Andrew

I'm taking my two older ones (6 and 8) with me and am dealing with many of the issues you're facing.

I'm working on lightening my kitchen - your interm and final solutions are of great interest to me.

I've found that margerine dishes work well for plates/bowls, as do the ziplock disposable bowls - and they stack well. GSI has a nice set of stackable hot/cold plastic cups with handles: http://www.backcountry.com/gsi-outdoors-infinity-stacking-cup that I bought for the car camping kit, and won't give up in the backpack.

I chose a MSR Dragonfly stove for stability, but fight with the weight cost, and question if I'd be better off with a pair of alcohol stoves, or a Pocketrocket (or similar iso butane stove) with a pot support to accomodate a larger (2 or 4 liter) pot. My kids like Kraft mac and cheese, and I don't think the "just boil water" approach is going to work for family trips for some time - at least not for us.

My converted from car camping pot set has frying pan lids. I see the value, but question the cost in weight. A seperate frying pan, to be brought when the menu warrants, seems more reasonable now. My kids like dry cereal better than pancakes for breakfast.

On OregonMouse's recommendation, I bought a TarpTent Rainshadow 2 tent and like it. I have not used it in a downpour yet, however. Given your kid's ages, two of these might solve your problem at a cost of 5lbs, and allow you to keep the older three kids together and the baby with you and your wife...

I've liked the Mountain Hardware Lamina series of bags for spring/summer/fall use. Depending on your lows in Florida, a Lamina 45 might be all you need, they are on the lighter side, and have been available at a cheap price. If you have the money, there are many nicer suggestions for bags in the threads here on the site - I'm just not yet willing to pay Western Mountaineering's prices for a bag to give to a child.

Sincerely

Steadman