Packing - Day 2

Day 2 is definitely the lighter of the two day packing system.  On day two, the first thing I do is get down the suitcases.  I use one suitcase for all three kids for a few reasons.  One, if I don't, there is far too much room to over pack.  Secondly, there are three of them and two of us...we can't be toting tons of little suitcases everywhere.  And lastly, it is so much easier to keep everything organized and together at our destination when I don't have suitcases all over the house/hotel room/etc.

So, once I get the suitcases, I put them to the side in my 'packing room'.  When packing my kids clothes, I am very systematic.  The first thing I do is go through the days that we will be gone.  I figure out the 'special outfits' that will be needed.  For this weekend, we'd be going to church on Sunday and we were going to be celebrating Mini C's birthday.  Child by child, I lay out everything they would need for these two occasions.  I laid out all of their church clothes, socks, shoes, belts, tights, bows, etc.  Then I moved on to Mini-C's birthday outfit, socks, shoes, and bow. 

After I have any 'special occasion' clothes laid out, I move on to the every day clothes.  This is where the open table or bed becomes VERY important.  The first thing I lay out are pajamas.  I use them as place markers for each child. 

After I have their pajamas out, I move on to their clothes.  For the older two, I pack one extra 'everyday' outfit.  I start with Little P and move down the line from there.  So, this is what I do. 

First, I lay out P's CLOTHES.

Then, I add socks and underwear to every outfit (plus one extra).

And lastly, I lay out any shoes that he will need.

Once I do this, I repeat the same process for the girls, taking it step by step.  This is what my table ends up looking like.

Once I reach this point, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  The hardest part is over. 

Next, I finish off my first day bag.  For this trip, we were going to be changing them into these clothes at our breakfast stop.  They needed to be comfy for car riding but cute for arriving at Nana and Pepe's house.  So, I take one outfit/socks/underwear/shoes for each child and pack it into my 'First Day' bag.

Now, if you remember, our first day bag should last us through the first twenty four hours.  So, since we will be leaving at 3AM, I have the clothes that they will be changing into, their bath soap, diapers, wipes, extra underwear, tooth brush, tooth paste, and pajamas for the following night.  Done.  Zip it up and add it to the pile of things to get packed.

Lastly, we just have to pack up all of their clothes.  Like I told you, I put all three kids in one suitcase.  I put all of their socks and underwear in the mesh compartment and then line the rest up child by child.  Little P usually has the right side, Little C usually has the middle, and Mini C has the left side.  This is what it ends up looking like.

Once everything is packed up, I get to pack up the car.  My husband usually packs up our car for other things, but he is so awesome at letting me do it when we go on trips.  There is something about knowing that it is all organized. 

First I get everything into the back (suitcases, stroller, food for our destination, Christmas presents, etc.)  The last day bag is the last bag to go in so I can easily access it when we stop.  Then, I move to the front of the car.  I place the snacks in between the console and the dash board, the diaper box directly behind the console, the toys right behind the passenger seat, and the DVD player behind the drivers seat.  I also adjust their car seats so they are leaning back and place a blanket in each car seat so they can go back to sleep once we load them up in the morning.  They also each have a sippy cup of water but those stay in the console unless they ask for them.  With two potty trained kiddos, less water = less stops.  They know they can take sips but we won't be chugging water...haha.

So, that's about it.  I can't tell you how nice it is to get in the car and drive off knowing that I have everything I need. 

I hope these ideas have helped you in your packing this Holiday Season and beyond.

Merry Christmas!