I have been contemplating how I am going to pack for our mini vacation. I use the word vacation lightly because I think that all of the images that "vacation" conjures up in my mind will be lacking in this trip. Words like "restful", "stress free", "good food", "conversation" etc. can never be used in a description of a vacation with 3 pre 5 year olds, and I don't even see on the horizon the oh-so-wonderful concepts of "sleeping in", "hanging out" and "refreshing our souls".
But it will be a new experience for us. Here is what I am anticipating:
"sight seeing" - mostly every playground in the area and hopefully not too many naked little bodies.
"new experiences"- pulling our children off of new statues and out of new bodies of water.
"exploring"- looking for places to take people to the bathroom and change diapers
"cliff jumping"- What Noah may try if he has to listen to too much "Dora the Explorer" music in the van.
"sleeping in"- our children sleeping in our bed, that is.
"reconnecting"- hopefully connecting with each other and our kids in a different environment and making some fun family memories.
But onto the packing dilemma. Tell me please, what is the best way to pack for a trip with a lot of children? Do you give everyone their own bag so you have a lot of bags to juggle, but everything is separate? Or do you put everything in as few large bags/suitcases as you can so you have less to carry but everything is sort of mixed up? Or do you do a combination? Do you mix clothes with toys, books and cds, or do you separate those out?!
I dread the thought of having clothes and diapers and stuff strewn everywhere and me not being able to remember which bag X is in. But there is no bag in the world that can hold everything we need to bring. I am seriously contemplating making my kids wear the same clothes the whole time. And I would too, if it wasn't for the relatives that will be around.
3 comments:
I vote giant ziplocks labeled day 1, day 2, etc. Throw all the boys clothes for the day into one. Pull it out, get them dressed and put the dirty clothes from the day before into the bag you empty.
Okay, so I stole this. This is how they tell us to pack for the 3-Day. I think it would work really well for staying organized.
Good idea Kim! I personally pack all the girls' stuff in one bag, from youngest to oldest (left to right) and throw all the underwear, suits and diapers into the zipper pouch. Then Steve and I share another big bag. And then there's the bag I pack full of educational books and toys and videos. And then they each usually want to pack a small bag/purse with their puppies and misc junk that will prolly get left somewhere, but it's not "educational" so I don't really care. And then there's the food bag, and the cooler, and the water toys and life jackets. And the bikes. And the pillows and blankets. Ooh, and don't forget the camera......Uuugh! I hate "vacations!" Have fun though;)
I was going to say the exact same thing Kim said. I recently heard that tip and tried it on our last vacation and it was so nice to only have to haul one small bag plus the bathroom kit into the hotel at night. You can use giant ziplocs or duffels but put like-items together so that when it's time to swim, you have all the swimsuits, towels, and swim diapers in one bag. Have one bag for pajamas for all the boys, and one bag for shoes, one for toys, one for dried snacks, etc. Label them by days or just keep the general outfits all in one big duffel. I always try to put a travel pack of wetwipes throughout the car too. STash some in the glovebox, in the diaper bag, in the back seat and in the trunk so you have them within reach for those messy car spills and sticky hands. Have diapers packed throughout the car too and at least one outfit accessible for each boy that is dry in case of accidents. (I know this because our son wet through so many outfits on one trip home that he ended up wearing his SISTER'S pajamas from the dirty clothes bag into Olive Garden for supper!)
Post a Comment