Suitcase Jumble

So Josh and I realized today that we will have to take Maya's inflatable bed with us on the trip because our hotel in Istanbul only has a queen sized bed. Yes, yes I know boo-hoo a queen sized bed. Well, let me tell you, it's no fun sleeping with "The Thrasher." Generations of the women in my family have all gotten the thrashing gene. Basically, we flip-flop around more than a fish out of water beating anything within arm distance to a pulp while we sleep. Maya's sleeping habits are quite impressive. She's worse than I am when it comes to sleeping positions. Sometimes I'm amazed she can even sleep with the formations she gets herself into. I swear, I've caught her sleeping upside down like a bat a couple of times. Anyway, with all that said, we have to figure out how to pack her bulky inflatable bed into all of our stuff because if we don't none of us will have any hope of getting sleep while we're gone.

*Sigh* I may just end up doing a test pack tomorrow. Josh thinks it will fit into the good ol' Trunki. Normally I put her toys in her Trunki but if the bed fits in there that would be awesome. I'll just have to figure out how to handle all of her other stuff. I may have to *gasp* take a larger carry-on. NOOOOOO! I've always prided myself on taking very little on the planes. It just makes life easier when all you have is a backpack to take on and off. If I can't fit her bed in Trixie though, I'm going to have to take up valuable suitcase space which is worse than taking a bigger carry-on. If all else fails, I may end up just taking less clothing. Lets see 10 day trip, that would be 4 sweaters, 2 pairs of jeans, one nice outfit (just in case), one extra pair of shoes and *ahem* all the under bits. Frightening isnt it? I promise, it is humanly possible to survive on that lol. Maya tends to take more because, well...four year olds like to "wear" their day.

Anyway, Christmas is fast approaching, though, and our trip is just a few days away! We bought an extra guide book today to add to our collection. We usually take 3 or 4....or more. (Yes, we're guide book junkies.) We've had some time to look at them a bit more and it's just so overwhelming! So many things to see. I hope we don't miss too much. Once Christmas is over it will be time to seriously hunker down and get ready for our long days of traveling. We leave late late on the 26th then arrive in London only to have a five hour lay-over! (I KNOW, isn't it AWESOME?! I bet you wish you could have a five hour lay-over in Heathrow!) Then we finally fly to Istanbul in the afternoon, spend a week there, fly back, take the train to the Midlands to see friends, take the train back to London and fly back home. Oh, and don't forget the lay-over in Amsterdam on the way home! WHEW! See why I pack light?