"I'm going to miss you, Brenda," Leah said on the last day of school.
"I'll call you when I get back from New York," Brenda promised.
"Where is your family going for summer vacation, Leah?" asked Kylie.
"I don't know yet," Leah admitted. "But I hope it's somewhere awesome."
That evening Leah asked her mother about their family's vacation plans.
"Actually your dad and I were going to discuss that with you and Paul tonight," Mom said.
"Is it a surprise?" Leah asked excitedly.
"Yes," Mom answered mysteriously. "It's somewhere both new and familiar."
"Hmm," Leah thought curiously. "Where could it be?"
Leah was definitely looking forward to her family's trip this year.
A year earlier an unexpected hardship had occurred.
"My company decided to lay off workers," Leah's dad had told them one night at dinner.
"What does 'lay off' mean?" Leah asked.
"It means they are cutting jobs, including mine," he informed her sadly.
"I'll find another job, but it might take some time."
Months had passed before Dad found another job.
He was relieved to be working again, but his new salary was much lower than his old salary.
That meant everyone in the family still had to make sacrifices.
Leah had to give up taking art classes.
"When our finances improve, you can resume your art lessons," Dad promised.
That night the family sat down together.
"We've been considering where to go this year," Dad began.
"We want to go somewhere to relax and enjoy time together as a family," added Mom.
"And finally we thought of the best place to do that."
"Where is it?" Leah blurted out.
Her parents exchanged glances. "At home!" they said in unison.
Paul and Leah were stunned. "Are you kidding?" Paul asked.
Mom and Dad shook their heads. "We're perfectly serious," said Mom.
"We're not going to Disneyland? Or Vancouver?" Leah asked in dismay.
"You don't have to travel to an exotic destination to enjoy a vacation," Mom said cheerfully.
"But all my friends are traveling somewhere!" Leah choked back her tears. "Brenda is going to New York!"
Her parents seemed unconcerned.
"Our vacation is for three days." Dad opened a notebook.
"And during our vacation, there are some essential rules.
Rule number one: No television, Internet, or telephone."
"What?" shouted Paul.
"Rule number two," Dad said. "Each of us takes a turn preparing a meal."
"But that's Mom's job," Leah protested.
"I want a vacation too," Mom stated.
"And rule number three: We spend most of our time together. We are not to isolate ourselves."
"Ugh." Leah groaned. This was going to be the strangest—and worst—family vacation ever.
On the first day of vacation, Leah and Paul were in the family room.
Leah had found some books to read.
Paul was looking for something. "Where's the remote?" he called.
"Rule number one, Paul," Dad reminded him.
"No television." He held up a box. "How about working on this with me?"
"What is it?" asked Paul.
"A model airplane," said Dad.
Paul shrugged. "Sure."
Mom sat down next to Leah. "Can I keep you company?"
"Okay." Leah looked up from her book as her mother started working on something at the table. "What's that, Mom?"
"A jigsaw puzzle. And I could definitely use your help."
Mom moved over to make room for Leah, and the two of them worked on the puzzle for awhile.
That night Dad prepared dinner.
"I hope he doesn't burn the kitchen down!" whispered Mom to Leah and Paul.
"I hope whatever he makes is edible!" Leah said with a giggle.
"Hey! No insulting the chef!" Dad shouted from the kitchen.
Everyone sat down and looked at the food.
"Just try it. You're going to love it!" Dad said.
Leah wasn't sure what it was, but she sampled the meal anyway. "Actually this is pretty good, Dad."
After dinner the family looked at some old photos.
Soon everyone was trading memories about when Leah and Paul were younger.
"Oh, I remember this picture," said Mom. "That was Paul's first bicycle."
"Hey, I remember that bike. What happened to it?" Paul asked.
The next morning Leah saw that Paul was up early.
"I'm reporting for chef duty," Paul said.
"What are you making for breakfast, Paul?" Mom wanted to know.
"The only thing I know how to make," said Paul.
"Hot dogs? For breakfast?" Leah burst out. "That sounds absolutely delicious!"
Later that day Leah and Paul listened to some music together.
And before bedtime, the family played a board game together.
It was Leah and Dad versus Paul and Mom.
Soon Leah landed on the history category.
"Name the young Macedonian leader who conquered Persia at the age of 25," Paul read aloud. "You can't help her, Dad!"
"I got it!" Leah called triumphantly. "Alexander the Great!"
"Wow, how did you get to be so intelligent?" Dad asked.
On the last day of the vacation, everyone did whatever he or she wanted.
Leah read a book. Mom painted her toenails.
Dad and Paul worked on the airplane model together.
"Ta-da!" They proudly displayed the airplane when it was finally finished.
"It looks fantastic," said Leah.
"Dad and I make a good team," Paul said proudly.
"This was one of the most relaxing vacations I ever had," Dad announced later on.
"I agree." Mom nodded. "I got to spend a lot of quality time with my children and my husband."
"I got to build a model airplane!" Paul said, grinning at Dad.
Leah sat, quietly contemplating the vacation for a minute.
Last week she had not been looking forward to her family's vacation at all.
While her friends were traveling to faraway destinations, she'd be stuck here, with only boring stuff to do. But she had realized something.
Leah smiled at Mom, Dad, and Paul.
"Spending time with your family—even when you stay at home—is the best vacation ever!"