This morning we set off, out of the house at 5:30 AM for our first trip flying as a family of five. We’ve flown a lot with kids. But it seems we’ve had a dry spell since the birth of our third daughter. Maybe the purchase of a minivan had something to do with it – because since then it’s been mostly road trips to justify owning Betty the Bus.
There was our quick trip to California in 2010. It was one of my husband’s business trips that I bootlegged along with baby number three. But the big girls stayed with grandparents in Georgia.
The last time we flew as a family of four we were taking this same trip to Colorado. The first morning we were there I found I was pregnant. I took the positive pee stick in my coat pocket and took pictures on ski slopes with it, and used them to announce to family that another one was coming. In my mind it was not going to stop us from living, from traveling and being on the go.
Since then I’ve become a pro at throwing a few necessities, in a moment’s notice, in each girl’s traveling duffle bags that get tossed in the van for a family five. Road trips have become easy-peasy stuff. Even with a traveling dog!
But getting everyone’s stuff for a weeks worth of playing the snow, into bags and on an airplane took major logistic planning in my head.
It turned out we checked three suitcases and one bag of snow boots. On the plane each girl had a backpack with a doll, a few simply books and sticker sheets to occupy them on the plane plus their own healthy snacks they had to ration for the day of travels and two, two-hour flights. Ski coats all got worn on the plane. Oh, and they slept in their clothes for today.
And now that we are sitting on the plane – I must say we did quite well for ourselves.
I did my best to pack light. Except for all those doll accessories the girls insisted on bringing. My oldest daughter has been saving her money for nearly two years, waiting for something special to buy. She decided on a set of skis (helmet, goggles, boots and poles included) for her American Girl Doll fit the bill. And my middle girl followed suit with a dog sled. These are no small items!
I have sympathy for them. I still remember the time I packed a bag for my baby doll as a kid when my family was traveling to Michigan. My dad was always trying to save space in the car (which now I DO understand). But he left out my doll in the last minute. So for a week I had a bag full of doll stuff and no doll.
The girls are SUPER excited to play with their cousin (their only immediate cousin) and her doll – who has all the appropriate snow gear. So I was a sucker for the doll accessories, mittens, ice skates and coats.
My brother lives near Aspen, Colorado, about 20 minutes down valley. My sister-in-law is a kids ski instructor at Snowmass Mountain. So yeah, we have the hook up. This is how we are able to swing this trip. They’ve borrowed big cars for us from their friends, car seats and are all ready for us to take storm!
I’m going to try and pop back on the site to say hi sometime during the week. But mostly I’ll be doing a whole lot of playing in the snow with my kids, skiing, being in the moment and trying not to take too many pictures.
Back at the home front there is lots of activity going on at our house – so do not to worry about me announcing the fact that we are not home.
Our extremely well mannered and trusty contractors will be at our house all week rebuilding our garage. They drive big manly trucks. I already mentioned how cute one of them is. And then, on the first day on the job I learned his brother, who runs the business with him, is his twin! It’s like a double mint gum commercial from the 80s with two cute twenty-somethings using power tools.
Soon I’ll tell you some funny stories about how we are NOT DYI folks and my ramblings about our cute contractors will make more sense. My husband has many wonderful qualities, but home improvements is not one of him. He waved the red flag when I had him pulling down wallpaper when I was pregnant with baby number two. He once wore a tool belt backwards and my when we got married my aunt gave me a pink tool box with a poem saying I could always call my dad.
In addition to those happenings on the home front with my double mint contractors using power tools, our pet sitters are there to care for our furry family.
So The Brown House is in good hands.
I think I know who your contractors are! If it’s the same guys, my husband is friends with them. They worked on Blog Cabin when he shot it and Gary photographed one of their weddings. Knoxville is such a small world! Have fun! xo