#185 - Final prep - July 4, 2013

Cool thing from the last 24: Finished my work stuff and put my auto-reply on for the second time in 2 weeks.

Another good day at work - the kind of day where you finish the things-that-must-be-done-now and realize that you have 5 hours left to do what you dang well please.  So I got some other things done and left about 4pm.  The evening was spent in full-on vacation prep mode.  I had not been able to do any vacation prep for the girls, the boys, or Katrina and me, so it was time to prioritize.  Over the next 2 days, our family would do the following things:
1) We would send Aria and Liberty on an airplane by themselves for the first time.  They will be gone for 6 weeks.
2) The 4 remaining members of the family would spend most of the day in the City - the science museum and the Lego store were primary targets
3) Katrina and I would leave for a weekend of camping at Niagara Falls early Friday morning
4) My brother would come and pick up the boys for a weekend of camping at Lake Sacandaga

Each of these things required a different kind of packing, and a different drop-dead hour.  The first deadline was for the girls.  I printed their flight itineraries, got their passport cards, confirmed they were packed, took care of medical permissions and HSA cards for all the kids, Katrina checked in with grandmothers, and that was about all I could do.  I had already worked up a packing list for the boys with my brother, and Katrina and I had been sharing a Google Doc with vacation info for our trip.

So I slept.  Yet another 4am day awaits.  Vacation day #1.  Relaxation is not on the list.