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I found out the reason Mom took us to the water park today: It was half-price for families. Unfortunately, it looked like just about every family in the state was there, too. When we got through the gates, Mom rented a stroller for Manny. I convinced her to spend a little more money and rent a double stroller, because I knew it was gonna be a long day and I wanted to conserve my energy.

Mom parked the stroller near the wave pool, which was so crowded you could barely even see the water. After we put on our sunscreen and found a place to sit, I felt a few raindrops, and then I heard thunder. Then an announcement came over the loudspeaker. DUE TO LIGHTNING, THE SLIPSLIDE WATER PARK IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR COMING, AND HAVE A NICE DAY. Everyone hit the exits and got in their cars. But with all the people trying to leave at the exact same time,

it was a total traffic jam. Manny tried to entertain everyone by telling jokes. At first Mom and Dad were encouraging him. KNOCK KNOCK. WHO'S THERE? YOUR UNDERWEAR. GOOD ONE, MANNY! But after a while, Manny's jokes didn't even make sense.

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE. FIVE NAMED CLIVE. We were low on gas, so we had to turn off the air conditioner and wait for the parking lot to clear up. Mom said she had a headache, and she went to the back to lie down. An hour later traffic finally thinned out, and we got onto the highway. We stopped for gas, and about forty-five minutes later we were home. Dad told me to wake Mom up, but when I looked in the back of the station wagon, Mom wasn't there.

For a few minutes nobody knew where she went. Then we realized the only place she could be was at the gas station. She must've gotten out to use the bathroom when we stopped, and nobody noticed. Sure enough, that's where she was. We were glad to see her, but I don't think she was too happy to see US. OOPS. Mom didn't really say anything on the ride back. Something tells me she's had her fill of family togetherness for a while, and that's good, because I have, too. Sunday.

I really wish we didn't go on that trip yesterday, because if we stayed home, my fish would still be alive. Before we left for our trip I fed my fish, and Mom said I should feed Rodrick's fish, too. Rodrick's fish was in a bowl on top of the refrigerator, and I'm pretty sure Rodrick hadn't fed his fish or cleaned the bowl once. I think Rodrick's fish was living off of the algae growing on the glass. When Mom saw Rodrick's bowl, she thought it was disgusting. So she took his fish and put it in my bowl.