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For Faith's 4th birthday we took a trip south and visited my sister and my niece (Faith and Ava are just 4 months apart!).  My sister just recently moved and this was the first time seeing her new home.  It was adorable!  We also went to St. Louis Zoo while we were there (she lives only about an hour outside the city).  It was forecasted to be 103 (actual temps), although I don't think it made it quite that high....but still a hot day!  We had a great time with my sister's family and at the zoo and the kids got some "cousin" time with Ava. 

My fourth baby is four.....not sure how i feel about that....although she is going to be a big sister for the second time, so I guess she is growing up!  She is so excited about the baby and keeps asking me when he is coming out.  I am not sure she remembers that little tiny babies aren't capable of much but pooping, eating and crying. 

Her crocheted Tinkerbell that Momma made her.

She even got her own bike!

My sister and Ava baked her birthday cake!

On our way to the Zoo.

At the Zoo (before getting too hot and sweaty!)

With summer creeping to an end and families scrambling to fit in those last minute road trips I thought I would share with you how we organize our "bus".  While we aren't prepared for EVERYTHING, I do think we have most of our bases covered with what we have included in our van.  Before we dive into what and where of the stuff in our 12 passenger GMC Savana, I will give you a few of our van rules/systems.

• I normally clean our van out one or two times a month, depending on how much we are running around in it.  It doesn't take long but goes a long way in keeping the van in tip top shape.  The cleaning consists of vacuuming and removing any/all trash and having the kids take inside all the random toys that have been abandoned in the van.
• The kids are usually able to take 1-2 small toys in the van any given trip to "town" (our nearest real town is about 20 minutes north of us), and a couple more if we taking a longer trip.
• The kids are responsible for removing their toys and any trash they may have accumulated during the trip when they return home.  (Obviously, they sometimes forget - hence the need to clean out the abandoned ones!)

Now for the "what and where" of van contents.

Front Seat

We don't officially have a console in the middle of the two bucket seats in the front row, but we do have a big space.  I used a cheap basket to contain my "all the time" stuff.  Inside the big (lime green) basket is a smaller one (white) and a small bathroom trash can.

1. Trash can - just your normal everyday cheap bathroom sized trash can that fits those Walmart bags nicely
2. Cups - one for each of the kids and a sippy for Georgia.  I use them for passing out snacks.  The sippy is for water for Georgia since she has not yet mastered using the water bottles without spilling it all over herself. 
   
3. Juice box holder - Again, for Georgia.  For juice boxes when we pack our lunches so she doesn't squeeze it all over herself and her car seat. 
   
4. Hand sanitizer.  We use this a lot in the van; before eating snacks, after playing at the indoor playground, after grocery shopping....etc.  Around the neck of the sanitizer I have several hair ties.  Four females in the car, need I say more?
   
5. Glass mason jar with lid - This is were I keep a small amount of "emergency snacks".  It is usually filled with some kind of small snack cracker like goldfish (something all the kids will eat and doesn't take up much room). I keep these on hand for when we are out later than expected and I didn't plan and pack a snack.
6. Kleenex - do I even need to explain this one?
7. Hair brush - again, with the three girls and myself we are in need of a hair bush frequently. 
   
8. Clip boards - I keep clip boards in the van for various reasons; jotting things down, lists for stores/errands and also one of the "punishments" that the older kids receive for some misdemeanors is having to write out things like "I will keep my hands to myself in the car" 25 times and these are perfect for dishing those out!  

This is one of the clip boards.  It has a "pen pal" ( I am IN LOVE with these things!) attached to it so that I can keep a writing utensil with the paper and is loaded with wide ruled paper.  These also come in handy when the kids get bored......my kids love to write notes and draw.

Again, a pen pal so that I have a pen handy when I need one.

Passenger side door pockets: One bin is stuffed with grocery bags to refill the trash can when it gets full and also for things like dirty diapers, wet clothes, etc.  The other bin has some candy (for good behavior!) and an umbrella.  Honestly, I don't know WHY the heck I carry an umbrella.  I have literally NEVER used it.  Even when it is raining I usually don't have a spare hand to hold an umbrella with and there is no way I am getting 5 kids and myself under one umbrella anyway! (Maybe I ought to just take it out???)

Driver side door pockets: In one bin I have reusable water bottles that get used ALL. THE. TIME!  I swear, my kids are addicted to water (especially in the car)!  In the other pocket is a big canister of wet wipes - another item that we use all the time.  I keep one "in stock" in the utility closet at home so I always have one to replace an empty one with. 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS!!  I take an empty milk jug and fill it about 1/3 full and lay it on it's side and then freeze it.  When we leave for an outing we remove it from the freezer and fill the remaining jug with water.  It gives us a gallon of ice cold water that stays cold all day long, even in the car.  This is what I use to fill up the water bottles that I keep in the door pockets.

Bench Seats:

Under the first row bench is our "diaper bag".  It is just a regular back pack that contains extra diapers, a wet bag (a waterproof bag for keeping dirty/wet cloth diapers), wipes, an Ergo baby carrier, extra snappis, hand sanitizer and Butt Paste. The diaper bag stays in the car unless we are going to be away from the van for an extended amount of time (like a museum, zoo or the like) Also under this seat is a first aid kit.

I keep a small, cheap umbrella stroller under the seat of the middle bench.  I can grab it quickly as I am unloading the kids without having to open the back of the van up. This is the stroller I use for quick trips and  errands when I don't need the cup holders and basket on our bigger stroller.

This is the back (behind the last bench).  I keep this pretty much empty because this is where groceries and anything else we pick up while out and about goes.  I keep the larger stroller wedged in a little spot that is recessed so that it doesn't fall over when I open the back doors.  I also keep a picnic blanket under this seat.  It is nice for when we pack a lunch.  It gives us a nice place to sit down if the grass is wet....or in the case this year - if the grass is dry, dead and scratchy!

How do you organize your car?

What do you keep in yours?

Michael turned 5 last week and had a couple of very exciting days. His actual birthday we had a full day of lunch out at a local pizza parlor, a trip to Indianapolis Children's Museum, and then an overnight weekend at the cabin!

The Indy Children's Museum has family free nights once a month from 4-8pm so it was not only fun it was super frugal!

We had beautiful weather for a cabin trip and actually ended up taking the kids on a short hike at a nearby state park.

He had a wonderful birthday and it was a wonderful weekend in the fall bliss in the heart of "Covered Bridge County".

Recently we took advantage of a "free"day in Chicago.  It so happened that the Museuem of Science and Industry, The Field Museum AND the Shedd Aquarium were hosting free days that aligned with one another.  We ended up making it to the Science and Industry Museum and the Shedd Aquarium for the grand total of $9 (plus a 1/2 tank of gas) which is AMAZING because it would have cost our family close to $200 for both of those places if we had gone on a full price day.  Everyone had a great time and we will surely be going back again to spend more time (the Science and Industry Museum is HUGE!!)

Wow! A weekend full of reptiles, giant mirrored beans, skyscrapers, pizza and awesome friends and family! Saturday was spent in Chicago with good friends, the Nurmis. We spent the morning at Reptile Fest and then headed downtown for a stroll through Millennium Park, checking out the sites and eating dinner at a wonderful Chicago Pizzeria! YUMMY!

They told me to have my husband come up and get his photo taken too and that they only let “well built” men hold this monster up by themselves! I sure think he is one well-built man!

And after a wonderful and full day with friends we got another great and full day with family! Sunday, after sleeping in, we hit up a few pet stores (AJ is now saving his money for a corn snake!), the new goodwill and spending the evening with extended family. We ended up hanging out at my aunts cabin with a couple of aunts, a ton of cousins, my grandma and my brother. It was wonderful!

I know I have said it before, but I am SO blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

It has become quite kind of a tradition now to do a mini vacation in late winter with the family. This year and last we visited indoor waterparks and it is such a fun thing to do when you are so sick to death of snow and ice! This year our destination was the Wisconsin Dells - the home of the best indoor water parks in the nation. We stayed at Wilderness Resorts and it was amazing! The kids were never bored, to say the least. They had 3 HUGE indoor water parks all under one roof and one that was a shuttle’s drive away. They also had 2 HUGE arcades, a giant indoor playground complete with toddler area, a candy shop/ice cream parlor, a paint your own pottery studio and a haunted house! Yeah, a kids “Vegas” for sure! We had a good time and plan on going back, possibly next year. The website for the resort is www.wildernessresort.com if you want to check it out. They have some amazing outdoor water fun too, but, of course, mid March in WI is NOT warm enough to enjoy that!

We also enjoyed a little place called Alligator Alley. It was just a small building with tons of snakes, unique reptiles, crocodiles and alligators you could see and feed. The kids LOVED it and even got their photo taken with a baby American Alligator.

We also enjoyed a walk along the riverfront in the downtown area.  And ate at a wonderful restaurant called Moosejaw.  All in all we had a great time and we made some pretty spectacular memories.  Here are some highlights of the trip: enjoy!