Something that I didn't put in my last post was that it's not only me that cleans the house before we go. Normally we fly out at the 6:30-ish flight on the 1st day of our trip. 2 days before our trip, we let our DS's stay up really late. Then the day before our trip we wake them up early. Everyone in the helps clean. Especially this year, since we moved into a home twice the size of the home we were living in at the time of our last trip. Our thinking is that even though they are really excited about the trip, we will get them really tired and they will go to bed. Hopefully they will get some sleep before their 3-3:30 am wake up call the morning we leave.
Everyone will have a certain area to clean and some places in the home will be a joint project. The DS's bedroom, playroom, and bathroom will be on them. My DH and I will take our bedroom and bathroom. My DH will take his office and I will take my fabric room (extra bedroom). Every other room in the house will be a joint effort. Also, I make sure my car is spotless. I don't know why, but I just can't stand he thought of my car being dirty while it sits at the airport.