Naptime Blog

We are going on a 5 day weekend vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia next week…  That is me, my husband, my seven year old daughter, my twin sons, my father-in-law and his wife.  We are all driving in one car (my father-in-law’s truck with a hitch and a roof rack) and leaving NYC around 4 am Friday morning.  Are we nuts?

Since it is still spring, I am not sure exactly what to pack.  Do I bring mostly pants and jeans for the kids or shorts and tank tops?  Spring is so unpredictable (especially these days!) so I am unsure.  I know it will be a few degrees higher in Virginia, but even there it could be a bit chilly, and since space is tight, I have to be careful with what I do.

What ticks me off is that my husband called the hotel to reserve two cribs for our twins and was told that they do not reserve them, as it is on a first come, first served basis.  Of course we can’t take any chances, so along with everything else, we need to take two Pak ‘N Plays for them.  I guess this is a blessing in disguise, because I am never keen about sharing cribs, and I just feel safer knowing my babies are sleeping in a clean place!

OK, so right off the bat we have to take:  two Pack ‘N Plays, two car seats (obviously), their double stroller (which is big and bulky anyway!), luggage with clothing, baby bottles and formula, baby food jars and spoons, cheerios and puffs, regular diapers, swim diapers and overnights diapers (plus wipes), some books and toys to keep them occupied, bibs, baby wash, and more.  And this is just for the two littlest members of our family!

Then of course there is Juliana, our seven year old.  I went through her drawers yesterday to pick out her clothes and put them in the suitcase that I will be sharing with her, and I was once again amazed at how messy a seven year old girl can be!  Her drawers were an absolute mess!  I cannot believe how many things I found with tags on them rolled in a ball along with clothes two sizes too small!  Ok, I am very much at fault here for not going through her old clothes more frequently, but in my defense, I only did this at the beginning of winter when I changed to her winter clothes!  She had Christmas presents and birthday presents that I had originally put all in one drawer for her when I put them away, but somehow they are now mixed with all the other clothes rolled into a ball of mess!  So before I was able to pack for her, I had to sort through what fit and what didn’t, what was old and what was new, plus what was season appropriate and what was not.  Done.

And then it was off to shop.  We first went to Babies R Us to get travel sized baby wash, powder, baby food and Puffs, those little traveling plastic placemats to stick on restaurant tables so baby can self-feed, Benadryl, and new convertible car seats (because they have almost outgrown their infant ones and need to be comfortable on our 5 hour drive).  So the car seats were not in stock, there was no travel sized baby wash (so I bought a regular sized one and figure I will just use it at home when we return), there was no baby powder in the store at all (never mind travel sized!), the only Puffs they had were strawberry (which the pediatrician said not to give them until a year old!), and for the life of me I could not find any baby Benadryl (or any Benadryl, for that matter!)

So by the time my husband and I got to the register (and we still managed to spend $70 – go figure!), I was ticked off!  I asked the clerk why nothing was in stock and he said that Saturdays are their busiest days (we shopped on a Sunday afternoon).  Um, Babies R Us cannot prepare in advance for a busy Saturday and plan to have a restock on Saturday night or Sunday morning?  Wow!  So I finished my shopping at Walmart.  Should have just gone there in the beginning!

As I cross off items from my list of things to pack (I live by lists!), I keep adding things to them!  By the time we are all done loading my father-in-law’s truck, there will be no room for us!  Oh well, I am still looking forward to a very well deserved five day family vacation.  And I hope it all goes well, we are planning a week long road trip to Myrtle Beach in August!

Jennifer
Mom to Juliana (7), Louis (9m) and Anthony (9m)
Expecting #4 in September!
www.nevaland.com