Our life in bags

 We are in the middle of our BIG MOVE! I am happy to let everyone know that we survived our first plane ride as a family. The kiddos did way better than I would have ever imagined. Below you will find the list of things I used for packing. I’ve included a link to all the items I used. Please know I am an Amazon affiliate, but I bought these items without any incentives. 

1. Packing cubes (Seriously) color code them for each family member. I ended up putting the huge ziplock bags inside each packing cube to compact the clothing even more! I packed a whole week in one of the large cubes. So worth the money. 

• Duffle bags (6) originally moved up to 8 (don’t judge) click here:

• Luggage tags (10 pack bulk on Amazon) I ended up buying 2 of these for a total of 20, I tagged EVERYTHING our carry-on, car seat etc. I also wrapped them in clear tape, because it’s been raining, and it didn’t come with a cover. SUPER CHEAP, and an easy fix. 

• Huge Ziplock bags, I bought mine at the dollar tree. 3 large bags for $1.00. You can get these bags in all sizes. The Large size is what I used. However I did use the XL for pants.  https://www.dollartree.com/EZ-Stor-Plastic-Storage-Bags-with-Handles-X-Large/p296475/index.pro 
• Swimming gear if you stay at a hotel with a pool 
• Pack n play (Although we have decided to not bring this with us to Europe, as Heath has been sleeping on a bed.) 
• extra toothbrushes, I bought these at the dollar tree. 
• toys for the hotel, I packed a little suitcase full of toys. We will be in the hotel a couple weeks, and I didn’t want the boys to be going crazy when indoors. 
• toys for the airplane. 
• diapers, I bought a medium size diaper box and left the diapers in the plastic wrap and put them in a suitcase cube. 
• wipes 
• In each of our carry-ons, I packed an extra pair of clothing and underwear just in case we had an accident. 
• Rolling car seat adaptor (BUY IT) Seriously if you have to bring a car seat this is a must! I can’t imagine how we would have carried our car seat across the LAX airport without this thing! 

• Extra bag for overflow, we have picked up a couple items along the way. 
• Extra bag for dirty clothing (Just makes life easier, and less messy)
• Make sure everything matches (Easy to see at airport) We had lime green duffle bags
• I packed 14 shirts 14 pairs of pants
• Leggings are the best pants to pack (You can fit soooo many in a bag ha)
• DON’T pack everyone in their own bag! That’s how you end up with zero clothing if your bags are lost! I packed everyone in each bag. 
• Don’t forget plug adaptors if you’re moving to another country
• Have a “special place” for all your passports, and important papers.
• Put all your electronics in one bag, this makes life easier when going through security.
• Don’t forget a car seat cover bag for a checked car seat. This is a MUST! My poor car seat bag was soooo dirty. 
• Pack lots and lots of snacks, I mean lots and lots of snacks, to the point where you could almost feed an entire airplane. You think I’m joking when I say my kiddos ate all the snacks, and were still hungry! 
• Make sure you pack ear phones for the kiddos, some airplanes have TVs in the back of the seat. Loaded with movies, games, and TV shows. GENIUS my kiddos were angels! 

What I packed for our air shipment

The definition of Air Shipment- The items that will be shipped to your house, wayyy before your household goods will make it to your overseas house. 

1. Pots and pans (I bought them brand new and just left them in the box, for easy packing)
2. Blankets (I packed 6 quits) 
3. Sheets, and fitted sheet
4. pillows (4x)
5. Nolan’s scooter and helmet
6. Heath’s balance bike
7. Nolan’s bike
8. BOB single stroller
9. blow up mattress x2
10. Folded mattress from IKEA (We bought it brand new and left it in the plastic and it fit like a charm)
11. More clothing (We don’t know what washing our clothing will look like)
12. 14 jars of peanut butter, what can I say I love peanut butter! Plus from what we’ve heard you can’t buy it anywhere in Slovenia! 
13. toys for the boys, train tracks, cars, more animals. 

Our grand total weight was 400lbs we used two boxes and were allowed 3. We could have had up to 1000lbs of stuff, but decided to stick to our 400lbs just in case the air shipment had to come to our hotel room. We now know that it will be allowed in the house garage before we move in,  we didn’t know that until after our move was complete. I still have no regrets because we have everything we really need. 

Below are the pictures of our items, minus the single BOB stroller, and the two bikes. The picture of the box is what you are given to fit all your stuff in. The rules for us were as followed. no more than  3 of these boxes, and they could not go over 1000lbs. Good Luck and if you have questions let me know!! 

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