Almost done packing!

The packing is almost done! There is a box coming from Sierra Trading post today, the girls need hiking boots, and I need a small bike pump for the stroller tires, but other than that we are pretty much done.  I have camping headlights, children's tylenol, brown sugar, a combination lock for school, slippers, even a few Christmas gifts.  I hope there can't be much I've forgotten.

So, what do a year of supplies look like?  It's not as much as you might think.  We were very lucky to find the perfect apartment.  The owners have been incredibly friendly and generous, even to the point of offering to leave some toys for our little ones.  So we really don't need anything for the house.

I don't think this is so bad for six people for a year. We didn't exceed the baggage allowance.

We have:
2 boxes with our baby carrier backpacks
3 medium suitcases and 3 carry-on bags for R,S,and T with their clothes and personal items
2 large suitcases with all of the coats, jackets, snowpants, boots, hiking poles, etc
2 rolling tote bags with clothes for A and E and their 2 carry-ons
2 large backpacks with L's clothes and diapers
L's stroller
Personal carry-ons (school backpacks) with math books and plane activities (L and I will share)

Well, that is 22 items of luggage, so maybe I've been kidding myself when I think we aren't over packing.   I know I overpacked for L, but she has so many sweet things to wear, and they are so small, that a few extra outfits seemed worth it.

In case this is ever read by someone outside my family - I have to say how much I love Icelandair.  On all the other airlines I researched (everyone from United to Turkish Airlines) the best option was to get round trip tickets and pay a change fee on all the return flights, since our return date was too far out to book when we were buying tickets.  Icelandair gives a low rate for one way tickets, so both legs will cost less than other airlines' roundtrip fares and there is no change fee.  They also allow two checked bags, so we avoided those fees, too.

We have flown Icelandair on three other trips, and they are wonderful.  Inflight entertainment, open jaws flight options, free stopovers in Iceland, food for the kids and postcards they can color which the flight attendants post from Iceland, special menu items and postcards at Christmas time, etc.  Reykjavik airport is easy.  The flight attendants are wonderful.  Once when we were doing a stopover vacation in Iceland, the flight attendants insisted we keep the blankets the kids were wrapped in and just return  them on our next flight.  Icelandair also has a nice booking system which lets you see the cost of flights on different days.