"Evelyn, come blow out the candles," my mother called.

Another candle on the cake, one more than last year. That meant I could finally go on the trip with my mom. She goes to Florida with my 2 older sisters every year, and now I would get to go, too.

"Evelyn, come open presents," said my mother. I already knew what one present was, a plane ticket to Florida. I had been waiting for this forever. Ever since my dad left, my mom had been doing this.

I didn't understand why he left. He hadn't contacted us since my brother moved in with him three years ago. My brother was real close to my dad.

When I finally got to open the little envelope with the plane ticket, it wasn't to Florida -- it was to Vermont. My dad lives in Vermont.

"What about Florida?" I screamed.

"Your father called and asked if you could spend the week with him. I thought you???d like it, so I wanted to surprise you," my mother told me.

"Oh..." I whispered disappointedly.

"Our flights are 20 minutes apart. Yours is first, so we???ll take you over to your flight, then go to ours. We???re leaving tomorrow. So start packing," my mother ordered.

Later that night, as I was packing, I thought it over. ???This is so unfair! I???ve been waiting to go to Florida forever. I don???t want to go to Vermont. Maybe dad will be a Disneyland daddy. That???s what my friend Ivy calls her dad -- she never sees him and when she does, he feels so guilty he buys her a bunch of stuff and takes her places.??? I don???t think my dad will be like that.

On the plane the next day, it must have been one of the most embarrassing days of my life. Since I was flying alone, the flight attendant gave me special treatment. When she asked why I was traveling by myself, I said it was a birthday present and I was going to visit my dad. Then she said she would be right back. When she came back she had a cupcake with a 10 candle in it. She had the whole plane singing happy birthday. Then she said, "I didn???t know how old you are but you look about 10."

"Thank you." I whispered politely, but I felt like screaming ???I???m 13! I can???t help it if I look younger!???

We finally landed, and I went to look around for my dad. Then I saw a sign that had my name on it. When I walked over to the guy, he said that he would be taking me to my dad???s house.

When I asked why my dad didn???t pick me up, he said he???s in New York right now at work, but he???d taken the rest of the week off. The reason why he didn't move to New York, I learned, is because he liked it in Vermont and it was only an hour commute to New York. That???s when I noticed my brother was there, and he had been answering my questions, not the driver.

When we got to the car, I expected to see a taxi, but instead I saw a limo. Maybe dad was going to be a Disneyland daddy after all.

My brother is a year older then me and is really annoying. Spending a week with Mark wasn???t going to be fun. He had always been a slob and that gets on my nerves. And last Christmas he wrote and in his letter he said he had a girlfriend, how gross is that!

When we got to the house, Mark showed me to my room. I have to say, I loved it there in my room. I mean, it was really nice. At dinner, my dad gave me an itinerary of stuff we were going to do. Tomorrow we were going to the truck races. Wouldn???t that be fun! My dad said, "I bet you can???t wait."

We went to the truck races the next morning. I have to say that they were kind of fun.

Seeing the cars crash was cool. And being with my dad was fun! But there is no way that what they had planned for tomorrow would be any fun at all.

Camping! There is no way camping can be fun! Dirt and bugs aren???t fun. They???re disgusting!

Okay, maybe camping was a little fun. We went boating and hiking. Also, waking up in the morning to the fresh air was nice, but the sleeping on the ground and the mosquitoes was horrible! It really is a pain. My back hurt and my mosquito bites itched.

There was no way fishing was going to be fun tomorrow. At least on Saturday we were going to stay at home.

Fishing was super fun. I caught more fish than the boys. We are cooking them for dinner tonight and I can???t wait. I love fish, they taste so good. Very healthy for you, too. I caught five fish, dad caught two and Mark caught three plus an old sock. The worms weren???t even disgusting. They were slimy and squishy. I hope that I can go fishing again back in California!

I had so much fun on Saturday, just hanging out with my dad. I am going to come back next year. And for Christmas, everyone is coming. I don???t want to go back home tomorrow. But I can???t wait to see my friends and family again. I am going to teach my mom and sisters to fish. This was the best birthday present ever!