." So I rolled down the windows and locked them. They were talking about the hobo the whole way, as evidenced in the video. When I actually pulled over, they started to freak out a little bit. When Cameron came at them, they were terrified, until they heard his roar. Apparently, his roar is identifiable. 

After we scared the girls, we decided to try it out on Sam and Austin (cousin). They were much more cool about it, but even they set themselves up. The windows were down and locked as we pulled out of the driveway. Sam's first comment was, "I don't like the windows being locked in the down position. What if someone wants to throw a tomahawk at me?" When Sam first saw Cameron, he had his back turned. Sam and Austin were scared they ran into some kind of drug deal. Then when Cameron turned around, Sam breathed a sigh of relief cuz he saw the mask and thought some teenager was playing a prank. 

The perfect ending came the next day. When I asked Maddie when she was the most scared all summer she replied, "Probably last night." All the kids agreed it was a great prank and were plotting doing the same to their friends.