Caddies, cakes, cars, and shoes.

Happy Saturday everyone! Its a rainy, dreary one here in M-Vegas but we aren't letting the weather get us down because in 3 days we are heading to VB! Woohoo! We are spending alot of the weekend prepping for our trip, then we leave bright and early (and I mean early) Tuesday morning. :)

I started with making a list for the boys' suitcase...they require so many things daily that if I don't write them down, I might miss something. I tend to overpack, and this time I swore to myself that I wouldn't, so I limited each type of clothing to 3. Mike and I are packing whatever we can fit of our things into an XL ADIDAS duffle...I've noticed that with each trip, we have drastically reduced the amount of things we bring, which is a good thing. :)

We got out the road maps and dusted them off...we don't even really use them anymore now that we have our trusty Garmin, but you never know when you might need a road map. :)

While shopping and preparing for this trip, I have discovered a love for caddies! Typically, we carry a whole other (big) bag just for toiletries, but we can actually fit ALL of our bath items (mine, Babydaddy's AND kids') into ONE caddy! I also got a caddy for Caleb's diapers; we can use it in the car AND at our parents' houses, which are 2-stories...it was a PAIN bringing Caleb up and down the stairs just to change his diaper...with the caddy, we can bring IT up and down the stairs as needed. After our trip, I'll just keep it in the car. The 3rd caddy I bought will be for MY makeup and hair stuff...so convenient!

Diaper caddy:Mommy's makeup/hair stuff caddy:Bath caddy:Some of the things I NEED when traveling (esp. now with little ones) are gallon and quart-sized Ziploc bags and antibacterial wipes. Gotta love Target's new Up & Up line.
We also got these neat coolers that are "flat." We figure they'd be handy because we can put them underneath the boys' feet, since they can't reach the floor anyway. :) They each hold 24+ cans, so they're quite roomy!

We picked up a booty-load of Community coffee for the in-laws...they're originally from MS, and down here Community coffee is everywhere...apparently VB doesn't sell it.

And just for fun, Babydaddy decided to make some "million dollar cake." It was a hit at the luau we went to several weeks ago, and we had the ingredients, so Babydaddy made a cake!

Million Dollar Cake

INGREDIENTS·

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice·

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix·

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese·

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed·

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix·

2 cups milk·

1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan.

2. Drain pineapple. Put pineapple in a clean layered cheesecloth and wring out remaining juice. If pineapple is not well drained, it will make the filling runny.

3. Mix and bake cake according to package instructions. Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Discard or find another use for the remaining half of the batter.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes or until done. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack.

5. Beat softened cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add milk, combining thoroughly. Add instant pudding and beat until thick. Pudding mixture will thicken when refrigerated. When cake is cool and pudding mixture is thickened you can assemble the cake. Spread pudding mixture on top of the cooled cake. Sprinkle drained pineapple over pudding. Carefully spread thawed frozen whipped topping over all. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over all. Refrigerate. Enjoy!

Earlier in the day, Babydaddy and Noah decided to take advantage of the lull in the rain and vacuumed and detailed the Tahoe...it was a HOT mess before, I should have taken pics, but you all will have to settle for AFTER pics:

Even the carseats got some vacuum action...they needed it. Crumbs galore! :P

DVD players are ready to go...its gonna be a loooong trip! But our family loves road trips. :)

To top off an already perfect day, I got to go shopping! I needed some new shoes for the fall...since this year I'm wearing "dressier" (and I use this term loosely) clothes, I needed new boots. I went through our shoe closet and discovered every single pair of leather boots I own were from 2004, before I got pregnant with Noah! I usually wear flip flops (I can wear them all year 'round here in FL) or if my toes get too cold, I wear Uggs. I had nothing even remotely "nice." So I found these shoes by Jessica Simpson and I am in looooove. :) Can't wait to wear them!

Well, folks, I can believe its already 4PM here! Gotta figure out what's for dinner...talk to you all soon...enjoy the rest of your Saturday!