Packing!!

There is so much to do to get ready for our annual trek to see our families.

Have you ever considered how much needs to be cleaned in order to travel? Clean clothes, clean van, a clean house, a clean pool. At least to travel with the least amount of stress during and after. I think the work to avoid the stress later is pretty stressful.

Also a bunch of lists: snacks to bring, stuff to buy, clothes to pack, entertainment to bring, people to talk to, bills to pay, "to do" when we get back home, "don't forgets", stuff for Bella's pet sitter...

Sheesh.

I love lists but I need a list to keep track of my list lately!

We are looking forward to getting out of town. As much as I love seeing all our loved ones, my favorite part is usually the long conversations I can have with my dear sweet man. We get interrupted an awful lot, but we can pick the conversation back up more easily when we are stuck sitting next to each other. We do all kinds of reflecting, dreaming, and planning on these trips since we are usually in the car at least 10 hours. It's a wonderful perk to a really long day of travel. Thankfully our girls are good travelers since they've done it since they were tiny.

My next favorite part of these trips is getting to see my girls interacting with their extended family - grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, greats, cousins, Godparents. They are so blessed to have so many family members who really love them and enjoy spending time with them. I'm end up taking a back seat more and more as they forget all about me until I hunt them down for a healthy meal or bedtime. It is sweet.

I'm off to whittle away at those lists........