Continued...

On to Jen's last question...packing!

I tried very hard not to overpack for Josh, Belane and myself so we could bring the maximum amount of donations. I also thought we would only be there a few days… if I had known how long it was going to be, I would have packed more clothes, toiletries, etc.

Things I was super glad that I had for me:

-Disposable face wash cloths (you get VERY dirty in Ethiopia!!!)They are also divine on the plane, somewhere around hour 12.

-Plug your ears for a minute fellas- lots of tampons and maxi pads…the stress of traveling always seems to bring that on, and I was glad to have that all with me “just in case”.

-Crocs. I love my crocs (shoes). They are ugly as sin, but above and beyond anything else in regards to comfort, and SO practical for Ethiopia. I just rinsed them out a the end of the day, and they were good as new the next day. They were easy on and easy off on the plane…I love them.

-My lap top. It was a pain in the rear to carry on the way home, but SO nice to have while we were there. Not only did it keep me in touch with family, friends, travel agents and Senator offices while we were there, it was great for me to journal our experiences while they were happening, instead of trying to get it all written down once we got home.

-Twizzlers. My favorite snack. Enough said.

-A great backpack. I took my Lands End diaper bag backpack, which looks nothing like a diaper bag, and it is the best “carryon” I have ever used. Tons of compartments, oodles of space for things, bottle holders on the side for water, easy to carry…


Things I was super glad I had for Belane:

-Snacks! This girl loves to snack, as did most of the other kids that were staying at the hotel. Chex Mix was a big hit, as were animal crackers and bite sized Oreos (but those were very messy!) She was unimpressed with granola bars or rice krispie treats (which were Ben’s ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing) but she did quite enjoy my beloved Twizzlers and the peanut butter crackers that our friends gave her one afternoon. I forgot to bring some on the trip, but now that we are home she is crazy about fruit snacks.

-Sippy cups. Another BIG hit. She had never used one, but took to it really quickly and loved carrying it around. It also saved us from her trying to drink out of one of those airlines cups on the way home. That would have been a nightmare.

-Lots of clothes. Kids are messy, and I just couldn’t carry her around covered in food or juice or whatever. A variety of sizes and styles was good too, to find what fit her well. She loved picking out clothes!

-Magnadoodle. Kids love Magnadoodles! I also brought a little magnet alphabet game which she really liked. The baby doll was a flop the first few days but then she really started to like it. She loved all the little books I had and wanted to read them over and over. She had very little use for the crayons and coloring books, but those were Ben’s favorites. Go figure!

-A good medical kit. We ended up using the antibiotic, bandaids, Neosporin, Tylenol Children’s Cold and Lotrimin for her, and Excedrin and Pepto for us grownups.

-Antibacterial wipes and Purel. Kids are dirty, and Ethiopia is not a sanitary or clean place. I am not a big "germ worrier", but those were good things to have.

-Powdered drink packets. We brought Crystal Light packets in Lemonade and Fruit Punch. One tiny little packet worked for a whole bottle of water and it was great when you were just wanting something other than water to drink. They weighed almost nothing and Belane loved them!

-Dish liquid wipes. I had never heard of these, but I found some disposable wash cloth thingys that had dish liquid in them. They were great! I used them for washing out sippy cups, as well as rinsing out shoes and some other things like that.


Things I could have left home:

-My books. I was just too tired to read. Every time I tried I fell asleep. I don’t think I finished one chapter during our trip!

-The toddler hip carrier-It worked well on a few occasions, but for the most part Belane just wanted to be held for real (and she knew the difference!), and wanted up and down quite a bit, so the carrier wasn’t worth the effort. (If anyone is interested, I will sell you it really cheap! It's a great carrier...just not what we need).

-The backpack for Belane. While she loved it and thought it was great fun, I realized quickly that it would just be one more thing for me to carry on the way home, so I sent it home with Josh, and packed her things in my carryon.


Things I wish I would have brought-

-Some cheap tub toys. She loved the tub right off, and really wanted to stay in and play. Some toys would have been great for her.

-Bibs. For a 3 year old I wasn’t thinking I would have needed bibs, but it would have saved a lot of shirts!

-PlayDough. One of the other families had some and she thought it was great stuff.

-A backup power converter. Mine blew out on day 6 or 7, and I know several other families who also had one quit working. My laptop luckily worked with just the adapter, but a few other things were done once the converter quit working.

I think that is pretty much it… if I think of anything else that I would add to either of these lists I will let you know! (and if you have anything you would add, leave a comment and I will add it).