As we are driving home I am making a “Next Time List”. The Project Manager in me insists on a lessons learned with our ski trip.

1. Provide the tween with a laminated list of what to pack.  This will help him remember to pack pajamas, more than 1 hoodie and that only 1 baseball hat is needed. He packed 3 hats but forgot his pjs.  At least he remembered underwear and socks.  
2. Plastic grocery bags suck for transporting groceries, use the reusable kind but don’t overfill.
3. Don’t bring up odd topics on the lift, they are not your captive audience.  College, ex-boyfriends, bad habits, etc. stick to relative topics, favorite runs, where you want to ski next, keep it light.
4. Always bring peanut butter, jelly, and a box of cereal.  At some point someone is going to get picky.
5. Take more pictures!  One person each day should be responsible.  They might all be of that one person but it’s better than nothing.
   
6. Extra TP and toilet gel.  4+ people, 1 toilet, small quarters, never pretty.
7. Walkie talkies work better than phones while skiing.
8. A travel mug, the “Shhh, there’s wine in here” that my sister got me for Christmas would be ideal, because it really might be. Also, I really would have appreciated it when we left the condo this morning I really could have used one more cup.
   
9. Remember just because people wear black and red, doesn’t mean they are ski patrol.
10. Crystal Light instead of 2 Liters of soda.  Damn those things are heavy going up the stairs.
11. A power strip with USB ports with the phones, tablets, walkie talkies, battery chargers, we were unplugging floor lamps so things would be charged and ready for the morning.
12. Extra pillows.  

On the bright side there were things that worked well:

1. Throw rugs.  Snowy vacations means puddles and potential wet socks.  Also, slippers, everyone should bring slippers.
2. Remain flexible, the entire resort could lose power (true story) so figure out what to do in the meantime.  Michigan’s Travel Site saved the day finding a restaurant and activities in the area.  By the time we returned everything was restored.
3. Leave the key in the lock box.  If you have a place that keeps a key in the lock box, share the code with the whole crew.
4. Soup packets, Bear Creek or Mrs. Grass, light and easy to make a gallon of soup in 10 minutes.
5. Split up, go in pairs, go alone.  See different things, find different routes to share.
6. Reusable water bottles, we were on a 2nd floor walk up so everything heavy was noticed, the soda especially.
7. Have space on your lift? Invite a single skier to join you; make small talk, show your kids how to behave in a polite society.
8. Start a group chat so you can easily communicate with everyone.
9. The Dr. Bob Bag, people fell, muscles were pulled and ibuprofen was needed.  
10. Amazon Fire Stick, all our movies at our fingertips.  Back in the day we lugged a DVD player and a book of Disney DVDs.  
11. Plastic grocery bags are good for wet clothes, dirty things, garbage, etc.
12. Knowing the color of the instructor’s gear is helpful in knowing what hill to go down (or not.)
13. Plugged toilet, heat up a kettle of water and pour it in, don’t believe me, check with Bob Vila.  If you are in a hotel room with a coffee maker a pot of hot water works too. Nothing is more mortifying to a
    teen girl than calling maintenance to clear a poo clog.  It wasn’t even her but she does not want to be associated with that.

Oh and one more thing we can’t forget next time.  We will need to book pet friendly for the next 12 years whenever possible.