Vacation Organization

When we go on a family vacation, these days I only have 3 children I pack for (out of 10).  I begin the preparation process by coming up with the outfits for each child.  This trip to Utah for Spring Break was for Thursday through Sunday and a swimsuit in case!  I picked a shirt, pants, socks, undies and for the girls I add bows and rubber bands for each day.  Sunday of course was Sunday clothing also.  This is the BEST way to pack when someone is watching your kids.  This helps the child know what to wear, helping them to be able to get ready easily on their own and helps the babysitter to not wonder what goes with what child or which shirt goes with which pants.  

I use duffel bags to pack in, like a file cabinet.  There are 3 rows one for each child and the clothes are in chronological order front to back.  

I use gallon size bags, although Alek is 12 now and a little big for a gallon size bag, but it works just unzipped!  The bag is labeled with a Sharpie with the name of the child and the day to wear the outfit.  This also helps with coordinating outfits between siblings...when the triplets were little I could color coordinate outfits to match each day.  For these guys, one day I had all BYU gear for them to wear. This makes less thinking during the vacation!..

This is happy Kade in his p.j.'s, grabbing his bag to get dressed.  See how excited he is!

This is what was in the bag, pants, shirt, undies and sock!  (and Kade's foot standing on Lindsay's bed)...oh Kade!


At the end of the day, I gather all the dirty clothing in a big trash bag that I bring along.  Then on the last day, I place the full trash bag in the empty duffle bag.  I place all the shoes in one bag, entitled "The Shoe Bag".


Organization, the key to making vacationing easier!