"FAMILY MEETING! FAMILY MEETING!" Nigel and Kyle chanted as they danced down the upstairs hall, doing a little jig as they pounded on their sibling's bedroom doors. "Get up off your lazy butts!" Kyle yelled, a yellow bucket placed loosely on his head. "And come downstairs!" Nigel finished and the two twins giggled at their antics.

"Calm down, no need to scream at us. We're up." Henry rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he walked from his room. Then, he picked up Kyle and Nigel and carried them like sacks of potatoes on his shoulders down the stairs.

Kyle and Nigel laughed and pounded their chubby fists against Henry's back.

"Let us go!" Nigel giggled.

"Never!" Henry laughed maniacally and ran down the hall to the dining room.

"Henry, put the poor twins down and act like your age." Lorraine, who had come home from college for the holidays, stood at the top of the stairs with a toothbrush in her hand.

"Oh come on, I was only having a little fun." Henry put the kids down and ruffled their hair, to which they responded by escaping from his reach and running away. "Fun spoiler." He stuck his tongue out at Lorraine, who returned it.

Sarah walked out of her room like a zombie, her brown hair sticking up every which way. "Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Lorraine smirked and tried to smoothen out her sister's hair. Sarah swatted at the girl's hand. "Not in the mood." She grumbled.

"Awww, did little Sarah not have her proper beauty sleep?" Jake appeared from his room as he asked his 14 year older sister mockingly.

"Shut up and leave me alone." She retorted and stomped down the stairs leaving the other two to follow.

"Alright, listen up." Tom had gathered his family around the dining table and was now standing next to his wife, Kate, holding hands with her. The kids quieted down at the sound of their father's voice.

"You all remember Lake Winnetka, right?" The father received many 'yes's and nods of the head.

"Well guess what? Your mother and I decided that we're going back there this summer!" He raised his hands triumphantly, and when he heard no cheers he looked expectantly at his children. They looked at each other with troubled looks on their faces.

Kate sensed something was wrong and frowned. "Guys, what's wrong? I thought you'd be thrilled about the news!" Their mother asked them. The children fidgeted in their seats uncomfortably.

"It's not that we aren't, mom," Lorraine spoke up.

"Yeah, we are!" Kim piped up.

"I think that everyone feels that the Murtaugh children might have moved on from us, and changed for the worse. You know, with living with that old, stuck-up father they have, who wouldn't?" Kim's twin, Jessica, finished for her.

Tom sighed. "Hey, you know he's changed! After the Labor Day Race, he loosened up a lot. And I bet his children would've stuck up for themselves if he didn't, just like they did on that same day." He reminded his children.

"How can you be sure?" Mark asked worriedly. He missed his partner-in-crime Kenneth. They had always been getting into trouble together the day they met. Not that Mark particularly liked being a troublemaker, Kenneth was his friend. And he didn't have a whole lot of friends at his new school. What if Kenneth had changed? Then he would have nobody.

Tom smiled at his son. "Don't worry, I just know. The Murtaughs will love seeing you again! Come on, how can you know whether or not they've changed if you don't go and find out?" He asked his children, who all murmured agreement or shrugged.

"When are we leaving, and how long will we be there?" Sarah asked quietly, a small tinge of hope was edged into her voice. She was thinking about someone in particular, and she hoped that nobody had heard how her voice was a bit higher than usual.

"We'll leave next Thursday, which gives you less than a week to get packed and ready. And for how long we'll be staying… Well, we're actually staying for the whole summer." Tom said, a bit nervous. He hoped it wasn't too much for his kids to ask for their whole entire summer. "All summer?" Kyle and Nigel chorused together as their eyes widened excitedly. Everyone started to buzz in excitement; only a few were complaining.

"Are you serious, dad?" Lorraine yelled over the noise, looking at her mother and father with an incredulous look. "You can't expect me to give up my whole summer, can you? What about my roommate Alexis? We're going to Italy together in early July, and I'm certainly not missing out on that opportunity!"

Kate laughed and tried to get her third born child to calm down. "Relax, Lorr. You have a car, right? And you're what, 19? Going on 20 in a few months." She reminded her. "We can't force you to do anything. You can leave in your car to Italy whenever you'd like; we can't hold you back like we could two years ago." She reassured her daughter, who looked relieved that she didn't have to even put up a fight.

"Wait, wait, wait." Mike held up his hands for his parents to listen. "She can leave when she wants but I can't?" He interrupted. "That's so unfair!"

Tom and Kate looked at his son. "You're only 11 sweetie. Besides, I thought you of all people would love to go on this trip! You haven't seen the Murtaughs in ages, and you and Elliot and Jake and Sarah used to do everything together! What makes you say it's unfair?" He asked his rebellious son.

Mike crossed his arms. "Well what if they've changed? If they aren't the same and they don't like hanging out with us anymore than I want to go home." The other children agreed in sync

Tom sighed. "Alright, fine. If the Murtaughs aren't who they used to be then we can leave. But until you prove that, do you all agree to go?"

Ten yeses rang through the hall, and that began the sequel to the Lake Winnetka adventure.