Vacation Packing

We are going on our second ever family trip to the beach this year. Together with another family, we have rented a beach house so the packing part is a little different than packing for a hotel stay. And by different I mean more complicated. Vastly. At least for the organizationally impaired like me.

So while I've been making lists of things to pack, things to cook, things to ask the other mom, things to purchase, things to remember....I decided it would be a good idea to make individual packing lists for each kid so that he or she can A) pack their own *@&^#$ stuff and B) learn to pack effectively for themselves, a skill my husband seems to have bypassed entirely in his upbringing. No offense to my dear mother-in-law, but it is impossible for my husband to travel for work or pleasure to any location without a nearby Walmart, or he will undoubtedly end up hungry, unshaven, unwashed, unkempt, and commando within 24 hours of his arrival.

For the clothes, I plan to have the kids put each of their complete outfits in a gallon size ziplock bag. This will hopefully help them get dressed each morning without wails of, "Moooooooom, I can't find my underwear!!!!!" Hopefully, it will also mean that we have agreed ahead of time on their fashion choices and will avoid at least one potential conflict during our trip. (Not that I usually care if my daughter wears her yellow striped dress with floral turquoise leggings and an orange sweater.)

Of course, I will need to supervise and double-check their efforts, but I am hoping the skills they will learn and the slightly lightened to-do list for myself will make it worthwhile nonetheless. One small note: while some may find it unnecessary, being the mom of a girl who loves shoes and clothes as much as her mama, I created gender specific lists. I'm sure the need for this is something my husband would like to point out as a shortcoming of my upbringing, but this is my blog so too bad. Besides, I'm pretty sure my mom scares him. Hee hee.....

Oh wait, one MORE thing: these lists are for a one week vacation at a house where we can do laundry as necessary. I tried to balance taking as little stuff as we could get away with along with my desire to do as little work as possible, seeing as it's my vacation and all. I included enough clothes to get through most of the week, expecting to do a couple of loads of laundry before heading home again.

Boys' Beach Packing List

_____Casual shorts, t-shirt, underwear

_____Casual shorts, t-shirt, underwear

_____Casual shorts, t-shirt, underwear

_____Casual shorts, t-shirt, underwear

_____Nice shorts, polo or nice t-shirt, underwear

_____Nice shorts, polo, underwear

_____T-shirt (2 extras)

_____Socks (2 pair)

_____Pajamas (shorts--2 pair)

_____Hoodie

_____Swimming trunks (2-3 pair)

_____Swimming shirt (only if you want one)

_____Your beach towel

_____Flip flops

_____Tennis shoes

_____Beach shoes

_____Toothbrush

_____One small stuffed animal

_____Journal and pencil

_____Books to read (4-5)

_____Sunglasses

_____Hat and/or sun visor

Girl's Beach Packing List

_____Shorts/skort, shirt and underwear

_____Shorts/skort, shirt and underwear

_____Shorts, shirt and underwear

_____Shorts, shirt and underwear

_____Capris, shirt and underwear

_____Casual dress and underwear

_____Casual dress and underwear

_____Nicer dress (like for dinner at a restaurant) and underwear

_____Swimming suits (2-3)

_____Cover-up (2)

_____Socks (2 pair)

_____Pajamas or nightgown (2)

_____Hoodie

_____Flip flops

_____Tennis shoes

_____Beach shoes

_____Beach towel

_____Brush and comb

_____Toothbrush

_____Headbands (2-3)

_____Ponytail holders (10-12)

_____Journal, pencils and crayons

_____One small stuffed animal

_____Books (4-5)

_____Sunglasses

_____Hat and/or sun visor

Any glaring omissions? Horribly overpacking? (So says my husband--HA!) Setting my sights way too high? I really think the nine and almost-seven year olds can handle most of this after I show them what I expect. I am fully aware that most of the packing for the five year old will involve her pointing to what she likes and me putting what she really needs into the bag. Oh well. You gotta start somewhere.

Pot Roast Success

I consider myself a pretty good cook. I'm no gourmet, but my husband has mostly liked everything I've ever made except that one horrible Buffalo chicken sandwich experiment in 2001. No recipe intimidates me, and no ingredient scares me off. But....I've never been so good at pot roast. I've been told over and over how simple it is, but it never turns out as tender or flavorful as I want. Until now.

I have seen several versions of the Three Envelope Pot Roast on Pinterest and intended to try it out. Yet, did I take the recipe or a list of ingredients to the grocery store with me? NO, of course not. So, I am standing in the spice isle trying to figure out which three packets of seasoning I'm supposed to use for the Three Envelope Pot Roast, and I'm getting nowhere. Due to my aging and overwhelmed brain, the best I could do was a brown gravy mix and au jus mix. I knew there was a third, but looking at my options, none of them made sense.

Arriving home, I discovered several different versions. Some using au jus. Some using brown gravy. Several using other things I had not brought home from the grocery. So, I decided to use what I had. I put it all in my slow cooker, turned it to low for about 9 hours and hoped for the best.

It turned out the most tender, flavorful, delicious pot roast I have every had. Not just made, but HAD. And I'm going to share it with you. I'm nice like that.

I ended up serving it on Hawaiian rolls with a slice of provolone cheese and a little squirt of horseradish. HOLY YUM. It would be equally as good next to a pile of real homemade mashed potatoes. Or some lovely egg noodles.

My Favorite Pot Roast

1 large onion (a sweet one is nice, but whatever you have)
1 chuck roast (3-4 lbs)
1 packet of au jus mix
1 packet of brown gravy mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup salsa or picante sauce
1 cup Italian dressing

Chop onion and place in bottom of slow cooker. Place roast on top of onions. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl until seasonings are combined and pour over roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. When you shove a fork in it and twist, it should fall apart. If it doesn't, cook a while longer.

Taste. And die of bliss. I warned you.

Getting Ready for Summer Weekend

I am still in my pajamas. At 10 AM on a Saturday. It feels delightful and odd all at once. The last ten  weeks worth of Saturday mornings have been filled with early risings, frantic searches for shin pads and soccer jerseys, and sitting in alternately sweltering and swampy fields watching children chase a ball back and forth.

We had strawberry pie for breakfast. Additionally, there are 21 jars of jam and mounds of sliced berries awaiting the top of waffles or shortcake in the freezer, made from the 34 pounds of berries we picked over the last week.

My sweet children, who would normally be absorbed in mind-rotting Saturday morning TV, are upstairs playing school together (in other words, reading to each other) so they can earn points for our library's summer reading program. They have declared it a no-screen weekend so that they can get a jump on everyone else who is hoping to win the grand prize iPad.

My vegetables are glistening in the morning sun, drenched from yesterday's rain, soaking up the rays so fast I feel like if I just hold still enough I can see them growing. The middle child and I picked and shelled the spring peas earlier this week, and broccoli is ready to harvest.

Yes, summer is upon us. There are three more slow but bittersweet days of school left for the kids. Slow because the real work of the year has been done for over a week now. Sad and sweet because next year the schools are changing, and they won't be in the same building together. Plus, a whole new group of students will be joining them both making all of us anxious. But that's another story.

While the kids have declared a no-screen weekend, I am declaring it Get Ready for Summer Weekend. I am doing some cleaning--as if it will last past bedtime on Sunday. I am doing some cooking. Some things to prepare now and tuck away in the freezer so I won't be forced to drag myself out of the pool and into the kitchen to worry about dinner every afternoon. I am getting the kids summer supplies ready. (More on that later.) We are all going to sit down together and make a list of the things we must do this summer.

With three kids and a mama, if everyone comes up with two or three things they really want to do this summer, we will have plenty to keep us busy until fall. The kids usually pick one thing that I just can't accommodate at the moment, like "I want to go Australia."  Um yeah, you and me both, kiddo. But generally, their picks are a lot more simple than I expect. Things that are not expensive or difficult to do but I wouldn't have thought of because I was planning something much more extravagant.

My crazy, over-the-top mama mind says, "Plan a virtual trip to a different country each week, cook foods from that country, and get a book on the country from the library to read each day." Their youthful wisdom says, "Make popsicles and invite our friends over to have some with us. Then run around the yard chasing each other," or "Find some worms."

It reminds me how important it is to ask them. Our summer go so fast, our school year is so busy, that I want our short, precious time together to be memorable to them, to include the things that are important to them, to be relaxed and carefree like summer should be. And I am so much less stressed out about making it meaningful when I use their ideas instead of mine.

I love summer.