We Are Leaving Again!

We are going to Georgia, again! Can you believe it? This time it is with all the children (well, not all, my oldest and his wife are not going, boo hoo) and Brian and I! Yes, that is right, eight children and a mom and dad driving from Michigan to Georgia in two days! Sound fun?



Okay, I am sure to some of you it seems as though we are 'world travelers' who travel all the time. Let me assure you, we are not. We haven't even been on a vacation in the last five years. I mean not even a 'local' vacation. So the fact that Brian and I got to go to Georgia and now, shortly thereafter we are all going is quite unusual for our family.



The Lord has opened the door and has provided all the finances for us to take the children down to GA for the For My Life/For My Life Children programs. When we saw one of the skits that they do in the children's program we knew right away we wanted to bring the children.



We are so excited. We are leaving early Friday morning(10/22, Lord willing). That means this week is lots of packing, organizing, cooking, planning and trying not to freak out. (oh, that is my job, not freaking out)



We are trying to do the 'food' portion of it as cheaply and healthfully as we can. That takes extra planning and space. It would certainly be 'easier' if we could just eat out at each meal, but yuck, that doesn't even sound appealing to me. We will do pre-made sub sandwiches for lunches on the way down. Breakfast will be in the hotel. Dinners will be out, but as cheaply as we can. For example, we will probably eat fruits and veggies and some cheese before we go in for dinner. That will help with how much we spend at the restaurants.



I am bringing our homemade yogurt (we already have the raw milk paid for or else I would just buy yogurt in GA) for breakfasts. We made up 11 quarts of granola this weekend to bring. We also made and froze 7 loaves of banana bread to bring. Lunches are provided for at the conference. Dinners will be brought from home, pre-made and frozen in zip top freezer bags, including White Chili, Chicken Enchilada, BBQ and Taco Meat for Nachos.



We have PB Balls, Granola Bars, Nutty Bars, Slice Cheese and Apples and Veggies for snacks the whole week.



When we travel by vehicle we use Rubbermaid containers instead of bags and suitcases. They simply stack better. Brian made his rounds all over the house this past Saturday to empty toy and clothing containers, putting the contents in boxes, in search of the perfect sizes and amount of containers. Good thing I am known as the Rubbermaid Queen.


While we are on a pretty tight schedule, we would love to meet any of you who live near the places we will be driving through. Let me know if you live near any of the following cities and wouldn't mind driving to a highway exit for a hug!!


South Bend


Indianapolis


Louisville


Lexington



( I-65 to Louisville, I-64 to Lexington, I-75 all the way through Atlanta)


We are staying in Williamsburg, KY the first night.





The second day we go through

Knoxville



Chattanooga


Atlanta


Give me a shout out if you live in or near these cities or anywhere along our path!!