So the question of the day seems to be . . . how did we fit everything we needed for our summer vacation into our new Prius. The answer – it was easier than I thought.

Here is all the stuff we had to bring:

Here's what the back of our car looked like when we left. What you can't see is that we also had stashed over 10 pairs of shoes, two bicycle helmets and a Razor scooter in the storage area under the floor (but above the spare tire):

The back seat was a little tight because we made the kids sit with two backpacks full of books, colored pencils (nothing that could melt in the southern heat) and toys; as well as two DVD players; a cooler filled with snacks and video games. (It helps that the kids have short legs so you can put stuff on the floor, where average size people would put their feet).

Obviously, we didn't do anything new by traveling in a small car. When she was a kid, my mom and her family (mom, dad and 5 kids) drove from Boston to Indiana in a convertible. But as you can see from Sophie's reaction, we didn't just survive, we enjoyed our trip!

Of course we're only half-way through the trip - we still need to make it home.