The Baby-Sitters belong to Ann M. Martin

My best friend, Mallory, and I are getting ready to go on the summer road trips with Mary Anne & Dawn and their family. Well, it will be Mr. Spier. Sharon can't. She had to work all summer. Luckily, Carlos is able to join us. Let me back up. First of all, they're getting ready to move to Maine. The summer road trips are actually their 8th grade graduation gift. On top of that, the Willis family is moving there, too. They live three houses apart from each other. And, now, I heard they'll be next door neighbors. Mr. Spier bought a RV.

In fact, Kristy's father, Mr. Thomas, rented another one. This is going to be fun. I heard first stop will be in New Jersey.

Here are the people in my Mr. Spier's RV:

Mary Anne

Kaylee

Kayla

Dawn

Carlos

Marci

Here are the others that are joining Mr. Thomas:

Kristy

Mallory

Me

Stacey

Claudia

Patti

Kathi

"We're going to Sea City for a few days," said Mallory.

"This is going to be exciting," I said.

"I know," said Mallory. "Oh, they know my parents are letting the gang to stay in that summer house."

"That's a good idea," I said.

"Plus, we have one more surprise for Mary Anne, Dawn, and the Willis' girls. Ralph invited us to spend time with them and they invited us to spend the day with them," said Mallory.

"That's cool," I said.

"I'm worried about Mary Anne though," said Mallory.

"Why?" I asked.

"Did you remember what happened last time we were there?" asked Mallory.

I knew what she was saying. One of the characters had her eyes on Mary Anne's boyfriend, Logan. They both didn't like that, especially Mary Anne. It did spoiled her trip.

"Oh, yeah," I said.

"I'm not going to say anything until we get there so she can enjoy the road trip without being upset," said Mallory.

"That makes sense," I said.

When we were ready to go, we walked over to Mary Anne and Dawn's. We will be leaving first thing, they're having a sleepover to make things easier for everyone.

I'm Jessi Ramsey and will be 12 soon. I'll be entering 7th grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. At the Spiers', I rang the doorbell. Mary Anne came to the door.

"Hi, everyone is almost here," said Mary Anne.

"That's good," said Mallory.

"Mr. Thomas came with Kristy," said Mary Anne. "We'll be staying in the basement so that we can let Sharon sleep in the morning since we're leaving before 7:00 am."

"That's a good idea," I said.

"We can't wait to spend the summer with your family one last time," said Mallory.

"Same," said Mary Anne. "They're supposed to move to Maine soon, too, but they don't know when yet."

"It would be nice if it was around the same time," said Mallory.

"It would be likely before school starts in the fall," said Mary Anne.

"The only good part is that Stacey will be stepping to help with the younger kids," I said.

"Thank goodness for that part," said Mallory.

"I know, especially since their father left," said Mary Anne.

Their father left not long ago. It's been tough for them. He left without notice. Kristy knew the feeling since that's what her father did when she was six (although he came back). When they visit New York on weekends, Mary Anne helps them out because one of the younger siblings is a handful. She knows how to handle D.J.

"What time are they coming?" I asked.

"They'll be here shortly," said Mary Anne.

"Oh, good," said Mallory.

"Dad said we're going to have pizza tonight," said Mary Anne. "We'll be using paper plates."

"Fine by us," said Mallory.

"Are Marci, Patti, and Kathi coming, too?" I asked.

"Yes," said Mary Anne. "Logan said he plans to meet us in Kentucky."

"That's good," said Mallory.

"I know," said Mary Anne.

That was when they came after us.

"Hi," said Marci.

"Hi," said Mary Anne.

"We can't wait to spend the summer with you," said Kathi.

"I know," said Mary Anne.

"By the way, Mom said we can still stay at our summer house when we go to Sea City," said Mallory.

"Okay, sounds good," said Mary Anne.

"So, I'll show Mr. Thomas where to get our keys," said Mallory.

"At least it's big enough for all of us," said Dawn.

"I know," said Mallory. "Don't forget we can only go in the water between 9 and 5 since those are the hours lifeguards would be available."

"I remember," said Mary Anne. "Dad told us the plan. We're going to be stopping by our new house during our stay in Maine. We already packed our things. Sharon is going to take care of the rest when she meets us in Maine."

"That's a good idea," said Mallory.

"We'll be staying in Iowa for a week anyway," said Mary Anne.

"That will work out fine for us," I said.

"I know," said Mary Anne. "Grandma is planning to let me see them whenever I go there on a vacation, even while I'm in Maine."

"That's good," I said.

"Oh, yeah, we'll be there for 4th of July," said Mary Anne.

"Nice," said Jessi.

"I can't wait for that," said Mary Anne.

"When does your father start his new job?" asked Mallory.

"Not until mid August. He just wanted to relax by doing the summer road trips," said Mary Anne.

"It's too bad Sharon could've done the same thing," said Mallory.

"She can't leave until at last at the end of July before we get settled in Maine," said Mary Anne.

"And, he plans to keep the RV if we want to use it to go on road trips more often," said Dawn.

"That's a nice idea," I said.

That night, Kayla and Kaylee arrived just before pizza did.

"Oh, perfect timing," said Kayla.

After we had supper, we threw away paper plates.

"You can leave any leftover pizzas here. I might take some for work in between," said Sharon.

"Okay," said Mary Anne.

"There's only one or two boxes with three pieces each, so we can put all of them in the same box," said Carlos.

"That will be a good idea," said Sharon.

That's what Carlos did before taking the trash out. It was hard on him to leave here because he grew up here like Mary Anne. He lost his family when he was young in a car accident. She knew him for a few years, which is how her father and Sharon adopted him recently.

At 8:00 pm, we all got comfy. Sharon is off on weekends, but we still choose to stay in the basement to let her sleep in the morning. Down there, the girls and I were playing card games. We always include Carlos to join us when we have sleepovers.

We went to 10:00 pm, but we were all too excited to go sleep right away. We whispered so that we don't wake Mr. Thomas or Mr. Spier. We did end up going to sleep ten minutes later.