It's Crunch Time!!!!

Ok...so the van is fine. It was just something that needed to be reset (and wasn't) after the work that was done earlier this week. We were in and out of the car place in ten minutes. Phew!!!!!!

Today is the day. The hardest day. I have a huge list of things that I need to do, but I think that we're in good shape. Part of the problem is that I like to have everything in order, even if it has nothing to do with going away, before we leave. This includes having all of our laundry clean, ironed and put away. That is usually what gets me in the end. I have tried to let go of some of that, but it is nice to come home to a clean house and clean laundry!

My goal is to be DONE by 9:30 at the latest tonight so that I can relax with a couple of house flipping shows on TLC or watch Juno, which we rented. We'll see how it goes :)

Minivan (lack of) update

Well...I took the van to Sam, our car guy, and he said that I could bring it in tomorrow and he would run a test on it to see what the problem is (the diagnostic computer was at another location). I told him that we are leaving this weekend. He said "Don't worry" (HA!) and he didn't seem too concerned, so I'm going to pretend that I'm not either.

Tomorrow morning I will drag all four girls with me (there's no school tomorrow) and see what the computer says. Yikes!

Road Bump #1

Our minivan (our main mode of transportation since my husband's car doesn't fit all of us!) is 9 years old. It has over 100,000 miles on it, but has been very good to us. We have had it in for service recently (the last time was earlier this week) for a bad gas line and then to replace the gas tank. We were glad to get that fixed just in time to leave this weekend. However...as I was driving it yesterday, I noticed that the Service Engine Soon light came on. Ummm...that's not good. As the day went on, and the light didn't go off, I worried more about how to break this to my husband rather than what is actually wrong with the car.

Last night we decided that today, I would stop by the place where we got it fixed and see what they have to say. This should be interesting!

I would be heartbroken if we can't go, but the real problem is this: my daughter's 6th birthday will be when we are in AL and I have sent all of her presents and birthday supplies ahead with my parents because they had some extra room and we won't. Hmmm...I wonder how much it will be to have those overnighted back to us. Ok...no...just think positive, think positive...

This is the last thing that I need to be doing right now!

I have decided to start a blog about our upcoming family trips. This is an exceptional year for us in terms of traveling. We usually have one pretty significant trip per year, and a couple little ones (day or one overnight), but this year we have three trips planned between now and December.

In three short days, we are leaving to travel from NY to Alabama. I have list upon list of things that I want/need to do...and here I am, starting a blog. I thought that this would be a great way to document our trip and to remind me of what works and what doesn't.

Our cast of characters includes myself (Robin), my husband (Chuck) and our four daughters (ages 8, just about 6 and 3 1/2 year old twins).

For me, the hardest part is getting ready, which is what I am knee-deep in now. I hope to post several times over the next few days as we get ready for this adventure!