The next day we woke up and the girls all decided to go shopping. We piled into Karla's suburban and went out for the day. We left the boys at the houses to do whatever they want. I wouldn't surprise me if they went to the beach and played football all day long.

"So where are we going?" Karla asked as she looked at all of us. I got in the front because Kenzie wanted to be with Tabby.

"I think there's a lot on avenue G." They all looked at me. I have been giving directions for the entire trip. "I've done my research. Let me get out google maps."

I pulled out the directions and Karla followed them. We ended up on a road with a bunch of cute stores. Karla parked in a parking lot close to the stores.

We spent all day shopping and having fun. It was great. All day we just had us girls. No boys to take care of or entertain.

"Oh my gosh, Cor, we should should get charm bracelets." Remi suggested from the other side of the store.

"Hell yes I'm in" I ran over to her to look at the bracelets and all the charms. They were definitely an off brand pandora bracelet.

I picked out things that reminded me of how my summer has been here so far. I picked out a suitcase, a pizza slice, a football, a snowflake, a star, and a beachy charm.

Remi picked out a few and we even got a matching pizza one. We also got stopping charms so our charms won't slide around.

After a few more shops and snacks, we decided it was best to head home. We were all tired and ready to eat dinner, especially Karla. She needed to get off of her feet for a little while.

The boys were all chilling in our house. Kenzie and Tabby were immediately to the boys showing them their stuff.

"Will, Will. Look at this new hat I got" Kenz hit her brother violently. She showed him her new hat.

"It's nice, Ken" he laughed.

"Okay I think Randy and I will start on dinner now" Micheal said as he sat up from the couch.

Dad nodded in agreement. They both left to go back to the other house for dinner.

Karla and the kids left to go back to the other house. I flopped down on the couch next to Connor and Will. I rested my head on Connor's lap.

"Hey sis" he laughed.

I put my feet up on Will's and Carter's laps. My feet were on Carter's lap which he wasn't too happy about but he didn't mind that much.

Will subconsciously pulled my legs closer to his body. "Comfy there?" He laughed.

"Mhm" I mumbled in response.

"So what are y'all doing?" Remi asked as she opened the fridge.

The boys have done hardly anything according to them. They did go down to the beach to play football. Apparently, they came back and have been watching tv ever since.

"Could you grab me a sprite please?" I asked.

Remi came back and handed me a bottle of sprite. I took a long sip.

Connor was channel surfing for something to watch. I slapped him repeatedly when I saw that the Big Bang Theory was on.

Carter and Cooper groaned. "Not one of your sitcoms" Carter complained.

"Oh shut up, who doesn't love Sheldon?" I countered.

We watched the show and even if they hate to admit it, they actually thought it was funny.

"Dinner's ready" Kenzie popped her head in to tell us.

We all made a rush to get to the burgers. We were hungry teenagers. What'd you expect?

"Glad your finally here" Dad joked as we all came in through the front door.

Dads burgers are the absolute best so I'm glad we got to have them tonight. We all ate and talked. There were jokes and sarcastic remarks flying around everywhere. Karla would pretend to be offended but she would smile when everyone else looked away.

"I heard that we could have a bonfire on the beach as long as we follow the guidelines. Who wants to do that after dinner?" Michael asked.

We were all one hundred percent in. Bonfires are my favorite part of summer. Something about being around a fire with some of your best friends and family as you all joke around and spend time together just makes me happy.

Once it got dark we all rode down to the beach. It was pretty empty considering it was almost nine o'clock. I made sure to put a cardigan over my sage green tank top and shorts. Micheal and Dad started the fire as the rest of us set up the blankets and chairs.

"Hey kids, I brought a surprise." Karla said and pulled a whole bunch of sparklers out of her bag.

The four young teens' faces lit up with excitement, especially the boys. I'll never understand the teen boy urge to play with fire. Tabby and Isaac looked at Remi with questioning excitement. She nodded, but warned them to be careful. They all grabbed a couple and Grayson took the lighter.

I watched as the four of them danced around happily with the sparklers in their hands. They made intricate drawings and wrote their names with the fire.

I sighed and leaned back in content. Carter was telling the Karla and a Remi about the constellations.

"Happy, snowflake?" Will asked as he plopped down on the blanket next to me.

"How can I not be? The kids are having the time of their lives, Carter's talking about something he loves, the boys are playing football in the dark, and I'm here with you. There's no way this could get any better." I explained the scene in front of me.

He nodded in agreement. "You're right. It couldn't get any better." He reached his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. I laid my head against his chest.

I was so glad that we moved out of Dallas and moved here. I could've had anything I wanted back in Dallas and I probably would've gotten it, but I never could've gotten this experience and these people in my life if we stayed there. After all, the best things in life aren't things.

***

"We're going to the Zoo?" Cooper asked excitedly as he stared at Dad.

"Yeah. Everyone except Michael and Karla. She can't walk around all day again." Dad answered with a laugh as he took a bite of the breakfast casserole Karla made.

Cooper has a thing for zoos. Ever since he was a child he was in love with looking at all the different animals and cool facts about them.

"Yes" he cheered.

"We leave in a hour and a half, so y'all be ready."

We nodded and finished breakfast before going to get ready for the zoo. I think it's a three hour drive so I decided to dress somewhat comfortable. I put on a brownish pink flowy tank top and a pair of denim shorts. I put on some gold jewelry and tan sandals. I grabbed the small tan purse that I brought and put my phone, portable charger, and a charger cord in it along with some lip balm and sunglasses.

I was ready and walked out to the living room. Remi was still getting ready in our room. No one was out in the living room, which was surprising because they usually are by the time I finish getting ready. I set my stuff down on the bar and grabbed myself a sprite from the fridge.

"Ready already?" Will smirked as he was the first boy to enter the living room.

"You are too" I countered on shock.

He laughed light and shook his head. "Yeah but we're usually waiting on you and your lazy ass."

"Fair point" I shrugged. "You want one?" I asked referring to the sprite.

"No thanks snowflake I'm all good" he smiled and flopped down on the couch.

I made my way over to him and sat next to him.

"You look cute, what's the occasion?" He joked.

I punched his arm as my cheeks turn red with embarrassment. He put his hands up in defense.

"Just saying you don't dress like this back home" he smiled his perfect smile successfully making me melt in my seat.

"I was just feeling it I guess" I shrugged.

Everyone met outside and we were off. Will said goodbye to his parents.

"You want me to drive?" I asked. "You've been driving all vacation"

He sighed and gave me the keys to his truck before he hopped in the passenger seat. Carter had to get in the back with Remi and Connor, not that he minded.

After a three hour drive, we finally made it to the zoo. Cooper was buzzing with excitement like the kids were.

Dad paid for everyone to get a ticket and we found a map. The gorillas were the first animals we saw at the entrance.

Connor read the fun facts. Cooper looked like a little kid. The kids looked in awe at the gorillas. Carter, Remi, and Will watched the gorillas. I watched everyone with a smile on their faces.

Dad picked up Kenzie and pretended like he was going to throw her in the cage. She was laughing, as was everyone else when she squealed.

We decided to go right and looked at all the cool animals. It was the tropical American animals first. My favorite was the Macaw Canyon because my love of the colorful birds.

Then Indo-Australian animals as well as African. My favorite from this section was the emu.

Everyone walked on to the orangutans but I stayed to watch the emus for a little while longer. I didn't even notice Will's presence behind me until he spoke up.

"You like these ones, huh?" He asked and leaned against the railing with his forearms like I was currently in.

"Did you know they have two sets of eyelids? One is for blinking and the other keeps dust away" I said in awe.

"I didn't know that" he laughed.

"They're such underrated animals because they're ugly, but I think that's what makes them beautiful. That and the fact that kicking is their main defense." I laughed. "The emu is discarded everywhere else but in Australia. There's over 600 places in Australia named after the emu."

It's crazy how just in a different part of the world one type of animal could have such different popularity.

"I'm surprised you know those facts." Will said honestly.

I looked at him with a smile, but he was already looking over at me.

"Let's go catch up with the rest of the group" I grabbed his wrist but he pulled me back. I gave him a quizzical expression.

"I want a picture real quick." He dug his phone out of his pocket and put it in selfie mode. He held the camera up to where the emus were in the picture.

"Do you want me to take that?" A woman asked. There were little kids running around her legs. I assumed they were her kids when one used her legs to hide.

"That'd be great" Will smiled and handed her his phone.

We posed together and the lady took our picture. She handed the phone back to Will.

"You are a cute couple" she smiled at us.

I was going to say that we weren't a couple but Will cut me off.

"Thank you" he smiled before he grabbed my hand and we started back to the group.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It didn't need to be said. We're never going to see her again, not like it matters"

But it does matter to me. On the other hand, he has a fair point. We're never gonna see her again.

"You're right" I said as we found the rest of the group.

We walked through the zoo looking at all the animals and taking pictures. Smiles on everyone's faces. Grayson and Kenzie were holding hands and I took a picture of them from behind.

We stopped at the lion's pride restaurant for lunch. We all had hot dogs, but topped with different things.

I found out that Will's favorite animals was the giraffe. Fitting, huh? Tall and blonde. I chuckled under my breath at the thought.

We reached the end of the zoo. The kids and Cooper wanted to go to the mini petting zoo so they did that while the rest of us, besides dad who stayed with the kids, went to the gift shop.

We walked around and looked at all the zoo related stuff. T-shirts, stuffed animals, and more. It was crazy how much stuff they had in this store.

I was in the mood for a lemonade popsicle that I saw at the oasis cafe by the Komodo dragons at the beginning of the zoo.

I dragged Will and the others to get one with me. Will, being the gentleman he is, insisted he pay for it and would not give up. I finally gave in and let him get it for me.

After we got back to the petting zoo, the kids were done and everyone was ready to go back.

Will drove this time. We decided to get in the hot tub since it was our last day. Dad grabbed domino's pizza on the way back and we headed straight to the houses.

Will went straight to see his parents while the rest of us went to our house. We changed into our swimsuits.

I had a Dalmatian print bikini top and reddish-orange bottom. Remi had a bright coral bikini.

Everyone decided to chill at our house, because our house had a hot tub and everyone wanted to be together for the last day.

"I just wanted to say that we had such a great time with everyone this past few days. I'm so glad we got to spend our summer vacation with all of you. And thank you to the Erickson's for letting us have these houses for the past few days" Dad said as he looked around at all of us.

"Thank you for inviting us Randy" Micheal stood up and hugged my dad.

We all had pizza and a great time. We put on music and danced and ate and sat in the hot tub all night. We had a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.