DEAR DIARY,
   At last! Today was the day Uncle Lee promised to take me and Gina out to the park. I asked mom if I could go, and she said yes! I was going home with mom after church when he came out of nowhere and swept me up on his shoulders. I knew Uncle wouldn’t let me down. He always keeps his promise. Gina was there too, smiling. I quickly handed my backpack and my lunchbox to mom and followed Gina to the car. It was a trip for just the three of us.   

   As we walked through the front gate, we met Mickey! It was my first time seeing him outside of the television show I watch every morning. My heart started racing. I looked around to see if Pluto and Goofy were around too. When he finally spotted us, he gave me and Gina a hug, and Uncle Lee took a photograph of us. I really like cameras. They make a really neat clicking sound when I press the button, and looking at photographs help me remember what was going on when we took the photograph.   

I really wanted to go on the Viking, but I was too short. I was so close to getting on, but the lady in the pink uniform stopped me and said, “If you’re not taller than this giraffe, I’m afraid we can’t let you go on this ride honey.” That made me sad, especially when I saw the excited faces of everyone else who got on the ride. I asked Uncle Lee how long I would have to wait to become tall enough to get on the ride. He answered, “Not long at all. In fact if you behave well and listen to what your mother tells you to do, then you can grow tall enough by next year even!” I knew the part about behaving wasn’t true, but I decided to listen to him because I just felt so much shorter than everybody else at the park all of a sudden. Next time I come I’ll make sure I’m taller than the giraffe.    

   After watching the merry-go-round go round and round and round... and listening to the same tune playing over and over again, I started to get dizzy, so I held onto Uncle’s hand and squeezed it hard.    

   My stomach started to growl not long after getting down from the merry-go-round, so Uncle Lee bought us one cotton candy each and a bag of popcorn to share. I remember the popcorn being really salty, and I was begging for water soon after. We sat down on a wooden picnic table; my legs were really tired from walking around and chasing Gina around the park. I saw a lot of people with blond hair, and I wondered what it would be like if my hair was a different color. The idea of having green hair seemed awesome, but what if no one liked it? I decided to leave the hair issue for some other time. Other children were walking in front of us with red balloons in their hands. Gina asked Uncle for one, so he went and got two balloons, one for Gina and one for me even when I didn’t ask for one. I kind of knew he would get me one too, since Uncle Lee always has been so nice to me.   

   After, Gina and I got on the monorail. Everything was fine until Gina started crying when the safety bars came down on her. I didn’t know what to do; my mind went blank for a second. When Gina started crying, Uncle Lee was always there, but I knew I had to calm her then. I was getting pretty desperate, because the kids in front of us kept glancing at us. I felt really embarrassed. I didn’t even realize that the train had started to move and was going at full speed. As the train circled around for the third time, it started to slow down, and the sound of Gina’s crying turned into quiet sobs. I was really glad when I got off the train. I thought, “Maybe they shouldn’t just let people get on just because they are tall enough. They should think twice about letting kids who cry a lot to get on, since it would be so embarrassing for both the person crying and the one sitting next to her.”   

   Then Gina started pointing at the Disco Tagada spinning with fiery red and yellow lights. We had to wait in line for the ride, but they put on really fun music. “Billie Jean” was on. Gina and I started dancing, jumping around and dropping on our hands and knees. After a while, the dancing stopped, and Gina started to get drowsy. Eventually, Uncle Lee had to piggyback Gina on his big, broad back.    

   I could see that Uncle Lee was starting to look tired, with Gina drooling on his shoulders. I could tell from his voice that he wasn’t very excited when I asked him if we could see the fireworks. He said, “Maybe next time. It’s getting late and your mother’s probably starting to get worried about you, don’t you think?” As we stepped out of the park, I was happy that I had so much fun. As I took a deep breath, a big smoke from the fireworks behind me filled my nose, and I heard people shouting and whistling. We got in the car, and I fell asleep with Gina in the backseat.
   I saw mom and dad at the dinner table. The kitchen table felt really warm, and it was so bright. I wondered why, but when I looked up to the ceiling I could see firecrackers buzzing all over the kitchen, with balloons floating around and the smell of hot pretzels making my mouth water. Mom and dad didn’t seem to mind, and I only remember myself getting really excited.
   When I woke up, it was quiet. Uncle Lee was just opening the car door in front of my house, and it was already really dark outside. But I remember that as I woke up, I thought to myself that it was the best dream I have ever had. I really, really hope that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I would be able to remember everything that happened today. I hope I’ll be able to remember everything that happened today for the rest of my life, so that when I go to high school, when I get married, and even when I become old and wrinkly, I’ll be able to think about today. I wish I will be able to go back there again someday with Uncle Lee and Gina, just the three of us together. Someday…