Are vacations work or fun?

There was a meme floating around the internet a while back that said something like "When you're a mom, packing for and going on a vacation is work and going to Target alone is a vacation.".  No kidding!

The kids and I are getting ready for our big Midwestern Adventure (IM has to stay home and work) and I've generated a whole typed page of "things we can't forget".  Of course, if we really forgot any of them, I think it would be fine...there are stores where we are going, and honestly, some of the stuff on the list we would be just fine without!

Every time we do this I weigh the advantages and disadvantages of driving and of flying. So far, driving has always won for these big trips.  Barring any problems, we can get to Indiana in two (long) days of driving--one hotel stay--and from there, it is a progression of couch surfing across the midwest until it is time to drive home again. The biggest advantage of driving over flying, though, is that I can pack my car full of stuff, knowing that we will accumulate some things as we off load others.  For example, I'm taking a couple bags of "girl clothes" to a friend in Indiana, where I will meet my parents, who are bringing a hand crank ice cream maker for a friend of mine to take camping.  Then I'll pick up my grandma's dishes from a cousin in Michigan...so those two actions will empty a spot in the car and then fill it back up. We'll have a bag of sand toys for the beach at the cabin (I'm hoping, that like the last visit, some of our sand toys are lost, broken, and/or given away to other children...it seems silly to have so many sand toys when I don't live near a coast.).

We are already stalking the books on CD section at the library, to scoop up some treasures that we haven't heard yet or would love to hear again.  The Harry Potter series have been our standby for years, supplemented by anything else read by Jim Dale (he is the best...you really must listen to something read by him), but we are in search of something new as well...perhaps "The Westing Game" or some other Newberry winner from the 80's? And Gary Paulsen, but only some of them...some are too sad.  We tried listening to the Percy Jackson series a few years ago, but the reader's interpretation of Percy's friend the Pegasus was too annoying.  It has to be soothing enough that the children enjoy listening (and the Girl can sleep, to avoid being carsick) but interesting enough that I don't get sleepy.

Other "must haves" on the list include beef jerky (The Girl says she thinks it is too expensive at gas stations), a couple board games for rainy nights at the cabin, and clothing for all the midwestern seasons we'll encounter as we travel (swim, rain, hot, cold...).

The kids and I are looking forward to our trip and promise to give you updates on what we are up to...sometime!