Both my family and Mark’s do a “Secret Santa” gift exchange for Christmas each year. It makes it super stress free on everyone. We each only have to buy 2 gifts for our families! It just decreases the amount of “stuff” you get that you don’t want or will never wear. We love it!
Mark is always quick with his list each November. He knows exactly what he wants. Our families have always been a little surprised as many of the other members don’t send a list until just before Christmas… or never. But that Mark Kelley, he’s been planning for another adventure for so long that Secret Santa gifts from 09′ are being used today. DON’T GO OFF LIST! I’m looking at you Caroline Kelley Holt. He gets aggravated if you give him something that he doesn’t want and won’t use.
One of the gifts he requested we use on this trip each and every day. I originally thought the Luci light was just some worthless gadget but turns out he knew how useful it would be!
It might be the best Secret Santa gift ever. It deflates to take up almost no room. We simply flip it over exposing the tiny solar panels during they day to let it charge. We don’t even take it outside to do this. We can charge it by the window in the RV.
When the kids go to bed we like to keep the turning lights on and off to a minimum. This is perfect because is lets out just the right amount of a lovely glow. We can read by it, blog by it, brush our teeth, hold it by its handle to take for a trip to the bathroom across the park. Its the perfect light!
Now if we can just find a solar powered sound machine. Our battery operated one is eating through AAA’s like a monster!
I hadn’t heard of the LUCI before but may have to pick one up before our next camping trip.
re: “solar powered sleep machine,” there’s an app called “Relax Melodies” (developer is Ipnos Soft) we use on our phones/iPad. There are a myriad of noise options, including a white noise similar to a sleep machine. Might not exactly be a solar powered sleep machine, but if you could use one of the phones/iPads as a sleep machine. We use the app at home most night and also for Fin when we’re on the road and the battery usage is pretty minimal.