June 2, 1998

"Isaac! Taylor! Zachary!" Walker Hanson called to his three sons, motioning for them to come in the house. Once they had made their way inside (Taylor with 4-year-old Mackenzie attached to his leg), Walker motioned again, this time to sit down in the living room.

The boys exchanged alarmed looks at the serious expressions on their parents faces, and immediately sat side-by-side on the couch.

Diana and her husband looked at each other for several seconds as if communicating through mental telepathy. Finally she turned and spoke. "Your father and I have been talking about this summer," she began.

The looks exchanged by the three now clearly said, "Uh-oh, what have they been scheming for our summer vacation now?"

Their mother continued. "We decided it would probably be good for you boys to get out of state for a while."

Taylor's eyebrows shot up. "Please define 'a while'."

Well..." Diana said hesitantly. "Roughly three months." She went on quickly. "You'll leave this weekend, but of course you'll have to be back in time for school to start at the end of August, so--"

"You want us to leave Tulsa ALL SUMMER??!!" she was cut off by Isaac.

"You just wanna get rid of us," Zac imputed.

"Could you blame us?" she inquired with a rueful smile at the youngest.

He couldn't repress the smile that quickly replaced his pout. "Okay," he relented, "maybe not."

"But all our friends are in Tulsa, and we won't be able to see them at all," Ike argued. "We might get to talk to them on the phone for a few minutes, but that's it!"

"Well, Isaac, by the end of the summer half your friends will be in Texas, and in the end you won't want to leave," Walker interjected. "I almost guarantee it."

"Texas?" Ike chortled in his best exaggerated southern accent. "You wanna send me down with them mad southerners?"

"Tay, you'll be making friends up in New York City in no time," he went on.

"Oh, New York City is it?" Tay jeered, perfectly imitating New York boy talk. "Well, from what I hoid (AN: heard) dey talk weirder dere dan da mad southerners. And besides dat fact, I don't figure da streets of New York are da safest t'ings ta wander."

"What about me?????" Zac probed, eagerly bouncing up and down.

"Woah, slow down boy!" his father teased. "I was getting to you. You're going to be with relatives way out in the boonies-- we're shipping you off to Pennsylvania!"

Zac groaned and let his head fall against the back of the couch; but he was smiling none-the-less. "With Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Joshua, and Jakob?"

Walker and Diana nodded.

"They're hicks!" Zac yelled, and burst out laughing.

The other two started laughing with him.

They were almost convinced that this was a good idea.          

Ike's story
Tay's story
Zac's story
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