We Made It!!
December 24, 2007 by Julie Bonner
Filed under Life Around My House, Road Trip Travel Toy
After a total of 28 hours of driving we made it to Colorado last night. The kids did absolutely wonderful and were just so excited about the simplest of things. We ran into some snow while driving and they just thought that was the greatest thing in the world. We also saw Santa Claus who was waving to all the passing drivers from a bridge in Alabama. Now that was cool!
Like I said in my last post, traveling with kids is never easy, but I feel this trip could not have gone any smoother. Here are a few quick pointers (all the family is down stairs waiting on me to finish up!) that I feel helped our trip go so well:
- Every time one kid says, “I have to go to the bathroom”, go ahead and stop. Make everyone go, fill the car up with snacks and stretch your legs. We were adamant about this even if they replied with “I don’t have to go”. We didn’t have to stop near as much.
- Have a small supply of movies that the kids have never seen. Now our kids are HUGE Full House fans, so I got 2 DVD’s full of Full House episodes. That kept them laughing and very content. With a movie, sometimes our kids get bored with the story line, but with 30 minute tv series, it keeps changing and keeps their attention longer. They are already talking about watching it on the way back home.
- For little ones, a magna doodle and some of those magic artist books are just the best! We bought two books that I will try to find links to later, that kept our 3 year old busy and so happy. I was very impressed with these books and will definitely use them again for more trips.
- Nap time: yep, we made our kids take a nap when things started to get a little grumpy in the car. We turned off the tv, put on some great music (My kids love to fall asleep to the Jump In! cd) and they all rested at the same time.
- Last but not least, try to keep things as light and fun and as less stressful as possible. Every time our kids would start arguing or just getting annoyed with everything around them, my husband would break out in song with “Joy to the World!” It made everyone laugh and just lightened up the atmosphere.
Alright, I better get going. I hope you all have a great Christmas Eve!
