to watch the baby turtles hatch was because
they’re CUTE.
Trust me, if this was a SNAKE hatching, it
would be a totally different situation.
Just when I was getting ready to tell Mom we
should give up and go back to our room, the eggs
started hatching one by one.
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Everybody got really excited, but the nature guide
told us to stay quiet and get out of the way. She
said the turtles find their way to the ocean by
seeing the moonlight reflecting on the water.
But everyone ignored the nature guide and turned
on their cell phones, and the camera lights made
the turtles go every which way.
Mom was really enthusiastic, because she said we
were witnessing the “miracle of life.” She asked
where Rodrick was, but no one knew. Dad said
the last time he saw Rodrick, he was in the tall
grass in the dunes.
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And that’s where we found him.
That SHOULD’VE been the end of the night,
but it wasn’t. When we got back to the room, we
found out that Manny had pocketed one of the
baby turtles while no one was looking, so Dad had to
bring it all the way back to the beach to set it free.
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Thursday
I guess Mom wasn’t too happy with the way our
family vacation was going so far, because after
breakfast she said she was gonna take a “spa day.”
That sounded like a GREAT idea to me, and I
told Mom I was gonna tag along. I’ve always
wanted to get a massage, and I figured this was
my big chance.
But Mom said she needed time to HERSELF and
the rest of us were on our own. That meant WE
had to watch Manny.
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Once Mom left, the three of us tried to figure
out what to do. Manny was too much to handle,
so I suggested we just drop him off at the
Toddlers’ Cabana and let the people who worked
there deal with him.
Dad liked that idea, because he said he wanted
to get in a workout at the gym. He told me and
Rodrick we were responsible for getting Manny to
the Toddlers’ Cabana, and then he left.
The path took us right past the wall that
separated our half from the Wild Side. I guess
some kids were trying to get a peek at what was
over there, but the landscapers put a stop to it.
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I asked Rodrick what he thought was on the
other side, and he said he already KNEW. He
said some of his friends in the Teen Zone told
him that all SORTS of crazy stuff goes on
over there and there’s even a beach where people
sunbathe without any clothes on.
He said there’s a HOLE in the wall and if you look
through it, you can see the other side. But I
knew Rodrick was just trying to trick me, because
he’s told me this kind of thing BEFORE.
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One summer when we were at the town pool, he
told me that if I peeked over this cinderblock
wall, I could see into the ladies’ locker room.
Well, I BELIEVED him, and I’ve been trying to
erase that image from my mind ever since.
We brought Manny to the Toddlers’ Cabana,
and the kids inside were making puppets. I told
the person in charge we were dropping our little
brother off for the day and we’d be back later.
The counselor said the only requirement for a
drop-off was that the kid was potty-trained,
and I told him that Manny WAS.
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But Manny must really not have wanted to make
puppets, because he got himself out of it.
Rodrick said I had to watch Manny by MYSELF,
because he was gonna go check out the activities
in the Teen Zone. But I knew he was just going
there to meet up with that girl.
I was not happy that I got stuck with Manny.
I didn’t want to take him to the beach, because
he’d just start collecting pets again.
So I took him to the Pirate Playplace, which was
a splash zone for little kids.
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It was actually PERFECT, because I could
relax on a lounge chair and keep an eye on Manny
while he played. I even ordered a grilled cheese
sandwich and some french fries from a waiter who
came by.
But I wasn’t able to enjoy my meal. Some kids on
the miniature pirate ship figured out that if they
blocked one of the water cannons, they could make
the other one shoot TWICE as far.
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So I had to move to a lounge chair that was
farther away. But when I sat down, I realized
I had lost track of MANNY. I eventually
spotted him in the middle of the wading pool, all
by himself.
I knew I had to go in there and get him, but I
really didn’t WANT to. With the number of little
kids in the pool, I knew EXACTLY what was in
that water.
When I was little, I used to pee in the baby pool
all the TIME. In fact, there’s a framed photo of
me in the family room using the pool as a potty.
Mom says it’s her favorite picture of me, because
I look so HAPPY. But I’ve never told her WHY.
One summer, they put some chemical in the pool
that turned green if anyone peed. So that put an
end to THAT.
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I needed to figure out a way to get to Manny
without touching the water, so I found a raft
and a pool noodle and paddled out to him.
But I only made it halfway across when a bunch
of little kids decided it would be fun to climb onto
my raft. I tried fighting them off with the
noodle, but there were just too MANY of them.
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Then they teamed up to flip me OVER.
I got Manny out of the pool and then spent
twenty minutes scrubbing every inch of my body in
the outdoor shower.
But five seconds after I finished drying off,
I was WET again. The kids in the pirate ship
figured out that if they plugged TWO cannons,
they could get some SERIOUS range.
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bumped into Mom. And after her morning at the
spa, she seemed like a whole new person.
She said that while she was getting her massage,
she came up with a GREAT idea for how we could
spend time as a family. She booked a private cruise
for all of us, and she said the boat was gonna be
at the dock in half an hour.
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That wasn’t a lot of time, so we had to split up
to track down Dad and Rodrick. I told Mom
that Dad was at the gym, so she went there to
get him.
I found Rodrick exactly where I expected to,
and believe me, he owes me for not letting Mom
get to him FIRST.
We met Mom and Dad down at the dock. Dad
wasn’t too happy with Mom, because apparently
this boat cost a lot o
f money to rent. But Mom
said it was WORTH it, because this cruise was
gonna be the highlight of our trip.
When I hear the word “cruise,” I think of a
yacht or at least a souped-up sailboat.
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But the boat that Mom rented didn’t look like
anything special.
The boat came with its own captain, so I guess
that was SOMETHING. When we got on board,
he handed us all life jackets, and after we put
them on, we pulled away from the dock.
The first thing I noticed was that the boat had
a glass bottom, which I was not comfortable with
at ALL.
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This boat didn’t look like it was in such great
shape to begin with, so I was worried the glass
was gonna crack and we were all gonna sink to
the bottom of the ocean.
In fact, if I had to guess, I’ll bet 50% of all
shipwrecks are glass-bottom boats just like the
one we were on.
165
Once we got out on the ocean, the captain asked
Mom where she wanted to go. The captain said
there were some private islands we could explore,
and Mom said we should go to one of THOSE.
But it turned out the “private” islands weren’t
really private, so we didn’t bother sticking around.
The captain said there was a reef nearby that
wasn’t usually crowded and we could do some
snorkeling.
That meant we’d have to go into the actual ocean
with all the OTHER stuff swimming around in
there, so I wasn’t in love with the idea. But
nobody else seemed concerned.
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Once we got out to the reef, the captain dropped
anchor, and he handed us each a snorkel, a mask,
and some flippers.
I asked if he had any HARPOONS or other
weapons that we could use to defend ourselves
from sharks.
He said sharks don’t go near the reefs, but I said
I’d bet if they saw a defenseless family splashing
around, they’d be happy to make an exception.
He told us the reason that sharks don’t come near
the reefs is that the coral is SHARP and that
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That was the FIRST red flag. But it got a
whole lot WORSE.
He said there was a pretty good chance we’d see
some stingrays underwater. He said it was OK to
touch their fins but we should keep our thumbs
away from their mouths, because they can mistake
them for food and bite them clean off.
Then he said the stingrays’ tails are poisonous, so
we should probably watch out for THOSE, too.
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The captain wasn’t FINISHED, though. He
said there were a bunch of OTHER things we
needed to look out for. Then he showed us what
everything looked like on a big chart.
There was some scary stuff on that thing, but it
wasn’t the BIGGEST creatures that freaked me
out, it was the SMALLEST one. And that was
the BOX JELLYFISH.
169
I saw this show called “World’s Most Venomous
Creatures,” and they had the box jellyfish at
the top of the list. If you get stung by one,
your heart can stop, and then you’re pretty
much finished.
I told Mom I didn’t think it was worth risking
death just to see a goldfish in the wild. I think
she could tell I was worried, but she wouldn’t let
me off the hook that easy.
She said I just needed to get in the water long
enough to take one family picture and then I
could get back in the boat.
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Mom still wanted that photo for the Christmas
card, and I could tell she wasn’t gonna take “no”
for an answer.
I told Mom I’d stay in just long enough for
ONE picture, and if someone BLINKED, that
was just tough luck. She agreed, and then we got
in the water one by one. I was the last person in.
The captain couldn’t figure out how to work Mom’s
camera, and he was taking FOREVER.
I really didn’t like the feeling of not knowing
what was swimming underneath me, so I took a
peek underwater. I’m glad I did, because it was
actually kind of AMAZING. I could see why
people liked snorkeling and scuba diving so much.
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A big school of blue and green fish surrounded
me, and the fish were darting all over the place,
changing directions two times a second.
At first I thought it was COOL, but then
I realized that this is how animals behave when
they’re trying to avoid a PREDATOR.
I didn’t see any sharks underwater, so I started
scanning the surface for FINS.
The captain finally figured out Mom’s camera and
was ready to take our picture, but I was already
swimming for the boat.
Just then, a sea horse swam right in front of
my mask, and it surprised me. My snorkel dipped
beneath the surface, and I accidentally took a
HUGE gulp of water. And I’m 95% sure that I
swallowed the sea horse along WITH it.
Now I was in a full-blown panic. I think I