Monday, March 28, 2011

Traveling- the night before...

Where to:
So our family is heading out for our annual Florida trip to Regal Palms. This year will be slightly different. My parents are going, as well as my brother and sister-in-law, and their three kids. Sadly, my older sister was not able to make it. 
Travel:
What is interesting to me about traveling is how different people are and "how" they travel. I stress my father out. That was evident at a recent family dinner. Traveling is really an experience in itself and personalities definitely play a role in your "traveling style". Kyle and I have been on many trips together. We have had relaxing trips, and not so relaxing trips. Inevitably the not-so-relaxing part comes from the airport. Kyle and I both have different styles of traveling. He is the type that likes to be there hours in advance. Me...not so much. I find it to be a waste of time. I would rather gamble on what I think the wait might be on security. I stress Kyle out, I get it. We are different people, different personalities. We joke that we will use separate flights and meet up at said destination. As far as tomorrow,  our flight is at 6:00 AM out of Portland. Little Portland airport. Never busy, but I swear it thinks its Logan or something. Like the Little Engine That Could. Anyhow, I wanted to leave our house at 4:00, Kyle wanted 3:30, we settled on pulling out of the garage at 3:50. Odd time, I know. Something very unsettling about leaving at 3:45 that didn't rest well with me. 3:50 I managed to be ok with. 
The packing:
How many bags should we bring? Now that airlines charge per bag, this is a carefully thought out process. Do we become the travelers that claim to have "carry-ons" that are really overstuffed mini suitcases shoved into overhead compartments that tick off the flight attendants? To avoid this, Kyle tells Devyn he will share a check in bag with her. Well, this involves him putting his things in with her carefully packed Roxy luggage. Sharing a bag is not something that resonates well with a 10 year old girl. Especially with her father. She is officially at the "age". We settled with Kyle having his own carry on, which include carefully rolled t-shirts...very uniform. Me, my disheveled pack job of a suitcase. Hey, who knows what I might need? Corbin and Landon sharing. Devyn of course, has her own. She is a girl. A girl needs her space. I get it.
Tonight:
Tonight was the usual Kyle trying to pack-things-in-the-car-too-early night. Me saying no, I'm not ready. Of course there are always last minute things to pack. Blankies, stuffies. The kids were doing the usual asking a 1,000 questions about what we are going to do the second we get there kind of thing. Little do they know it is suppose to rain and thunderstorm tomorrow. 
As far as the early morning goes, I have all of the kids clothes laid out on their floor. Dev asked to sleep in her clothes...me, being the mean mom that I am, I had to keep up my image with a fast "NO" and a "give me a break" expression. I have quick breakfasts ready consisting of peanut butter and honey sandwich squares and an apple. Corbin asked for a pop-tart for breakfast and he got the "yeah right" expression. I haven't scored the points yet, but I assume I will because I did manage to sneak in a surprise in their individual carry-ons. I made individual "emergency airplane bags" filled with fun goodies...packs of gum, vitamin C lollipops, blank journals, chips, and healthy M&M's (healthy M&M's...sounds like an oxy-moron, I know). Hopefully things will run smooth. :)
Memories right? 

1 comment:

  1. Kerrie ..sorry it's taken so long to write a comment...love how you write...very literate and visual in your writing...Dad does the same thing to me...ready to put the suitcases in the car and I always yell "NOT YET"....should all be compiled in a book...love your blog....keep it up...

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