The holiday season was approaching and Justin and Emma were hoping that their
parents would take them out of school early, and go to the
Big Apple
for the Holiday Season. 
It seemed like it had been
a month of Sundays
since the family had gone on a vacation. Whenever they asked their parents
about going on a vacation their parents would always say that they weren't
money bags.
This year their parents had promised to
sharpen
their pencils
and see if they could find a way to come up with the
cold hard cash
because they didn't believe in going on vacations using credit cards. This
year their parents said that maybe if they
wished upon their lucky stars
they might get the vacation that they were always wanting and could never have. 
They liked to say to Justin and Emma that they should
take heart
that although they didn't often go on family vacations, they had a good roof
over their head and loving parents. They would also say that if Justin and
Emma money
burning a hole in
their pockets, 
they were more than welcome to contribute it to the family to
make it possible to go on vacation. Justin and Emma were not too impressed
with this idea, because wasn't it supposed to be the parent's job to provide for
their children. Didn't that include vacations? They tried to
convince their parents that they would
have a ball
in the
Big Apple.
All they wanted to do was
blow this popsicle stand.
Christmas at home was nice, but a vacation would allow them to see that
it's a whole other world out there.
Wasn't travel an education in itself ? 
They were very disappointed when
school
was out
for the winter break
and there was no news of a vacation. When their mom picked them up at
school they were very sad and not looking forward to the same old Holiday Season
celebrations.
Their mother told them that they were both the
apple of my eye
and that they were going out for dinner and that she might have some news for
them, after they had a
bite to eat.
When they got to the restaurant (McDonald's) which were a
dime a dozen
in their town, they decided that they would each have a Big Mac, a large
milkshake, a large side of
fries and two apple pies with a muffin. When the food arrived they looked
at it and realized that perhaps their
eyes
were bigger than their stomachs. They were asking where their father was, when he walked into the restaurant. "Speak of the devil,"
said their mom. Their dad said, "Cheerio".
They both though that was weird because who says cheerio? Their dad was a
Canuck not
a Brit (from England). He told them
that he had been giving them a
rough time
about not having enough money for a vacation. He wanted them to know that
money was the root of all evil
, because he didn't want his children to think that
money doesn't grew on trees.
He thought it was important for his children to appreciate that you couldn't
always have everything that you want. He told them that this time, he had
been
pulling
their chains. They were going to get their wish to go somewhere great
for a winter break. It had been necessary for him to
keep a secret
until the news was final. He was on
on cloud nine
with the good news. Justin and Emma were getting impatient to find out
what this news was because
nine times out of ten, what their dad thought was good news was just
ordinary news. One time he came home and said that he was
on cloud nine
because he had a new car. 
The car turned out to be 10 years old, but
he explained it was new to him!
In no time they were growing bored with the conversation. Finally he
told them that he had been a
night owl
for the last six months and had been working very hard on a project for work.
They both knew that their dad had been very busy lately, but they also knew
first hand,
that their dad working hard wasn't unusual. He had always come home late
after work. A few years ago, they thought that maybe he was a
bar star.
He had never been a
barrel of laughs
because he worked hard and didn't have much time for his family. Recently
they noticed that their dad looked like
bean pole
because he had been working so hard. Their hopes were at
rock bottom
by this time.Their dad said that the family were already as
American as apple pie
and that they weren't going to the
Big Apple
for the Holiday Season since
it's a zoo in
New York at the best of times. December was even worse, so he
decided that they wouldn't be going there this year,
before you can say Jack Robinson
their dad said that this was a very
good day,
they were going to go to DisneyWorld in Florida. 
Justin and Emma were
thrilled. They had always wanted to go to Orlando. Justin was
looking forward to all the
eye candy
on the beaches and couldn't wait to
hit town.
In a flash
they were both excited. Their dad said, "one for the money two for the show three to get ready and four to go",
we're on the next flight, out of this SNOW.
