Jake Baker woke up to the sound of bags zipping, pots and pans clattering, and a whole lot of screaming. Typical. "WHERE'S MY CINDY JANE? I CAN'T FIND HER AND I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HER!" Kim screamed at the top of her lungs as she searched desperately throughout the whole house. "I made waffles! Come and get them!" Kate yelled from downstairs. "You mean you haven't packed at all? Nigel, Kylie, what on Earth were you two thinking leaving it to the last minute?" Jake heard his father scold the twins at the bottom of the stairs. "LORRAINE!" He then screamed. "HELP YOUR BROTHERS NIGEL AND KYLE PACK PLEASE!" "Dad, can't you get Jake to do it or something? I'm still packing as well!" Lorraine yelled back. "Has everyone in this house lost their minds?" The children's father yelled. "I haven't daddy, I'm fully packed and ready to go!" Jake heard Sarah say sweetly as she crossed into the main hall. "Sarah, you aren't bringing your board?" Mike asked her, and Sarah gasped. "I totally forgot about it!" And Jake heard Sarah run back upstairs.
A few moments later his door was thrown open by Sarah, who was already dressed in shorts and an old tshirt, wearing her ratty old sneakers she always wore, and carrying her skateboard in one hand and a waffle in the other. "Wake up, sleepyhead." She threw the covers off her closest sibling, who groaned and buried his head into his pillow.
"Get dressed and bring your bags down, were leaving in fifteen minutes. Here, I brought you a waffle." She tossed what he thought to be the waffle towards his face, which landed only a few inches from his nose. The smell of the homemade waffle got him up and he quickly popped the whole thing in his mouth. Sarah wasn't fazed. "Hurry up," she commanded and rushed out of the room. "Sir yes sir!" He yelled back over a mouthful of waffle, only to hear her giggle as she ran down the stairs.
Coming down exactly ten minutes later with his bags, Jake was dressed in black basketball shorts and a white shirt that was a hand-me-down from Charlie. His father passed him on the way out the door to the van with three duffel bags in hand. "Come on son, load your bags up we don't have time to sit around!" His father's tone had a tinge of frustration, and Jake knew he was stressed out enough as it was. "Sure, dad." He grabbed his own bag and made his way across their expanse of backyard to the van.
Jake returned inside to find Kim and Mike arguing. "Give her back!" Kim yelled and chased Mike around the house, him carrying her Cindy Jane doll and laughing. Mike ran up the stairs, shouting "I'm going to drop her from up here, look out below!" Kim screamed from the bottom of the stairs and watched in horror as he dangled the smiling, china doll over the railing. Jake, used to daily arguments like this, decided to intervene. "Mike, give her the doll back! If you want a Cindy Jane so badly, go buy one yourself." He taunted with a smirk. Mike made a face and Jake knew he hit a soft spot. "Ew, gross! Why would I want a Cindy Jane doll?" He dropped the doll before realizing what he did. Kim screamed again. Jake dived for the glass toy and caught it with both his hands, inches before it reached its doom. "Careful, Mike!" He growled to his brother as he got up, his stomach a bit sore from the dive. "Here you go, Kim." He gave the Cindy Jane doll back to her. "Take care of her or else next time she'll be taped to a firework." He rolled his eyes at Mike, who grinned mischievously. "Thanks for the idea, Jake!" He replied, already thinking of evil schemes as he ran downstairs and outside.
Suddenly Tom was by Jake's side, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Alright everyone, get in the car now! We're on a tight schedule and we have to go! Come on, get a move on!" Tom ushered everyone out the door, pushing and shoving them outside and towards the van. Kate and Lorraine buckled in the twins as everyone else piled into the van.
"Wait! I can't sit next to Mike! He'll pinch me the whole way!" Jessica complained.
"Mom, Mark's pushing on my seat!" Sarah complained.
"Am not! My feet are on the floor!"
"Are too! Why couldn't I have rode with Lorraine? It's not fair since I'm practically the only teenage girl here!"
"I'm hungry! When's lunch?" Henry asked questioningly. Although Henry ate a considerably large amount of food for a teenage boy, he had slimmed down a lot after joining the football team, and it seemed that he was now hungry all the time.
"Oww, Nigel poked me." Kyle stated and poked his brother back.
"Owww, Kyle poked me now." Nigel giggled, and the two began a poking fight.
"Is it too late to turn back?" Tom joked as he backed out of the driveway, and Kim laughed her golden laugh that always brought a smile to Tom's face. "Hey, it's either this vacation is now or never!" Was all she replied with.