Differences.

"I had a dream last night!"

"Oh?  Tell me."

"Well first we were in this hotel room.  You, me, Johnny, Hannah, your mom, your dad, and my dad, for some reason.  And I had brought my plants, too, except I had forgotten to water them.  But my dad was carrying this big, yellow, plastic container which I thought was plant food, so I poured some on the plant, but it turned out to be dish soap.

Then my dad left and it was your family and us in this car.  Johnny was getting carsick, and for some reason he wanted me to go through his duffle bag to see if he packed his green and pink underwear.  I think it might have been because I was sitting closer to the back?  Anyway, I remembered that I had forgotten my plants in the hotel room, and lamented over it, but then your mom said, 'Oh I can go back and get them, it's no problem.'  But I told her they weren't worth driving another hour for.  We were on our way to Valley Fair.

Except when we got there we were in Russia, and we were on the Amazing Race!  Your mom had left.  Aunt Wendy and Ali were there.  Ali and I were on a team, Hannah and Aunt Wendy were on a team, and I think you and your dad were on a team.  They had closed down the main street in whatever town we were in, and there were all these carnival rides.  First we had to ride in this little car up until we got to this ride that spun you around..and then there was this other ride where you put on these big inflatable shoes and stomped around in them..."

"That doesn't sound like a very fun ride!"

"I think they were traditional Russian rides or something."

"In Soviet Russia, you ARE ride!"

"Anyway, after the shoes, you had to get on this ski lift, but instead of chairs, you were sitting on pool noodles.  And it was weird because first you had to get a Russian license because on the way up the chair lift you had to drink a shot of liquor.  I remember the clue specifically said, 'Present your Russian ID to the chair lift operator before boarding.'  Ali had already gotten to the top and was waiting for me.

Now, there were pedestrians all around and some were waiting in line for the chair lift.  I wasn't sure if I was allowed to go in front of them because I was on a race, or if I had to wait in line.  I didn't want our team to get penalized, so I waited in line.  I got on the ride, took the shot, and rode up the lift. It was weird; it took me through these rooms and one was restaurant.  Anna and Laura Jonker were sitting at this table and I asked them if I was in last place.  Laura said, 'Unfortunately, yes...'

When I got to the top the Russian lady wouldn't let Ali and I check in, because I had forgotten to present my Russian ID to the chair operator.  So I had to go back down and do it all over again.  When I got to the top we were several hours behind and definitely in last place and I hoped Ali wasn't thinking I was a horrible partner...and I just imagined everyone watching us on TV talking about how stupid I was for being eliminated in the first leg...but luckily it was a non-elimination round!!"

"Wow!  That's amazing.  I had a dream too, last night!"

"Oh??  What was it?"

"I dreamed that I was awake."

"....."

"I was awake, and I turned off the alarm, and went and took a shower."

".... That's a nice dream, too."