Staycation, Or Vacation-Chapter one (Uncle Percy family)

Christmas is almost here! I can't believe our winter break is about to start, right after we started going to school. And we're all finally vaccinated. So we can go on a vacation this year! I wonder where we'll go. There are so many places I wanna see. We could go to Goa, or maybe Jeju Island. Jeju would be cold at this time of the year. And we've been t Goa a lot. Like, almost every Christmas vacation starts with the same dialogue. "Let's go to Goa!" "How about heading to Goa for vacation?" "I hear Ariana Grande is staying in the same resort we stay in every time we go to Goa, and I don't wanna miss her. Let's go to Goa!" Do you see? My family is obsessed with Goa. I guess because the visa is easy. Oh well. I wonder where we're going this time. I hope it's somewhere sunny! Aunt's been so excited for a week. She said she'll tell us soon. I hope it's today.

"Okay is everyone here? Maureen, where's Mr Smith? And Max, where's your mom? Oh, she's not coming right now. Alright then, we'll wait. Zack Martin, get down here this instant we are all waiting for you!" We were all at Zack's house, waiting for Ms Martin to tell us where all the adults had planned to head out for vacation this year. We couldn't convince Zack to come down, and Uncle was, of course, missing. Mrs Lavigne was at home looking after Alexandra and Leo. So I guess that's everyone.

"All right," aunt started, "Who can guess where we're going for vacation this year?" "Goa," all of us said with a bored voice. "Nope," the aunt said. "This year's vacation is going to be exotic, and fun. Let me give you a hint. We are going to an island. It's gonna be summer. It's a coastal road trip from one of the biggest cities to the island to the biggest city of the island. And it is three weeks long." "Did you tell them we're going to take a road trip from Melbourne to Sydney yet," the uncle said, running through the door? "WHAT? We're going to Australia," Tamara jumped up. "Oh," uncle stopped short. We all instantly started talking at the same time. Places we wanted to see. The food we wanted to try. Things we wanted to do. "Everyone, quiet. The itinerary is fixed, with all your preferences on the list," Ms Martin said. "Everything is booked, I hope," Aunt said, looking at uncle. "Uh, yeah, everything," Uncle said, nervously looking for his phone. "You didn't book plane tickets did you," Aunt said. "Of course I booked them. Ha, imagine booking all the hotels, the motor home, and all that other expensive stuff, but forgetting to book 14 business class plane tickets to Australia," Uncle said into his phone. "Plane tickets found," we heard Siri's automated voice from the speakers, and project around the room.

After aunt made sure everything was in place, and all our bookings were confirmed, we headed home to pack. The first thing we did was make a list of stuff we needed to carry. "Okay, so it's a three-week trip. There are quite a few beaches on the list, so we'll have to pack at least two swimsuits per person. And it's going to be hot, so we need to find all our summer clothes, which Percy very graciously stuffed up into the attic, in all the suitcases we need for this trip. So we first need to empty all our suitcases, then wash and iron the clothes and put them back in the suitcases. Well. That makes a ton of sense. Okay, what's next? Oh yes, we need something for the new year party and Christmas dinner. Tamara, go help Percy get all the suitcases down, and then get all the clothes out and bring them here. We'll see if there's anything new we need to get. Tamara. Tamara, are you even listening to me?" Tamara looked behind her, confused. Then she asked, "Oh, I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" "Ugh," aunt groaned. "Pepper go get the clothes, please."

Two minutes later, we heard an avalanche coming from above us. We all ran upstairs, to find all the suitcases lying open on the floor right in front of the attic steps. "It's uncle's fault," we heard Peppers voice from under the heap of clothes. "Oh my god," aunt yelled out. "Are my suitcases okay?" "Yeah, I don't have any worth in this house, do I," Pepper said. "Oh come on your fine. You just fell down the ladder. Brush of the dust and you're good," Uncle said. "Percy how could you do this to my angle," Aunt said. Pepper smiled. "What if the wheel of the suitcase broke, then how would we use it?" "Your suitcases mean more than me," Pepper said, incredulously. "Would you two shut up? We obviously need to buy new suitcases, and clothes," Tamara said.

We went on fighting for a while, and then agreed on the fact that we needed new clothes, and, much to aunt's annoyance, new suitcases. We started at Kohl's, then Macy's, then J C Penny. After three hours of shopping, we finally had everything we needed. Well, almost everything. Aunt sent uncle to buy suitcases. He still hadn't come back. And his phone was with us. Wow, right?

Once we found my uncle, who was by then at dairy queen, buying ice cream in the winter, we headed home and started packing. Once that was out of the way, we decided to have dinner and just go to sleep. We needed to up really early tomorrow. The flight was at 6, which meant we needed to be out by 3. Funny, that's when I and Tamara normally go to sleep. Oh well, it is what it is.

To be continued