Pack Attack

Presidents Day week is ski week at San Jose Unified and what is becoming our annual tradition is visiting the Florida grandparents.

In booking our plane travel we continued our love/hate relationship with red-eyes. In many ways the long red-eye is perfect with small children, but the flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is a short red-eye. Which means we leave at 10:30 pm (well after bedtime) and arrive at 6:30 am EST. If we can pull off the hat trick, and get the boys to go to sleep upon arrival it would be less of a nightmare ... but this is my pessimistic prediction:

• Board the plane at 10:30 pm. The boys finally settle down and sleep at 11:30 pm.
• Arrive at 3:30 am PST and escort our tired and cranky boys through the airport
• Get to grandparents condo around 4:30 am PST - boys are bright-eyed and bushy tailed and want to play and hang out with their grandparents.
• One of the boys enters full melt down around 5 pm EST 
• The boys will be sound asleep by 6 pm EST. 

It should be a day of discomfort. But on the bright-side, the next day they will be ready for any adventure.

Last year we had cooler weather in Florida, this year temperatures are expected to be in the high 70s low 80s. Since we work full time, and the weather here next week will be rainy and cool, I'm able to pack for the trip this weekend -- which is great. I've already completed packing the boys bag, and set aside their travel outfits. I'm trying to keep it to only one checked bag (to avoid the bag tax).

Now I have to hunt for sunscreen, sunglasses and goggles and other summer sundries that have been scattered to the four corners of the house, as well as pick some small toys I know the boys will love to play with in Florida.

The boys had tons of fun on the trip last year, and they are both excited about traveling. Xander who is now swimming and loves water can't wait to enjoy the beach and pool. Caleb my fair skinned little boy is looking forward to playing in the sand (and being out of the sun). We may even surprise them with a trip Disney World. Hopefully I can finish my pack attack today.

Cheboygan Michigan Bound

I can't believe we'll be traveling to Cheboygan to visit my Aunt and Uncle on Sunday. We've been so busy that I haven't started the war room or packing for the trip. Although I did buy the boys some new toys that they'll find out about either at the airport or when we arrive in Traverse City.

The plan is to take the red-eye to Chicago O'Hare and then onto Traverse City on the first morning flight. Again we have the booster seat dilemma -- the rental car company is charging an arm and a leg to rent booster seats for the boys. I suspect that it is the cheap $25 seats that they want to charge us $50 per child for a week. We're debating whether we'll just bring them ... of course that means buying booster seats and hauling them cross country.

On both the airplane trip and the road trip to Cheboygan I'm hoping the boys will sleep, so they'll be bright eyed and cheerful, and not a crazy tired preschool mess. My Aunt and Uncle will understand (hopefully), but I want the whole adventure to begin on the right foot -- not with a total melt down by one of my kids.

A friend of Jonathan also warned us about mosquitoes and chiggers, so we'll be off to shop for bug repellent suitable for our 3 year old. When Caleb gets a mosquito bite it isn't just an itchy patch it is an ugly welt that scabs over ... so we'd like to avoid that. 

The drive from Traverse City to Cheboygan is supposed to be beautiful. My Aunt and Uncle have a bunch planned for them. Fishing trips, boat rides, swimming, and a train ride ... But we are most looking forward to relaxing and spending quality time with the boys, and my Aunt and Uncle...

Now off to pack!

10 Simple Rules About Packing

I have one reoccurring nightmare before every trip. My flight is in two hours, I just woke up, I’m in my pajamas, I’m not packed and I’m moving in slow motion.

The packing process gives me the most anxiety. Will I pack too much, will I forget something, and will I give myself enough time to pull it all together before the trip?

So, here are my 10 rules for pain-free packing…

1. Put everything you think you will need on a list, check off items when you pack them, and give yourself plenty of time. This will keep you from over-packing (impulsively packing from the clean laundry pile), or forgetting something.
2. If your trip is longer than five days, plan to do laundry. You should also research laundry facilities locally for each stage of your trip. For example, everything is closed on Sunday’s in Vienna, including low cost Laundromats.
3. For small children pack 1.5 outfits a day. So for a trip over five days, you would pack eight outfits.
   
4. Decide what you can buy once you’re there. Caleb is still in diapers, and our trip will be 12 days long. I figure he uses five diapers a day… so we will need 60 diapers on the trip. However, I’m only packing three days worth, since it will be easy to do a diaper run once we’re in DC.
5. Pack extra underwear in case you can’t do laundry on the 5th day. I’m packing seven pairs of underwear each for the potty-trained members of my family, so if we somehow don’t get to laundry until Day 6, I can be assured that one part of the outfit is clean.
6. If you are sharing luggage, invest in mesh bags for each family member to keep you organized.
7. Adjust the wardrobe for where you are going... What will the weather look like? Will you need a dress up outfit? How do the locals dress? I remember several years ago visiting our friends in December in Southern California. I was dressed in my fashionable Northern California winter grays, all the locals were in tank tops and flower skirts and I thought I’d die of heat stroke.
8. Don’t take whole bottles of hair product, even if you plan to check your luggage. I’ve made it 23 days on a travel-sized bottle of shampoo and conditioner – you can too.
9. Put change of clothing for each kid in the carry on. Last year Xander got sick all over himself in the first hour of a three hour car trip. I didn’t think to pack a change of clothes. Bad, bad mommy.
10. Always, always, always pack rain gear, especially if you are going somewhere that gets rain. When you don’t it rains, and when you do it takes up space in your luggage.

Now, with three days left before our East Coast adventure I’d better get packing.

The War Room

Today I’m cleaning out the office to make room for the war room. It is the staging area for everything that needs to be packed for the trip. I start creating a war room and putting together the packing list about two weeks before a major trip.

When my husband and I were just novice world travelers I would have balked at the concept of a war room. I would have spent two hours packing the night before… of course. I probably wouldn’t have had a list. But then my husband forgot underwear and socks on our Chicago trip, and I went to Boston in February without a coat.

Now multiply the packing fun by about five, and you have all of the moving parts required to effectively and happily travel with children.

Here are some of the areas that my packing lists cover …
Stroller
Toys (for the airplane and for a hotel)
DVD Player with DVDs
First Aid kit (including any medications)
Clothes
Toiletries
Snacks and Sippy Cups
Comfort items (blankets and cars and bears … oh my)
Paperwork (birth certificates and passports)

Once I have carved out my war room, I will start putting aside items that can be packed early and won’t be missed. This process will lead up to two days before we travel, at which time I will be going over the list with a fine tooth comb… Will we forget something, maybe… but it won’t be my 4 year old’s irreplaceable, comfort toy “bear.”