This hurts me more than it hurts you....cleaning & packing

blogging is slow these days.
I spent all Friday afternoon cleaning out Katie's room. We took everything out and sorted out toys she doesn't want anymore.
I kept saying let's just throw all this stuff away and start fresh. It took a few times, but I finally convinced her.... OK really myself... that we could do it. I think I'm more attached to some toys than they are. Which proves that I buy the toys for me more than for them?
I threw out 2 huge bags of trash. We gave a way a bag of ponies and a box of stuffed animals.
We have a whole bag of polly pocket that I want to check through for the magnet ones to throw away. And a bag of naked barbies. who knew she had so many ... and that they all need clothes.

I found a great resource in my neighbor. She is a counselor at a jr. high school where there are many girls with toddlers. The facility has daycare for the toddlers, so the girls can stay in school. They NEED toys for the daycare and for the children to play at home.
It made the getting rid of all the toys so much easier. Derek's room is next....

However we must pause from the room cleaning to pack clothes and stuff for our trip to Hawaii.
Oh darn, Geoff has to work in Hawaii. A meeting and business meetings... so we all get to go.
This is our 9th trip to the islands, so we know what we like and where we want to go. But I'm ready to try some new things this time. The kids & I have lots of fun and adventures. You know... Homeschool Adventures :) everything counts.
We always go to museums. We have membership to the Bishop Museum. We've been there 2 times. They have a great volcano exhibit and we love the planetarium. We'll go this year to see an exhibit on the Brain.
We LOVE the children's museum. It is a little expensive I think, but the kids get to run around and this time I'll bring a book. We've been there 3 times.
This trip we are going to Oahu. We thought about staying in Maui, cuz we have to go thru there, but we stayed there last year and it was just OK. We like the Marriott resort on Oahu so it's time to visit there again this year.
Yeah, we only have to bring 1 booster carseat this year!
Oh, I have to go find all the cords. I can't believe how many I have to bring.
Cell phone, camera, video camera, laptop, kids' electronic games, dvd player.... yikes.
Well my luggage will be filled with cords and electronics hopefully not arriving in a tangled wad... alongside our swimsuits and sunscreen. :)
Well I need to go do laundry to pack some clothes too........