Set in Stone

The non-refundable tickets have been purchased and rental car reserved. In just over a month we will be flying in to Seattle. As I thought more about this trip I decided that I wanted to make sure that I had good pictures. And, as much as I HATE to have my picture taken, I needed to make sure I was in those pictures. I did a google search and found a photographer to come take family pictures. They will be semi-casual photos taken outside at my grandparents house. I've emailed my grandparents & dad & stepmom and told them they better put their smiles on and that I don't want to hear any whining, we're doing this! As much as I would love to see that side of the family more often, the reality is that this will not become an annual trip. I honestly don't know when we would go back again so I want to make sure that Faith and Dominic have really nice pictures with their great grandparents.
So, now I'm mentally packing all the time. Should we take the stroller? We'll take the front carrier & sling. If we have the stroller that just one more thing to lug around. I've ordered a bag for the car seats. I'm hoping Dom's car seat & Faith's booster seat will both fit in the one bag. Faith will have her backpack with some toys, a small blanket & what not to carry on. We'll take one carry on suitcase with a change of clothes for everyone & other important things. I ordered a backpack with a laptop compartment so I can hopefully use the rest of the space as a diaper bag and purse to cut down on how full our hands are changing planes. The plan is to check one big suitcase (but I worry about the weight limit) but we might have to do 2. Plus checking the bag with the car seats. The upside is, according to the airlines website, they do not charge the baggage fee for carseats. So we'll have 2 adults, 2 small children, 2 backpacks, 2 suitcases & 1 large bag full of carseats. I worry about getting from our car to check in. Once we check the large suitcase & carseats we'll be fine. I hope.