Packing Hints

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 09:46 Written by lorie Monday, 21 July 2008 09:58

Prior to our recent trip I made a post about how I was packing differently this year — and hoping it would work out well — it did!

We have two of those extra extra large duffle-type bags which have a ton of different compartments. We use these for the kids. One is red and the other blue. The red bag was all their clothing for the first few days of our trip — it got unpacked first. I also placed a laundry bag in the closet for all the really dirty clothes for everyone to place their stuff each night/morning. Once the laundry bag was filled we put it in the emply ‘red’ bag. After a few days we brought out the ‘blue’ bag and unpacked it and began using this clothing. Doing this method helped safe me a trip to the resort laundry — I don’t like doing wash there — it’s expensive and takes a huge chunk out of at least one vacation day. The dryers at the hotel tend to take at least two cycles to dry — thus costing quite a bit to do just one load of laundry.

I also packed our ‘toiletries’ better this trip. I purchased smaller sized bottles of everything — not the travel size because they are way too small for our family size.

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Packing Smart for Disney

Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 10:15 Written by lorie Friday, 27 June 2008 09:39

If you ever been to a Disney resort you know that ‘drawer’ space is limited. At the Polynesian Resort there is exactly ‘one’ drawer per person — we’re a family of five. So … I’ve got to pack smart. I hate getting to the resort and needing to spend an hour or more getting organized and having the kids throwing things all around looking for what they want.

This year I decided to try a new packing technique. I am NOT packing a suitcase for each child. Instead, I packed one suitcase of clothing for about half of our stay at Disney — and another for the second half of our stay. For instance, in the kids’ blue suitcase I have clothing for all three kids to last for the first few days of our trip. That bag we will unpack as soon as we arrive in our room. The other ‘red’ suitcase has clothing for the rest of our trip — that one will go in the closet when we first arrive. After a few days we’ll switch out. This helps from having overstuffed drawers — and gives us a place to put our dirty laundry (I refuse to do laundry while on vacation!).

I’ve also recently purchased a nice little carry-on type suitcase which we call our medical bag.  It basically contains all our toiletries and any medical supplies we need while on vacation.  It’s always full to the brim with everything we need.  Our family is too large to pack travel sized items — so I purchase the smaller sized bottles of shampoo, etc. and it works out well.

Do you have any packing secrets?

Boys!

Last Updated on Saturday, 21 June 2008 03:45 Written by lorie Saturday, 21 June 2008 03:45

People always ask me why I start packing so early for our vacation.

Let me share a little of what I found today as I attempted to begin packing the suitcases for my two boys….

Swim trunks thrown about the room — some half in the dresser — some not. Some in the laundry basket (with price tags still on them!) — some in the toy box — another pair in a lego box.

Okay…. let’s check under the bed …. great place to find everything they’ll need for an extended trip somewhere cold and frosty — half their winter clothing was stuffed under the bed — along with a few candy wrappers, a rotten apple core, and a ton more legos.

Ughhhhhhhh….. I’ll need at least 10 days to get these boys organized and packed!

Now .. on to my daughter … she’s a pat rack — she saves everything. I don’t even bother trying to organize her life any more. I just tell her to pack her bag herself and then I go through to make sure all the essentials are there. So far — she’s doing pretty good — but still hunting down a few items stuffed in one of her boxes.