Preparation and Packing

The second to last week of November was spent preparing for our week-long trip to Illinois for a Page family visit (and some wonderful friends too). The first step was to adjust the kids to Central Standard Time so that they would avoid waking the entire household (which for several days was 9 people total) at 5:30 or 6 a.m. So we moved bedtime to 9 or 9:30. This was the result of that project for McCance.

Next was getting together all the food. When we travel, we pack a cooler with sandwiches, carrots, apples, and finger food snicky-snacks, so our stops are limited just a little bit. We'll take what we can get. It's not easy coordinating 4 people's bathroom stops in a 10-12 hour trip! Also, this trip was Thanksgiving, which means food. I've been given the honor of preparing my grandmother's rolls for our little family get-together of 27 some people. So I make and bake them ahead and freeze them for the day. It's a wonderful ritual.

And packing. I pack for 3 of us and Scott for himself. He remembers all the tools he might need to help my sister and parents. (My dad has his own tools, but there's nothing like your own tools--and knowing exactly where they are.) I pack shopping bags full of Christmas gifts (We do our family gift exchange the day after Thanksgiving.) and maternity and baby hand-me-downs since both my sister and sister-in-law are expecting also. A few sleeping bags and all the food in the coolers. Then Scott begins using his amazing talent for packing a semi-trailer load in our Honda Odyssey!


The big question is what he has up his sleeve when the family hits 5 people--one with an abundance of accessories. His current plan is a Yakima roof rack. . . . Our ultimate plan is moving back to Illinois so we're closer.