Preparation

In three days our family will be leaving on a very special vacation to Hawaii.  I have been mentally preparing for months, but it has come time to start putting the wheels in motion.  I tried to explain the luggage situation to my husband. "We will each have a back pack, one with food, one with entertainment, the umbrella stroller will be gate checked, the car seats will be checked at the counter, we will take one suitcase as a carry-on with extra clothes for ALL of us, (pretty certain he stopped listening two backpacks ago!) a smaller bag with diaper changing stuff, I will put my wrist-let in one of the carry-on's, and then of course the regular suitcases that will just be checked."  Are you following me honey? Are you listening?

This is just the stuff to go into checked luggage.  Love our packing cubes, they are a must for anyone who travels frequently!  All of our carry-on stuff is in a separate pile!

God bless him, he told me to relax and that we would pack on Sunday and he would help and he was wonderful help!  I went shopping on Saturday for the food and entertainment.  We need 20 hours of just plane entertainment.  Our flights are broken up into 5 hour legs, but we have to keep the kids busy.  So I raided the Happy Meal toy stash.  I went to Barnes & Nobel and bought some really cool books, that I can't wait for them to see!  We have coloring books, activity books, crayons, water paint brushes, cards, paper dolls, journals, etc... I had a hard time getting stuff for Grant, everything I looked at I thought, "He could throw that, or he might choke on the that, too messy, too loud...."  I am hoping he really likes the books and mommy and daddy's silly antics!  The iPad will be loaded with new shows and apps the night before we leave.  We are leaving our house at 1:30 AM, for a 6:00 AM flight and have only a 45 minute layover in California, so I am not planning on having much time to grab food.  Plus, eating can be entertaining.  Heaven help us!  I bought peanut butter crackers, Jelly Belly's, mini M&M's, granola bars, oatmeal squares, suckers, fruit snacks, squeeze tubes of apple sauce, squeeze tubes with vegetables, dried apples, Twizzlers, trail mixes, sour gummy worms (for us!)... Oh and of course blankets for each of them and sippy cups.  The pediatrician also recommended Benadryl, in case things get hairy!  We are prepared for the worst and will hope for the best!  In general, our kids are good travelers and good at restaurants, but this is for ten hours, so we shall see!  I am hoping they will slide into their car seats and sleep until we get to the airport and then if we can stay awake and happy for the first leg, maybe we can all get a snooze on the 2nd leg.  Brandon has his noise cancelling headphones packed!  I may fight him for them!