Today we completed our first family trip with four. Despite a few hickups, it went very well. This year was the biggest packing challenge yet. With the stroller, porta-crib, bouncy seat, and, oh yeah, a baby, made a once tough task almost impossible. The trip down was gorgeous.

The first hickup came when Martin decided that he was not going contribute to a boring vacation and blew out his o-ring: up his back and soaking through his clothes and the carrier. After cleaning up, I hopped in the car headed to a laundromat down the street with the plan to put the stuff in a washer and get groceries while it is washing.

Unfortunately, things were not going to be that simple. Hickup #2: the laundromat that we normally use midtrip is gone! For those not in the know, we stay on an island that is 20 miles long and we are smack dab in the middle with bridge access only on the ends. Iwent into one of the local shops and they told me that the laundromat has moved to the mainland and how to get there. Off to the mainland I went.

I went to find this place and eventually did even though it wasn’t were I was told to find it. However, they no longer operate coin machines. Ugh. I ended up in a grocery store and started asking around (sidebar: this store was amazing). An employee there told me of one not a quarter of a mile away and saves my sanity.

45 minutes later I headed home with a fresh smelling baby carrier and a ton of groceries.

Operation “Cleanstink” is a success.