There was a time when I thought traveling with kids meant that I’d need to pack everything but the kitchen sink.
Literally, everything.
Although over the years I’ve learned to get by with less, I still have to fess up to packing some pretty strange things every once in a while.
For example, there was the time I insisted on flying to Hawaii with my children’s life jackets in my carry-on. I mean, you never know when your plane might go down in the Pacific. And obviously even though there’s a lifejacket on board for every passenger, I thought it was necessary for my kids to have their own!
Speaking of strange carry-on items…there was the time that TSA allowed my children to carry on massive balloon animals. (Technically, these strange things were NOT my fault. When we were leaving our hotel- where the kids had gotten them over breakfast- I assumed TSA would make the kids throw them away in the security line. Who knew they’d treat them like fine china?)
Back in the days when I packed everything, I once disassembled our baby bouncer and put it at the bottom of our suitcase. My husband was not thrilled when we picked up our suitcase at baggage claim to find a million stickers on our bag letting us know that the bag had been thoroughly searched. In hindsight, the metal bars probably looked pretty suspicious going through the x-ray machine.
And, while I don’t personally consider these to be strange things, I’ve also been known to pack all sorts of props, costumes or outfits for special picture opportunities when we travel. Why would we not take 2 American Flags on a 6,000 mile road trip for this one 30-second picture?!? Or a variety of princess dresses on a boat?!?
But I think I might have outdone my crazy, strange things on our latest trip!
The day before we left for Daufuskie Island, I got a brilliant idea to take a Christmas card picture on the beach. Then I made the mistake of looking on Pinterest. Warning: Do not type ‘Christmas Beach Pictures’ into the search bar unless you are truly a professional.
In an attempt recreate the most simple of all the professional shots, I decided that I needed to haul 2 little Christmas trees to Daufuskie Island. When Brent clued into my idea he was not thrilled. In fact, he said no.
As (his) luck would have it, they didn’t fit into our suitcase. I almost gave up on my idea. After all, we were riding a ferry to the island and attempting to pack very minimally. Even I could see that packing two Christmas trees was a bit of an extreme idea.
But, then I thought “Maybe I can just squish them into a backpack?”
So that’s exactly what I did! Well, sort of. They didn’t squish all the way into the backpack and had to stick out a bit. I got some very strange looks boarding the ferry! But, my trees made it to Daufuskie!
Unfortunately, the Christmas card shoot didn’t go exactly like I planned. Another Pinterest fail by me! The trees kept blowing over. Oh, and my kids were way too excited about playing on the beach to slow down for a picture!
Despite not being 100% pleased with the end results, I decided after all that I HAD to use one of these pictures for my Christmas card! (Again, PLEASE don’t actually go look on Pinterest…it will make my pictures look horrible!)
If nothing else, it’s a hysterical memory for our family!
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You may also enjoy reading:
Homeschool Your Kids and Actually Enjoy It
I Thought I Was Going To Have To Leave My Kids At Science City
What are some strange things you’ve brought on a family vacation?
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