We jetted off to Houston for a little family “vacation” last week. Our niece was baptized and it was a chance for the kiddos to see their cousins so, we made the (kind of last minute) decision to fly down and join in the festivities. To answer some questions from the packing post:

1. Where did we go? We went to Houston. I can’t believe that I didn’t mention that in the post. We were only gone 5 days but, it was a lot of travel. Harvey’s brother, John, and his children live down in Texas. We have only been there one other time, when the Kaeson was 2 months old.

2. Did I get my kiddos packed into one suitcase? Yep! I sure did. And yes, to the sub question, it did include the diapers too. I got all the diapers, outfits, hair things, socks, shoes, undies, swimsuits, and jackets into one suitcase. It was a tight fit but, I didn’t want to check more baggage than I had to.

3. Did I have to go through the dreaded X-Ray scanner? For those of you that are not familiar with the Salt Lake City airport, we have a fabulous security system. The X-Ray scanner scans what you have under your clothing. Apparently, they can’t see your face but they can see everything (and I mean LITERALLY everything) else. It has caused quite a stir here. Well, fortunately, God was smiling upon and I didn’t have to go through the machine. Harvey did though. You can ask him about it.

4. Over packing: Yes, I always over pack. People at the airports think that I am nuts but, I really do use almost everything that we bring. My kids used every last piece of clothing that I took down with us. It is nice to have spares so that you are able to change them halfway through the day after the red Popsicle that grandma gave them gets all over their fresh white shirts!

5. How was the flight? The flight down was fine. The kiddos haven’t been on a plane in a couple of years and this was Toad’s first flight. They kept themselves busy for the three hours with coloring, play dough and the now invaluable laptop movie theater. The flight back was a nightmare. Kelty’s little ears were bothering him and screamed like he was being tortured for 40 mintues. I got some glares from some people and some whisperings. I ended becoming a ball of tears. Thankfully, there were some people on the plane that were very kind and offered to help. Kelty finally cried himself to sleep and snuggled with Harvey the rest of the flight. The flight attendant came up and offered me a drink… a double if I wanted it. That was sweet of her but I stuck to the cranberry juice.

6. What about packing so far in advance? I have always been a last minute packer. I find myself doing laundry, cleaning the house and running to Wal Mart at 3:00 am the morning of the flight just to get that last little item that we couldn’t possibly find anywhere else in the world (Gotta have my crystal light.) I decided to do it differently this time and had it ALL done way in advance but somehow still managed to stay up WWWAAAAYYYYYY too late. However, it was relaxing knowing that it was done.

So, thanks everyone for all of your comments, questions and concerns. The kids had a great time on the trip. I will be posting pictures and more of what we did later.