Note:  The following was written last Friday morning as we started off on our “roadtrip.”

It’s great when the whole family pitches in to pack up the car.  Problem is, us Moms lose total control.  In drips and drabs, I saw the following make its way down to the car:

-       5 duffles (even the 4 year old and 6 year old packed their own things – I didn’t even check)

-       5 sleeping bags

-       5 pillows

-       bag of towels

-       12 books

-       huge case of markers

-       8 games

-       3 volumes of DVD cases (probably representing about 60 movies) – I did intercept this

-       2 boxes of band-aids (I guess they’re anticipating a lot of blood)

-       Tent

-       Sleeping mats

-       2 camping chairs & 2 camping stools

-       Coffee Pot

-       Cooler of drinks and breakfast items

-       8 stuffed animals, including a 2 foot by 2 foot Sponge Bob

-       lacrosse sticks and about 10 balls (in case they get lost)

-       1 inflatable Scooby Doo raft

-       2 laptops

Guess how long our trip is?  Two Days.

Good News is we just acquired a Suburban (despite major reservations on my part given the economy and environment, I finally gave into the reality of transporting 4 kids).

Bad News is when I walked out to the car, it was packed to the gills – no excess space.

Good News is that we’re going to pick up my daughter from camp in Maine, who has been away for 3.5 weeks.

Bad News is – I think we’re going to have to strap her onto the top of the car.

Good News is I was very proud of myself when I decided to book a campsite rather than a hotel or B&B.  Hotels get so expensive, plus I knew the kids would love the camping idea.

Bad News is:  It’s supposed to rain all weekend. 

We’ve been traveling for a little over an hour now.  The fight over the radio station commenced just 5 minutes into the trip.  The fight over which DVD to put on commenced about 20 minutes into the trip.  One bag of pizza flavored goldfish – gone.

The first question about “when are we going to be there” asked just 25 minutes into the trip…hmmm…

Note:  The following was written on the drive home Sunday

So we maximized the weekend as much as we could, leaving the Sebago Lakes region of Maine around 4PM to begin our 5 hour drive home.  Last Friday, we arrived late afternoon – with the sun still shining, but clouds building up. We had very friendly camping neighbors – one who even set up a fly tent over our picnic table when we were out at dinner, and left two lit lanterns for us – he was concerned with the predicted rain, the kids would need an escape from the tent.  So extremely nice!  And yes it did POUR Friday night, and we had some very noisy loons on the lake (although I loved listening to them). So even despite the fact that I woke up in a puddle Saturday morning – wet sleeping bag, pillow, duffle etc.  I have no complaints.  The sun finally peaked out Sat. afternoon, and for the rest of the weekend we swam in three lakes, and caught up with old friends.  And the best part was, we picked up our daughter, and we even managed to fit her into the car!