Of National Icons, Cruise Ships, and Legos

It's been a busy three months. I taught 9 credits of writing at Rogue Community College this Fall, which made my life full, complex and wonderful. Not only did I meet students with stories that astounded, troubled, and inspired me as I graded their 66 papers every other week, but I earned enough money to pay for our upcoming family vacation! (That last part is important, only because we hadn't anticipated a big vacation this year.)

But that's right, we're going on a vacation. And that's the point of this post.

Last summer, Mick's Mimi (grandmother) invited her entire extended family to join her on a cruise to the Bahamas at Christmas. She generously offered us passage on the cruise if we could get ourselves there and enjoy it.

We said Yes! (We've done this before, two other times: once to The Caribbean, another to Alaska.)

Here's what we're hoping to do:

We'll head east several days before the cruise to explore on our own before we meet up with everybody. We'll land in Philadelphia and start there, seeing the Liberty Bell and eating Philly cheese steaks.

Dane surprised us yesterday with a few Lego renditions of American Symbols.
Here's the Liberty Bell, of course.

Then we'll spend some time at the magnificent Mimi's, where she'll whoop us once again at cards.

We'll also head to DC to spend a day at the Smithsonian, and another day on the Trolley Tour, visiting the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial.

The White House. He hasn't figured out how to make the top rounded part yet.

We can hardly wait!

He threw in the Statue of Liberty for his cousin Indi who'll go to New York before the cruise.

But it doesn't end there, which is so hard to believe...

From there, we head on a cruise ship to The Bahamas with 23 other members of Mimi's/Mick's family, four generations of Reynolds. That alone is special.

What's also special is that in Orlando, the kids and I will hit up Harry Potter World while Mick will fulfill a dream of wakeboarding at a water park all day. I think his cousin Andrew will join him. (We would've joined him on that, but the kids' ages aren't quite right yet, and I have a feeling Harry Potter World might have won out anyway, since that's where their cousins will be!)

We'll also snorkel and play at the beach at two stops in The Bahamas.

*sigh*

I'm in the middle of packing right now. Now that we have to pay $25 a checked suitcase each way, complete with size and weight restrictions, I need to be efficient!

I've done it before and I can do it again, but if you have ANY suggestions or tips for me, leave a comment, please.

• Any tips on how to pack most efficiently?
• Any items I'll absolutely need to bring?
• Any places in that itinerary that I should bust a rump to get to?
• Any things I should look for?
• Any ways to prep my kids other than reading books about the Revolution and American Symbols, or watching Night at the Museum? 

Fire Away!