To Uruguay Again!

So, I've got another (shorter) field season to do down in Uruguay, but this time it's a family trip. I didn't want to leave Ben behind since he's still so young; he'll be celebrating his 5-month birthday while we're here. And John is taking vacation from work to come with me and spend the days with Ben while I'm out in the field with Cat.

Wonder what it takes to prepare for a three-week international trip with a 4 1/2 month old? Our spare bedroom became full of things to fit into our luggage. Our bed was the drop off zone for everything we wanted to put in our checked luggage. And along the wall was our zone for carry-on items.

Notice that the foot of the bed is all our stuff (for the grown-ups) and the head of the bead is all for Ben (except for some work-related stuff on the left). We tried doing the math on how many diapers and wipes we'd need for three weeks, and then only packing enough to definitely get us through the plane rides and a few nights in case the local diapers aren't great. And we are packing 7 canisters of formula, because that's definitely something we don't want to chance on buying local.

Our travels went well, and we arrived safely in Uruguay earlier today. Ben travels like a champ, and thanks to an awesome flight attendant at the counter at SeaTac, we got an open middle seat between our two ticketed seats so he could lay flat. During the overnight flight, we ended up putting him on a blanket on the floor below us, where he promptly fell asleep...and stayed asleep most of the 9-hour flight.

We arrived at La Corona this evening, after a quick lunch off the parilla at the Mercado Del Puerto and a long drive north to Tacuarembo. Ben is already a complete hit. :)