Canada

Off We Go!
Well, it's time for a little trip; well maybe not such a little trip but maybe a shorter trip.  We are going to Nova Scotia, Canada, as in another country.  We've had lots of preparation in a short amount of time.  We found out that we were going about 3 weeks ago so needless to say we have been very busy. 
JB is teaching a bridge inspector refresher class for 3 days while we are there.  We're taking about 6 days to get to NS and then we'll stay there a week and after that we'll come back home taking more time than needed to get back so we can stop and see the sights. 
Realizing last year how well the "bin" system works, we rounded up some more of these handy things and that has helped streamline our packing and organize us better.  The one bag a day system worked great when we moved to California, staying in a different hotel each night, so we are doing that again too.  Of course when you add in the overnight bag that goes in every night, the bag with sleeping bags and extra blankets, the baby/momma bag (yes, I separate ours from everyone else's), the cooler, pillows, and "lovey blankets", it is a little more than ONE bag going in a hotel room but it's more manageable to have everyone's next day clothes all together in that one bag than each person having a bag with all they need for 6 days!  And it's not like we don't have lots of arms for carrying! 

 Here is our living room before we left and this is not all of it.  There are a lot of bins in the foyer packed mostly with food.  JB found some awesome totes that have handles and roll.  Two fit perfectly under two seats and one holds our lunch stuff and the other holds snacks.  We can just roll them out and pull out what we need and roll them back under.  There is a playpen, a booster high chair and other "deep pack" items.  We are walking around saying things like, "This is deep pack (means goes on the bottom, not needed until we get to the house in Canada), or this is top pack (meaning we need it daily or along the way)." 

 Okay, we are mostly packed here.  We think we should pack in this last little bit on the ground here and take her along.

Okay, new seating arrangements for this day.  We will move around occasionally but for now this is set.  Scott will be the co-navigator up front today.  I am going to sit on the back row today between Jackson and Harris and since that is a 4-seater we will have some extra room to spread out.  We are trying to split older and younger kids up and this will help with a long driving day and with activities in the car.  Our goal is to have a long driving day on the first day out, that way we can drive while everyone is still realitively under a spell of anticipation.  We'll try to make it to at least Pittsburgh but maybe Erie, Pennsylvania.  We would really like to be at Niagra Falls on the 4th.  Our wild card this year is the baby who knows what it's like to be out of the car seat but our saving grace is that she still takes 2 long naps a day so I think we'll manage.  I will be posting and blogging all along the way.  So, keep checking in!  It's 9:10 am on July 3; time to roll out of here!