Pumpkin Spice Suitcases

So last Sunday found me at my very favorite piece of Dallas at my very favorite time of year- Pumpkin Village time at the Arboretum! We had planned to leave early and arrive when it opened as we've done ever year since we first visited in 2013 when I was a million weeks pregnant with Cora and looked like I'd smuggled a pumpkin under my shirt, but Sundays have become the day we all sleep in and it was a habit simply too delicious to break.

So we left when it opened and arrived an hour later and it almost didn't even give me anxiety to do so.

Every time I drive to Dallas I feel very strongly it should be closer, but I do love the Arboretum! Even when it's inches deep in mud after all our rain and none of your shoes will ever be the same.

There's just something a little magical about a village covered entirely in seasonal gourds.

This year's theme was Finding Neverland and it's my new favorite: the ship, the Darlings' House, Tinkerbell's little home, the Lost Boys Tree House... it was great.

The hay maze- always a favorite- was deep under the mud, so the kids ran around on top of the bales instead.

As always, James seized the opportunity to jump over something with a child in his arms.

Pumpkin Village thoroughly explored (and getting crowded), we headed off to the other less pumpkin-y areas of the Arboretum.

Specifically, the Children's Garden, which remains utterly magical to my children despite their ever-increasing ages and our many visits.

New this year- there's a hedge maze that is fabulous! Claire, as always, was prepared with a map.

Despite great effort, Landon was disappointed to find he is not, in fact, King Arthur.

Undaunted, he turned and cried out, "Look dad! A pond ecosystem! That's awesome!" And he meant every word.

When not a victim of his own hormones, doing anything with Landon is basically the best because EVERYTHING is the best.

His enthusiasm is set at a level 10. Maybe an 11 for pond ecosystems.

And a 12 for the traditional and absolutely mandatory "climbing on things" part of all Lag Liv family adventures.

We headed home abruptly when I realized the time and remembered that Dallas is further from Fort Worth than I always think it should be, and my barre class was set to begin in 80 minutes. Luckily I'm a planner and my emoji ghost yoga pants and a black tank were in my purse just in case. A barre teacher is always prepared.

Speaking of barre, this was the girls in my class tonight. They're both sick- after both were up crying from 3-5 a.m. with 103 degree fevers, hacking coughs, headaches, and sore throats, we went to the pediatrician for a diagnosis of "justavirus" to comfort us in case they get up at 3 a.m. again tomorrow. [Editor's note on Friday: this morning it was 4 a.m., so that's better?] They clearly feel terrible and were home all day (Cora was also home yesterday, and showed marked improvement in the second half of today; Claire succumbed yesterday evening and is still very much in the "hit by a truck" phase), but James had to coach and I had to teach my class, so they opted to accompany me and I set them up in a far corner on yoga mats (mats I thoroughly sterilized later) with their kindles and headphones. They were great. I think Claire fell asleep for a while. Both are sleeping soundly now, interrupted only by the occasional bout of unconscious couging.

In happier, healthier times, I voted on Monday!

Our polling place had run out of stickers due to record turnout (yay!), so Claire took a picture of me by the sign instead. I love voting and I really love when I actually have someone I'm really excited to vote for. This doesn't happen too often for me in a state like Texas.

And finally, our fleet of new rainbow carry-on suitcases arrived today! Carefully selected by each child (can you guess whose is whose?), we are now officially a carry-on family! When we flew to Chicago in May and I realized we didn't need to check anything (huzzah!), I also realized we did not own enough carry-on size bags. There was no point before when we were hauling babies all over the place. But now we have kids who pull their own suitcases and carry their own accessories- 11.5 years into this parenting gig and we're FREE!

I'm slightly obsessed with travel gear and accessories. I'm a light packer and don't need much, but I will say that I could not live without my packing cubes. I splurged on this set because they're adorable and the perfect sizes for me, but I also have a cheap grey set I picked up at TJ Maxx that I now use for the kids. When I went to DC last week I was able to pack 5 different outfits (I had no idea what the dress code was going to be), casual lounge clothes, underthings, jewelry, coat, 3 pairs of shoes (heels, flats, boots), my toiletries, and my absolutely necessary white noise machine I've used nightly since 2006, all in my little carry-on.

When I unpacked (as I always do; I do not like living out of my suitcase), I just put each cube in a drawer and then I know where everything is since the cubes already have things separated out. When I pack back up, it's just as easy.

I need to order another set for the kids before our trip. I also have a family passport wallet that I adore (ordered off Etsy it nicely holds all five of our passports with an extra sleeve for plane tickets or other papers), a travel charger square that lets me power charge 6 things at once (i.e., all my family's electronic devices in one outlet for easy packing up when you leave a hotel room/airport plug), and a little makeup bag I keep perma-packed with small versions of our family's most commonly used first aid items. I also always pack a PBJ with granola bar, apple slices, and pretzels for everyone to keep in their own separate carry-ons, so no matter where we end up on the plane you have your own food supply and I'm not dropping $100 for a crappy airplane lunch we rush to eat. Plus an empty water bottle to fill once we're through security. I really don't like paying for things in airports. (And ziplocs. You can always use ziplocs when you're traveling and everyone gets a few to carry in their bag.)

We're headed to Costa Rica in 3 weeks, with a layover in Mexico City with enough hours to get out and see the city center, and we are VERY excited. I started planning this trip a year ago and it's almost finally here! One of the truly greatest things about the kids getting older, and us refusing to be daunted by traveling with them when they were younger, is we can take on bigger and bigger adventures and it's so fun and they're such great travelers when we do. I know people with very different opinions on the subject, but truly, traveling with our kids is one of James and my absolute favorite things about having them. And the kids take a lot of pride in it- I noticed in all their school journal writings last year both Claire and Landon frequently mentioned trips we've taken or want to go on and wrote often about the fact we like to "travel to places." I love that (and it's true!).

Let me know if you have any other favorite travel hacks or travel items! I love a good Amazon search. I should add I also have two portable charging sticks that are wonderful and a 5-port car charger that reaches to the back row and is excellent when you get in the rental car after draining your devices on the plane. All that and my pen and mini spiral notebook full of destination research and we're good to go!

(As usual, there are no affiliate links to all the random things I've purchased because I don't really know how to do that, but I will plug Ebates if you don't use it already! For example, eBags almost always has a 10% Ebate on your purchase if you're looking for luggage or my beloved packing cubes!)