We are past the most difficult part of our trip!  Leaving.  To say that leaving on vacation with kids is an enormous chore is definitely an understatement.  SO much to do.  The kids missed the last week of school and, true to their charter school's style, were expected to make up all the work that they will be missing.  I'm proud of them for being so diligent in getting everything done.  Packing is especially difficult for me because once I've gone through my entire list, crammed everything into my luggage and breathed a big sigh of relief, I still have 4 suitcases to go through that belong to adolescents who don't necessarily have the same ideas about what is important to bring on an exodus.  John hasn't quite gotten out of manager at engineering firm mode. He mostly spent the last week figuring out last minute logistics and coming up with inventions to make our trip more user friendly. But now it is over and I'm hoping that it will be the only part of our trip that I am not sad to have over.  Goodbye house.  Goodbye Captain the dog.  Goodbye neighbors and friends.  We will miss you.  Thanks for holding down the fort!