Day 1: Home to Albany

We did it!  We successfully packed the car and made it out the door in time to get to a noon mass to pray for safe travels (and children to sleep).  We stopped for lunch (at Panera, of course), then got on the road by 1:45.  145 miles later we pulled into our hotel east of Albany shortly after 4pm and found a Cracker Barrel to eat a great dinner.  Children were asleep before 8, and we won't be far behind.  Hoping for a good night's sleep tonight since tomorrow will be twice as much driving.  On to Buffalo!  But first, some pictures...

Oh, and this will not be the first time I say:  we love the Honda Odyssey.  LOVE.  (And here I was that person who didn't want to be a minivan driver!  It's not a minivan.  It's a swagger wagon (sorry, Toyota.  I'm stealing your line.))

God bless the minivan

I made these nifty little tags to indicate the contents of each bag.  This one is waaaaaay in the back.

I love plastic bins

Did I forget to mention that there would have been NO WAY we'd have left on time if it hadn't been for my dear mother who came to our house to entertain the kids for two hours while we finished packing?  I even got to shower!!  Thanks, Mom!

Made it to Albany.  Eating at Cracker Barrel.  She will slay you with her eyes.

Someone's got her Daddy wrapped around her finger.  I think her shirt actually says something to that effect.

KISSES!

Cuteness abounds

Danny and his baby are hard at work on the coloring front.

Sweet boy enjoyed the first leg of the trip.  Thanks to the DVD player (which I SWORE we didn't need nor did I want.  Don't mind being proved wrong once in a while.)

Playtime!

Daddy: tackled

I hope these pictures don't all take too long to load for y'all (I went to Cracker Barrel.  I can say y'all now.)  Let me know if they do and I will adjust.  Or if they're too small.  I didn't have any photo-editing tools at my disposal for this post, so the baby's little pimple or bug bite above her lip will have to remain.  I hope you enjoy them regardless!

Here's a quick quiz for you.  During our 145-mile drive, who's the only one who fell asleep:
a.) The 9-month-old baby girl
b.) The 4-year-old boy
c.) The 31-year-old father
d.) The 32-year-old mother
e.) None of the above
f.) All of the above  (Look out!!)

The answer will be revealed tomorrow.  Until then!

51 hours from now...

...we should be pulling out of the driveway! So, that means I have 51 hours to finish laundry, pack clothes for 3 weeks for 4 people, put the newspaper on hold, put water globes in my potted plants, bring my potted plants to my neighbors' house (friendly neighbors are the best!), find Danny's wedding outfit, buy a new wedding outfit for Danny when I can't find the one he wore in May, cut Jim and Danny's hair, fill up the car top carrier with all of our camping stuff, move the jumper cables from the WRX to the van, buy Mary's teething tablets at Walgreens, pack all the food for the trip into bins, set ant traps (curse you, ants!), carefully pack our passports and the kids' birth certificates for our Canadian border crossing, print the tickets for our Lake Michigan ferry crossing, pack the first aid kit, toiletries, games, swimming things, cameras, laptops, i-items, DVDs, chargers, diapers, wipes, sling, stroller, sports equipment, energy drinks, cups, bowls, plates, spoons, forks, salt and pepper.

Did we forget anything? Kitchen sink? Billy and Jenny are bringing that. Not to worry.

See? I HAVE started packing!

Almost there!

What to Pack?!?

We are less than 7 days away from starting our epic road trip. This weekend it started to really hit home that we are going to be away from our house for three weeks and subsequently have to plan out everything we need in advance. I’m more of a pack for three nights, 4 days kind of person, so I’m guessing this will take a little more forethought. The good news (or bad news) is that I think we’ll have a Target, Wal-Mart, random mega-mart within 50 miles of us for the entire trip. With the exception of potential snow/cold weather in Yellow Stone, I think we will be ready to go with t-shirts and shorts for most of the trip with the exception of the big wedding and various hikes. The bigger question is what to pack for the kids to keep them entertained for the boring parts. We have a bunch of travel games, silly songs, videos/dvds, makers, paper, card games, etc. so I think we’ll be in good shape. Plus, I’m sure they’ll sleep a bunch too, right?

As part of our packing prep we also tried out our super cool tent that connects to the back of our Swagger Wagon. I was really surprised at how easy the tent went together and happy that we could leave MC and DJ hanging out around the tent without incident.

That said, MC literally tried to climb the walls. Oops!

We also think we’ll be ready for any electronic needs. I think everything, but the Wii will be joining us in the car, including a couple of iPads, iPhones, BlackBerry, Laptop, Mi-Fi, Air Card, Camera, Flip Camera and a whole slew of chargers… I sure hope that campsite has a lot of power strips… power strips and extension cords, let’s add that to the list!

Eight Days.

Ok, so I REALLY ought to start packing. My lists have lists. It's daunting. But, I also want to keep baking. I'm baking treats to bring in the car with us. So far, I've made:
-Chocolate Chip Cookies
-Sugar cookies (but they're low fat!)
-Mini Banana Muffins
-Bread (buttermilk, white, cinnamon swirl)
-Granola

I also made a strawberry-rhubarb pie on Friday, but that won't travel so well.

I still plan to make a few more things to take with us. Mama Bowman made her fantastic Nuts and Bolts* for us to take with us - enough for both cars! Thanks, ma! (*Chex Mix for the uninitiated)

My sad realization is that we will have lots of these homebaked treats for the way TO California, but not so much on the way HOME from California. That drive through Kansas and Missouri's looking pretty bleak. Oh well, that's what iPads are for, right?