52 and Counting

Chapter 1

This is what we have going on for the busy summer of ours. Hardly any free time!

June 1 - July 1: Go to Australia and visit Charlie/Adrian. I'm very excited for this because I haven't seen Adrian and Charlie in a year. Adrian once told me that since he had to leave me when I was just a baby, he had cried for a long time on the plane. Charlie knew me for a bit longer. I was 4 when he left for college.

July 3 - July 8: Alexander, Edward, and Conner come over for the 4th! I'm excited for this too because the 4th of July is amazing, and I love spending it with my family!

July 10 - July 17: Go to Colorado and see Allison and Brad! I'm so excited because I only see them twice a year. Allison told me that when she left me, we were both crying. I was a baby. Brad told me when he left me, I didn't understand that I wouldn't see him for a long time, so he tried not to cry. I was 2.

July 17: Drive to the Grand Canyon! I've been many times, but it's always incredible.

July 17 - July 24: Go to the Grand Canyon and see Brooklyn and Erika! I love seeing them. Brooklyn left about the same time Brad did, and Erika left when I was about 5 or 6. I don't remember. But I don't see them often, so I always look forward to seeing them.

July 26 - July 30: Andrew and Adam come down to see us! I see them more often than other people, but I don't know when they've last seen each other.

August 1 - August 8: Go to Maine and see Christina, Danielle, and Amanda! I love seeing them. I miss them so much right now!

And then school starts back up on August 10th! It's such a busy summer every year that we barely have any free time, but... Yeah!

Oh crap. I forgot we're supposed to be paying attention! It's May 26th and it's the last day of school. Its seventh period in middle school and I'm so jealous because we get out last.

Then again, we do get up the latest.

The bell rang. Everyone went crazy, screaming and running for the door. I ran with them. I sprinted towards the bus and hopped on it so I got a good seat.

*At Home*

"Summer!" I shouted, running inside. I had a couple days to pack, and then we were going to Australia!

We always go to Australia over the summer, but since there are so many people, we have our own plane. We're really rich. We hired a pilot to fly us to Australia, so we can bring as much luggage as we want. We don't even have to go through security! I mean, I've never been, but...

Never mind. I needed to pack my backpack!

Each kid packed their school backpack full of all the clothes we needed for Australia. We also packed it full of things we needed to entertain ourselves on the plane.

Our parents make us do this ourselves. They're kind of strict. And they say if we don't pack enough stuff or if we forget something, then they'll buy us stuff from stores there. James tried this once and he didn't pack his toothbrush or hairbrush, so they bought him that from Australia. But when we got back, they took the money out of his allowance! James was mad. Like I said, he's a bad boy.

Anyway, I'm a good girl, so I always pack my stuff. Also, I usually volunteer to pack Olivia's stuff for her. She's in 1st grade and she's only 6, so she didn't do the packing herself. But with Mom and Dad busy with work and packing for themselves and the babies and the preschoolers, I knew that I should help. So I did.

But now, I needed to focus on packing for myself. I was packing all of my clothes when I got a text from my best friend Ava.

"We have to hang out sometime over the summer! When are you available?"

I sighed. Ava had just moved here and quickly become my best friend, but I hadn't told her how busy we'd be over the summer. I'd never had a chance. But of course she knew about my 51 brothers and sisters.

"We're gonna be super busy, but if you want to hang out b4 the 1st of June, then that'll work 4 me." I texted her back. I wanted to hang out too. Ava was such a nice girl.

I continued to pack while I waited for a response.

"Sure. My mom said how about the 28th? It's a Saturday." (A/N: this takes place in 2016)

"Sounds good, but I need to ask my mom first." I replied to her text. I ran to find mom, knowing she was probably busy. Packing for a month long trip is a lot of work. Luckily, none of my siblings were there talking to her.

"Mom?" I asked, coming up to her.

"Hi, Madison." Mom said.

"Hi Mom. Can I go over to Ava's house on Saturday?"

Mom thought about it. "Sure. Just make sure you're getting all your packing done. Remember, it's a super long flight! Almost a full day."

I nodded. "Thanks! Love you!"

Mom chuckled. "Love you too."

I ran back to my room. "Mom said yes. Can I come to your house?" I texted.

I got a response almost instantly. "Ya of course. C u about 12:00?"

"Sure" I texted back. "C u"

Perfect! Now I'd figured that out. I packed for the rest of the day until dinnertime.

Dinner at our house isn't a normal dinner where everyone gathers. We take shifts. Mom and Dad are nice enough to sit at the table for one and a half hours, listening to us talk to them.

From 5:30 - 6:00, Mom and Dad eat dinner while talking with 11 of us. From 6:00 - 6:30, they talk with 11 different kids. And same thing from 6:30 - 7:00. The 12 of us that are left. I'm in the 3rd shift. I volunteered to be.

So from 6:30 - 7:00 I ate dinner with Mom and Dad still at the table talking to us. I was excited for all the trips and stuff.

Actually, when I thought about it, Adrian and Charlie hadn't met Thomas, Victoria, Zoe, or Zachary yet. Mom said she's done having kids for now though.

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Hey, I hope you're enjoying it so far. The next chapter will fast forward to June 1st, when they leave for Australia. Thanks for reading!