#12 Kate's Sleepover Disaster

My computer sucks, so I wasn’t able to post this last night.

It’s Wednesday after school, and the Sleepover Friends are at Stephanie’s house, discussing their upcoming trip to Walden. It’s time for the Riverhurst students to go visit the kids in Walden. The girls are eating peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and trying to decide what to pack. Stephanie is bringing lots of red, white and black clothes of course, including a black and white sweatshirt and red stretchpants. Kate complains that she tried packing the night before, but her little sister Melissa (aka Melissa the Monster) messed up everything and put on her clothes. Stephanie thinks Kate is too hard on Melissa, and that she should be flattered.

Molly Jones, who stayed with Stephanie when the Walden kids visited, calls to tell Stephanie where they’ll each be staying in Walden. Stephanie is staying with Annette, Lauren is staying with Rebecca, Patti is staying with Molly, and Kate is staying with a girl named Wanda. Wanda didn’t go to Riverhurst because it was during lambing time—her family raises sheep. Unfortunately for Kate, Wanda has 4 siblings. She is not thrilled about this, since she can barely put up with her own sister. Stephanie claims to have some great child-managing ideas but Kate is not impressed.

Stephanie gets a call from a stable, where their donkey, Sleepover, has been staying. Remember how Lauren entered all those contests when they thought Stephanie’s dad was going to lose his job, and they ended up with a burro instead? Well, they were able to find a stable to keep him at, but it turns out the donkey escaped and caused all kinds of damage to the owner’s house. He wants the burro out—now. The girls are worried, but luckily Rebecca calls and says her family can take the donkey since they live on a farm. Then she invites the girls to come a day earlier for a big sleepover.

The girls leave for Walden on Saturday morning. Kate wears a blue and yellow striped shirt, denim overalls and her blue leather sneakers. Lauren wears her favorite jeans, a blue-and-green rugby shirt, and silver hightops. I love Lauren’s silver hightops! Stephanie is wearing a red-and-black checked jumpsuit and short black boots. Stephanie’s dad is driving them to Walden, with Sleepover the donkey in a trailer. Donald, the kid who lives in the house between Kate and Lauren, jokes that the girls are joining a traveling circus.

The drive to Walden is 217 miles and should take at least 5 ½ hours. Lauren is hungry already, of course. Luckily, Stephanie brought along some snacks: caramel popcorn, mixed nuts and chocolate covered raisins, plus Patti brought some sugar cookies. It’s 9:10 in the morning! Lauren ends up falling asleep in the car for awhile, and dreams that she eats a huge farm dinner all by herself and gets fatter & fatter with each bite, so she ends up looking like the Goodyear blimp. (warning: there is a lot of food in this book!)

They decide to make a stop since Kate is feeling carsick (I would guess it’s more from eating all that junk food at 9am, but whatever). They stop at a gas station and go inside to get Dr Peppers and a double-dip fudge ripple ice cream cone for Patti. While they are in the store, Sleepover gets out. Patti uses her ice cream cone to get him back into the trailer, but they end up locking her in the trailer with him.

The rest of the drive is uneventful. They get to Rebecca’s house and take Sleepover to a barn. They meet Rebecca’s family, including her cute cousin Reggie, aka The Hunk.

Reggie has spiky blond hair, pale blue eyes, and a great smile. He’s the kind of guy everybody agrees is terrific-looking. That day he was wearing an electric-blue sweater, faded jeans, and work boots.

Wanda and her family show up, and the bratty kids cause all kinds of trouble. Unfortunately, Wanda’s mom is at the hospital with Wanda’s sick grandmother. Wanda’s mom is the one who usually keeps the family in line.

That night, they all sit down to dinner. There’s ham, a pot roast, a huge platter of fried chicken, 4 kinds of vegetables, fresh French fries, and 3 kinds of home-baked bread. Plus, coconut cake and lemon pie for dessert. After dinner, Rebecca’s family says the girls don’t have to help clean up, so they can get started on their slumber party. Oops, it’s a sleepover. Get it right!

The girls head to the house for their sleepover. Remember when the Walden girls visited and Rebecca told the scary story about the big white hand? Kate brings that up, and Rebecca tells them that the house burned down, but the shed is still standing on the property nearby. The girls know they have to be quiet at their sleepover because they are on a farm. Rebecca’s family has to go to bed early and wake up early. The girls head to the kitchen to get some snacks: Dr Pepper, Cheetos, Cheese Doodles and sour-cream potato chips. Then Lauren asks if she can raid the fridge! Lauren takes a little of everything: barbecued spare ribs, stuffed sweet potatoes, macaroni salad and more. Seriously, how does this girl eat so much?!

They head upstairs to eat, play Mad Libs and play Truth or Dare. Stephanie dares Lauren to go to the spooky old shed. They all go and are scared. They hear a tapping noise. Turns out—it’s Sleepover! As they are heading back to the barn, Stephanie thinks she sees wolves, freaks out, and runs away. It was actually Rebecca’s dogs. Stephanie falls into a pond and screams, waking everyone up.

The next morning, they have a big pancake breakfast. They discuss the problem with Sleepover and decide he’s bored.

The next morning, they all go to school together. Kate complains that Wanda’s father is too busy with the sheep and lets the kids get away with murder. Wanda is too nice, and Wanda’s older brother is too cool and grown-up to be bothered. Stephanie still thinks she can handle them, but Kate doubts her. On the way home from school, the bus stops suddenly—Sleepover got out again!

Rebecca and Lauren have some peach ice cream and then head over to Wanda’s house to support Kate. The house is a disaster. They all try to help clean up. Before they leave, Lauren decides to weigh herself on Wanda’s brother’s scale. Turns out, she has gained 6 pounds in the past 3 days! She decides—no more farm food!

The next morning, Lauren wakes up at 6am to go jogging. She skips the delicious blueberry muffins and sausage, and instead has half a grapefruit for breakfast. That day at school, Carol invites them all to a sleepover at her house, and says her dad will take them all to the circus. Lauren notices that Angela, Jenny Carlin’s best friend, is actually smiling and being nice. Kate finally caves in and asks Stephanie for help dealing with Wanda’s bratty siblings. She goes over to the house after school, while Rebecca and Lauren go to a cattle auction with Rebecca’s dad.
Kate is shocked to find out that whatever Stephanie did, worked! The kids are actually cleaning and helping out around the house!

That night for dinner, Lauren has a salad and one pork chop, skipping the potatoes, cornbread and cake. The next morning she goes jogging and is joined by Reggie, which she thinks is excellent. The next morning, 2 more boys join her. If only Jenny Carlin could see her now!

Thursday afternoon, the girls go for jelly doughnuts at the Doughnut Hole and Lauren has a diet Dr Pepper. Then they go to Star Confectionery for hot butterscotch sundaes and Lauren has some lemon yogurt. I’m sorry, but you’re on vacation!! It’s ok to indulge a little on vacation!

Friday morning on the bus, they notice that Wanda’s sister is wearing Stephanie’s black and white sweatshirt. Turns out, Stephanie bribed the kids to be good! However, Wanda’s brother Will disappears. He turns up at the circus, along with Sleepover the donkey, who escaped yet again. Turns out, Will wanted Stephanie to buy him a canoe and she said no. So Stephanie’s plan didn’t work out perfectly, but the kids are better behaved.

That night they all go to the circus. When the vendor comes around selling peanuts and popcorn, Lauren says no and admits that she gained 6 pounds. Turns out, Wanda’s brother fiddled with the scale! Lauren promptly orders a big bag of peanuts AND a big bag of popcorn, along with an extra-large Dr Pepper.

The circus starts and guess who has joined? Sleepover!