Planning?

So in about a week we will be going on a weekend trip. This will be our first actual trip somewhere since we went to Door County in Wisconsin when The Girl was about 15 months old.  So yeah, it's been a while.

With The Chef's job in catering, the summer is a very busy time. The last few days he hasn't made it home from work before The Boy went to bed for the night. So trying to go anywhere in the summer just doesn't work very well. We could go somewhere in the winter when he is slower, but for some reason it just doesn't sound as appealing as going somewhere in the summer. Combine that with the fact that we are a one-income family and vacation starts to sound like a four letter word.

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who go places all the time, budget be damned. I've just never been able to do that. Honestly, I doubt we'd be going anywhere at all if it weren't for The Chef's family. His sister planned a family trip to a place about 3 hours south of us for their mother's birthday. We're all going to stay in separate cabins and do something or other. I think we'll be renting a pontoon for one day or something. It sounds fairly relaxing.

I might be in and out next week, getting ready for the trip. Those who know me know that I am a bit of a planner. I like to know just what it is that I'm getting into so I can be adequately put together. We'll be bringing our own food to cook, so I'll need to figure that out. Being the mom, I'll end up getting The Girl, The Boy and myself together. Then comes getting the car ready - the oil change, gas and general cleaning. Then comes getting the house ready to leave - I don't like to leave for any length of time unless the house is picked up. Coming home from a trip to a messy house drives me nutty - even when it's just a day trip.

Next comes the night before we leave. That's when I finish all but the toiletry packing, load the car as much as possible, and finish up any loose ends. Not sure how exactly loading the car became my problem. The Chef tends to drag his feet when getting ready, preferring to pack the morning we're leaving. Then inevitably he misses something or forgets something. All this while I'm sitting with the kids dressed waiting to leave. I'm not sure if it's desperation to leave or the desire to actually get out the door at some point that prompted me to start loading the car. Either way, apparently it's my job now. But whatever.

This is getting a bit all over the place. I guess that's what I get for blogging late at night.

The point is - if you have any tips or tricks for travelling with kids, I'm all ears.