Two Weeks, Four States, Six People...

I am writing this from Hal's parents' house in Warwick, New York, which is where we've been since yesterday when we drove from our Motel in New Jersey (after flying from LA to Newark on Saturday afternoon) to surprise my father-in-law on his 80th birthday. SURPRISE! (ED: I wanted to write about this trip earlier, but was unable to because my father-in-law reads this website and I didn't want to blow our cover.) SO! Here we are. We are traveling back east for the next couple of weeks --  through upstate NY, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and NYC. More on that, later.

In the meantime, here is a post about packing for two weeks, four states and six people:

Packing for six people for a two week trip is not something I have any expertise in at all. Except for the fact that I have done it now three times. Not well, mind you. I always forget someone's underwear and pack someone else nothing but pants and we always end up at the nearest gift shop to buy toothbrushes, but that's part of the adventure, right? I mean. Does anyone REALLY want the kind of family memories where everyone has impeccably packed personalized bags and doesn't spend at least half of the trip trying to duplicate a lost lovey at the nearest Goodwill?...

...Screw packing light! Keep Calm and Don't Carry On, you know what I'm sayin? Keep Calm and PACK A HUGE SUITCASE FULL OF PANTS.

And car seats.

And booster seats.

And snacks.

And costumes, in case the kids decide they want to put on an impromptu play in the elevator of the Empire State Building.

....For the airplane, every kid gets a backpack full of goodies that they are unable to open until takeoff. This trip I have procured a fine selection of items from the 99 cent bin at Target. They also each have their own journals and drawing paper, crayons, markers, pens and mechanical pencils, playing cards, and new books. We also have three screens--my computer, Hal's computer and Hal's iPad--for movie watching during flights. So far we have been able to have Archer and Fable share a screen with one pair of headphones...

And then there's the suitcases... 

I was never going to be a master packer. And that's just fine. Because, you wanna know what? It matters zero. Regardless of what I've overpacked on past trips and/or accidentally left behind, we have never met a vacation we didn't love. Because if there's one thing I've learned while traveling with family, it's not about what you bring, but how you bring it. 

You can read my packing post in its entirety, here.

GGC