On Saturday morning, Mom, Mia, and I picked up Great-Gran at her nursing home. We put her wheelchair into our trunk and started on the long drive to Thrillsville.

“Are you sure you don’t want to wait a few weeks to go to Thrillsville? It will be very crowded there today because the new ride is opening. I heard that the line for Mount Killer could be three hours long,” Mom said.

“I’m sure I want to go today,” I said. I had already told everyone in my class that I’d be on the Mount Killer ride on opening day.

Mia screeched a Princess Sing-Along song: “Take a bath every night, la la la. So you won’t smell like a fright, la la la.”

“Mia, don’t sing dumb Princess Sing-Along songs,” I said.

“Princess Sing-Along songs aren’t dumb,” Mia said.

“Yes, they are,” I said.

“No, they’re not. You’re dumb,” she said.

“You’re dumb,” I said.

“You’re —”

Great-Gran let out a loud whistle. Then she said, “Arguing is dumb. I have an idea. I’ve learned Princess Sing-Along songs from Mia and rap songs from Zeke. Now I’ll teach you kids an old song called ‘Minnie the Moocher.’” And she did.

To tell you the truth, the song was pretty dumb. Most of the words were things like, “Hydie, hydie, ho,” and, “Oh, oh, oh,” and, “Yeah, yeah.” It was so dumb that soon we were all laughing.

“I could make up a better song than that,” I said. I started singing about Minnie the Moocher’s pet, Morris the Mule. I added, “Ooh, ooh, ooh,” and, “Shoobie woobie.”

Then Mom made up a song about Minnie’s other pet, Myrna the Monkey. She sang, “Wah, wah, wah.”

When we saw the big crowds at the park, Mom said, “The Mount Killer ride is going to have a killer line.” She was right. The line was huge. A sign at the end of the line said Current Wait: 3 hours.

“We don’t have to stand in that long line,” Great-Gran said.

“Princess Sing-Along says to wait your turn,” Mia said. Then she sang, “People who cut in line, la la la, behave like nasty swine, la la la.”

“We won’t cut in line. We’ll use a different entrance for people in wheelchairs,” Great-Gran said.

She led me to a separate entrance. Mom waited outside with Mia, who was too little for the ride.

After only a few minutes, Great-Gran and I went on Mount Killer. It was very scary. It had dark tunnels, crazy twists, and sharp drops. It made me scream and feel sick to my stomach.

I thought it was the best ride ever.

“Whoa! That was more fun than a barrel of monkeys in a room full of clowns. Thanks for inviting me along,” Great-Gran said.

“Thanks for helping me win the tickets. This is the best day at Thrillsville ever,” I said.

Don’t tell Hector or Charlie, but I was glad I’d taken Great-Gran to Thrillsville instead of them.