When I pack, I still fit all of our clothes (all four of us) in one suitcase. I usually pack about 7 days worth of "normal" clothes and then a dress/ nicer outfit for each Sunday. I don't usually roll the clothes (although you can fit a little more in the suitcase if you do). We have built up almost a full supply of bathroom products at my parents' house so I only pack a few things here and there as far as toiletries go. And that's it. The van winds up full of stuff to bring home that's not sold here and vice versa on the return but that's the only luggage we take.
As far as the time in the car goes, we have started leaving super early. We get completely ready the night before and pack the van then just transfer the girls to their seats and drive while they are still sleeping :) Actually, they always wake up but go back to sleep quickly.
I pack a lunchbox full of drinks for the girls (I should include drinks for us but for some reason I forget to plan ahead for that part). I also pack a bag of snacks. I joke that it becomes an all you can eat cruise line buffet for them. They really don't mind the drive and pretty much never complain about it. I think at least some of that is due to the fact that they pig out on Fig Newtons, Teddy Grahams, Nilla Wafers, and any other snacks I include all in the same day with little restriction. That never happens on a normal day so it's just fun. Before Kaitlyn could manage a ziploc on her own, I used those handy little snack trap cups (Munchkin sells a version now too) that way if she dropped it, it didn't spill all over the place. I even put veggies in there once when Addison was a baby, hehe. While the snacking is virtually unlimited, the drinks are rationed quite conservatively until we are approaching a planned stop. One handy little gadget we have discovered is the Sprout Spout.
Speaking of stops, we only stop twice on our 11 hour trip. If we leave around 3 or 4, we plan to stop for breakfast and lunch. This last trip, Gordon had us leave at 1am!!! Insane ;) I will admit, though, that it was nice getting here (to "Texas") at lunch time! We almost always plan our stops around Chick-fil-A's.
Other than that, the girls get to watch a movie or two depending on how much car time they are awake for and I bring a bag of toys and books. I try to pick out some books that they haven't looked at as much lately and that have good pictures. I bring 5-10 of those and our road trip toys. For the toys, I highly recommend the travel version of the Aqua Doodle.
Well folks, I think that's about it :) Did I miss anything?
**Oh, edited to add, I only bring water for myself since I get Dr Pepper when we eat but Gordon appreciates it when I pack an energy drink, sunflower seeds, and gum for him ;)
