"Dude, this pizza is SO good!" Phoenix exclaimed as she bit into another piece of stuffed crust pepperoni pizza.

"Yeah! I could eat here everyday!" I added.

"Poor pigs..." Uncle Leo muttered slightly.

I looked up and laughed a little. Our uncle can act so much like a vegetarian sometimes.

"Ew. You're gonna make me sick man." Phoenix complained.

Our uncle smiled and I rolled my eyes.

**********************************

After we paid for our pizza, we started walking around the boardwalk together. Phoenix and I walked into a gift shop with our uncle following close behind. I smiled widely and picked up a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure.

"Look! It's Uncle Leo." I said, laughing at my own joke.

"You think I can do karate like Leonardo?" Our uncle asked, winking.

Phoenix laughed.

"Go to a martial arts class and start using katanas and then yes, you'll be Leonardo the Ninja Turtle." She said. "And technically, it's ninjutsu."

I put the toy down then Phoenix whispered in my ear.

"Mikey's honestly my favorite."

I laughed a little and whispered back.

"Raph's my favorite."

"Are you two nerding out over there?" Uncle Leo asked with a large grin on his face.

Phoenix and I both turned around.

"GEEK!" We yelled.

"Shh!"

We turned around to see the desk lady glaring at us as if she were a librarian busy reading a novel. We turned back around.

"A nerd," I began, "is a very very smart person-"

"While a geek," Phoenix interrupted, "is someone who is into Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and," she picked up one of the turtles and a tiny light saber key chain, "this stuff."

Our uncle laughed at our weirdness and looked back at us, wiping a tear away.

"Thank you for educating me in the difference of nerds and geeks." He said, laughing a little.

"Now," Phoenix began, "let us inform you about the significance of neeks-"

"And gerds!" I interrupted, getting payback.

"Shh!"

We turned to look at the desk lady, who looked infuriated.

"If your children," she said with great disgust, "cannot be quiet sir, I must ask that you leave."

"Cut them some slack," Uncle Leo said stepping in front of us, "they're just kids ma'am."

Phoenix and I looked at each other. We both nodded and peeked around our uncle. I puckered my lips and crossed my eyes while Phoenix crossed her eyes, stuck out her tongue and wiggled her fingers, which were on top of her head giving her "antlers".

Our uncle turned around and we gave him an innocent face with a tiny smile and batting our eye lashes. He put his arms around us.

"We're the only people in the store anyway. And you wouldn't want one of the first things these children remember from their experience here to be the mean lady at the gift shop."

Phoenix and I leaned in closer to our uncle and made sad puppy faces. Phoenix sniffed a little to make it even more heart breaking.

"I can just see the ratings on this place dropping." Our uncle said, gazing out into space.

The woman looked flustered and then rolled her eyes.

"Fine!" She exclaimed, pushing up her glasses which were set on the edge of her nose. "Buy something, or get out!"

Phoenix and I giggled a little.

"Of course, ma'am." Uncle Leo responded.

He then turned to us, and it was obvious he was trying not to laugh.

"Grab whatever you want and let's go." He whispered, grinning ear to ear.

Phoenix and I found some emoji pillows! We found the perfect one for Phoenix which was a 😳 emoji and one for me that looked like 😎. Because I'm super cool.

We checked out and left the gift shop, we then look at each other and bursted into fits of laughter.

"Did you see her face?!?!" I exclaimed, laughing.

"She must hate children I guess. Along with smiles." Uncle Leo said, laughing along.