We are going on VACATION! (part 1)

The Baby Gang is packing up and we are heading to Florida for our first family vacation as a family of 6! I am so excited and I thought it would be fun to share our experience of the whole trip. I wanted to start now and share some of the things we need to do before we go. There is going to be a lot to plan for and pack before we can actually leave and by sharing a lot of that with you, I think it will help me to keep on top of planning and organizing everything. This will also be a good way to make memories and save them for Emily, Jackson, Olivia and Levi to look back on.

A big part of what I have always looked forward to with having a family are the family vacations! We have always gone on vacations when I was growing up, and those are some of the best times and greatest memories I have. We took most of our vacations to Florida and we always had so much fun. Disney’s Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite places to visit and although we didn’t go every time we were in Florida, I still remember and love everything about it! I think I am the most excited to take Emily and the triplets there and to start creating memories for them. They may not be able to remember their first visit, but I will always have that memory of their initial reaction to seeing everything going on and experiencing their first time on a ride!

There are already so many items on our to-do list and I’m sure I will be adding a lot more, but the first thing we needed to do was make sure everyone had their passports. Dan and Emily had everything set with theirs, but the triplets needed theirs and mine expired last year. We went to Shopper’s Drug Mart for our pictures. With their hours open until midnight, even to get passport pictures taken, it was perfect for us, since our only time to go was 8 pm. When I took Emily to get her picture taken she was not even 2 months old and it was a lot of work to get her to look the right way. I was so surprised when the triplets cooperated and we were able to get a good picture in 2 tries! In total we spent about an hour at the store.

The next morning we got up and ready in hopes of leaving at 8 am to make it the passport office for 8:30 to avoid long lines. We finally left the house at 9 am, made it to the office and luckily there was no wait and we were in and out within half hour. When I got Emily’s passport I was told that if we are driving we don’t actually need a passport for a baby, but if there was ever an emergency and for some reason we needed to fly home, Emily wouldn’t be able to fly with us. To be on the safe side, I wanted to make sure I had passports for everyone!

We received the passports in the mail 8 days later and now that we have them we are on to the next thing to plan for!

For a little bit of cuteness today, here are the pictures of the babies and didn’t make the cut for their passport pictures! =D