This past weekend was our first trip with our four children. For days before the trip, I was dreading packing. I have never liked to pack, but the thought of packing for not only myself, but for the four little ones seemed like such a large task. Then, there were the nightmares of how we were going to fit all of our stuff into the car. This was only going to be a weekend getaway, but I knew it would be a lot of work for Mom and Dad.

We tried to be organized. I made a list and the two girls who are old enough to help, chose their clothes the night before we left. I packed them up into one small suitcase. Then, I gave them a small bag for items to keep them busy. I told them that whatever books, toys, etc.. they wanted to bring had to fit in that bag. There were no complaints! Two were packed, just two more kids to go!

The morning of the trip, I packed for my two little boys. They shared a tiny suitcase and I threw in a lot of extras for them. I knew there would be spit up, leaky diapers, etc.. Then we needed to extra-large bags for the diapers, bottles, sippy cups, wipees, special snacks, sleeping pad for the baby, and toys.

My husband had the daunting task of fitting all of our stuff into our SUV. We are thankful to have an SUV with a third row, so we can all ride together, but now our trunk is teeny. He was able to fit our suitcases in the trunk. We still had two boogie boards, two large bags, and an enormous double stroller to pack. We were able to squeeze everything in and my husband tied the double stroller onto the top of our SUV. Five hours after waking, we were able to leave!

We go to the central coast quite often. The trip usually takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. We knew we'd have to be patient with our newborn, so we weren't expecting to break any records, but our 2 hours and 15 minutes turned into over three hours! We had to stop about 30 minutes into our trip because we heard banging on top of our car. Visions of our new double stroller flying down the freeway were not good, so my husband stopped and checked the ties. All was okay, but the stop woke our 22 month old. Now we were stuck with him wanting to hear the Wiggles CD over and over and over...

Thirty more minutes down the road, our newborn woke up. Of course he woke up on the stretch of Highway 46 where there is NOTHING and nowhere to stop. We tried to soothe him and finally we were able to stop at the rest stop. I fed him and the older ones went for a walk with Dad. An hour later, we were at our destination and ready to celebrate 4th of July! We had a great weekend. Then, came Sunday and the task of packing, loading, and driving home with 4 kids and A LOT of traffic!

This time, both my husband and I were dreading the ride, but it wasn't that bad. We had to make 3 stops, it took us about 4 hours, and I was cramped in a back seat with the baby and the 22 month old, but we DID IT! We had made our first trip with 4 kids on a busy holiday weekend. Granted we were tired, but we're looking forward to our next vacation! Our next one will be for ten days. How are we going to pack?