Getting prepared....

Tomorrow at this time our family of six will be loaded up in the Swaggerwagon and on our way back home. *WooHoo!* But as fun as our destination is, the trip is just over twelve hours. We are planning on leaving right after lunch tomorrow and driving straight through to the in-laws house in one day, stopping only for gas, dinner and potty breaks/diaper changes.

12 hours in a minivan with 4 kids under the age of 5 and one dog.

Doesn't that sound FUN?

Honestly, it wasn't too bad the previous two times back in November. But Sweetcheeks was only 8 weeks old and being a newborn, she slept a lot. Now she is a pretty active 6 month old. She likes to crawl and roll and make noise and giggle and laugh and she loves to be held and showered with affection. Obviously it's pretty hard to do all those things while in a car seat. It's one of those situations where you are hoping for the best but planning for the worst. Today is my ''get everything ready day" so we went and gassed up the van, went to the grocery store and stocked up on snacks.

Packing snacks for 6 people isn't exactly easy. Especially when you don't want to bring anything that is very messy or a choking hazard and nothing that requires utensils or napkins. {Napkins have a funny way of being dropped the second that Mommy is back in the passenger seat after climbing three rows back to hand them out}. We have a vast array of snacks so that we will not be blowing money at every gas station between here and Oklahoma on food. I'm talking bunny shaped crackers (both cheddar and graham), fruit snacks, pretzels, squeezable applesauce , bananas, beef jerky, string cheese, green grapes (cut in half), M&M's {in case things start getting out of control and I need to bribe} and to drink: gatorade, milk, bottled water, apple juice and Dr. Pepper (not for the kids). Whew!

It sounds like a lot but realistically we are going to be driving 10 hours in one day. Then staying 2 nights with the inlaws. Then getting back in the car on Monday to drive 1.5 hours, stopping to visit the grandmas, then driving the last hour to Nanaw & Papa's house. There isn't really anything else to do in the van and when kids are bored they usually become hungry. I am packing I-Spy bags, Magna Doodles, a few of their toys Cars, and they are each getting a pad of paper with their crayon roll ups. While we are against DVD players in the car, I did load up free episodes of Chuggington, Scooby Doo, Word World and Curious George just in case. Typically the older kids keep themselves entertained and don't whine too much. We also have 2 CD's of kids music, so I think that helps tremendously.

And now, I have to start packing clothes and tolietries...ugh!