We were driving to Gun Lake Casino, where my mom sings twice a year. I love to spend time with my family, as they’re always there for me, as I have realized once I’ve grown older. That’s why I go up north and have fun, while finishing my homework. There’s a nice connected hotel to it, where me and my sister stay, while my parents go and watch my mom sing. Two days afterwards, that was the day we were going to leave. We packed up our clothes, gave the key to the hotel service and rolled our suitcases down to our car. That’s when I came up with a brilliant idea. “Can we go water rafting at the river?” I asked. Everyone seemed ok with the idea, although, of course, my mother was scared, but we tried it anyways. Well, let me tell you, that was probably the worst idea I’ve ever come up with.

The helper there, gave us the raft, paddles, and lifejackets, as he pushed us off onto the ongoing river. We started out paddling slowly, picking up our pace as we went. Then, as soon as we got to the big stream, things started to get crazier. We couldn't keep up, and when there’s a problem, everyone finds comfort in yelling at who, yea of course, me. Since I was the youngest, and the weakest, I tried to keep up with my tall and athletic family, but failed to do so. And yelling helps absolutely no situation, especially my mother's screaming as she was terrified for her life. We hid every branch, bump, rock and other people as we could, but the scariest was the branches as we got caught up in it, stuck in a maze, and couldn't keep up. And that was just the beginning.

Our paddles were lost and started down the river. Since we couldn't get them as we were stuck in the branch, we heard other people coming behind us, and started yelling. “Hey!” we yelled, “Could you help us and get, all, our paddles that we lost down the river?” They nodded and rowed down to help us. They left but we were still stuck, and it took us awhile to get out. We then went to the nearest mini island and got our cooler and ate our lunch and drinks. We finished up our food, packed it in, and sailed off. We went down the rocky river, and hit a few bumps. Then we had to actually get off since we got stuck, again. We stopped near a mountain and little space for us to stop and get off. We then got unstuck and headed down the last part of the never ending river.

That’s when the inevitable happened. My mother lost her phone. Thankfully, it had a waterproof case on, and the water wasn't completely deep, but was pretty murky. We searched for a long time, all throughout the raft, our bags, and the water. We finally saw a pink glint of the case, and hoped for the impossible. We reached down and felt the phone. We all tried but it was deep. My dad finally jumped out, soaked, and reached down and quickly grabbed it and jumped back in the raft. We quickly started back up again, and finished the route. Soaked, we dried off, and jumped in the car back home. Back for the 3 hour long drive and another drive full of talks, loud music, food and hopefully sleep.

Although it was a crazy day, at least I got to spend it with my family. Whatever I go through, I know they’ll be there, standing by my side through thick and thin. In conclusion, I can always count on them and I’m glad I got to share that scary, yet fun experience with them and as I grow older, I appreciate them more and more.