How-To with Annika: How to Pack for Vacation

Last weekend, we got to visit Annika's Honey and Rampaw at their beach house on the coast.  Honey and Rampaw are actually my good friend's parents that I have known for many years, and since all of our parents have picked creative titles in lieu of the traditional "Grandma" and "Grandpa", the kids in our little circle of friends all know them by their Grandparent names. (We've also got a Nona and a Misa!)

Staying with Honey and Rampaw was wonderful.  My husband and I got to share a king sized mattress with Annika in between us, with a window open to daisies and the sound of the ocean instead of an air mattress in a tiny studio with Annika on a tiny mattress in the closet and a window open to...well, this.  Annika got to wake up to dinosaur-shaped pancakes and I got to wake up to good company and coffee brewing.  And my husband got to not wake up. :) 

And, of course, it was lovely to spend time with people I've known for so long but never really gotten to know very well.  My favorite part of the weekend was sitting by the fire making s'mores and laughing while they told the story of how they met, arguing the details like all good couples must. 

We were looking forward to the trip so much that when I finally allowed Annika to start packing, she was full of excitement and anticipation.  I had told her that her suitcase was "her responsibility to pack" and she was all about that.  As I packed my things, she followed me around trying to mimic my routine while narrating herself in the adorable way she does and get totally distracted along the way. (Notice she never reminds you, "don't get distracted!" in this one, haha.)

It was pretty cute, and I'd been waiting for a good opportunity to make our next How-To video, so I quickly unpacked her bag and we started all over... on camera.  This is actually the longest video yet, and that's even with my husband sitting down at the end to delete excess adorableness, with me sitting on the ground beside him biting my tongue and trying not to over-react. :)  (It's so hard to let someone else take the wheel, am I right?!)

Anyways...without further adieu... please enjoy Annika's third How-To video: How to Pack for Vacation!