Road Tripping with our Little People

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1985-ish, fishing in Florida
Growing up I saw a lot of states from the back of my parents Oldsmobile.  We drove everywhere, every which direction, and my sister and I loved it.  I didn't catch my first flight until I was 15 years old.  Road trips were the norm and I was lucky to marry a man who agreed!

We have had several small road trips with the kids; Kentucky Lake, Louisville, St. Louis, Indianapolis, etc.  So when our annual ski trip was on the horizon, I didn't bat an eye when Scott said, "What do you think about driving?"

Disney 1986-ish
I scoured Pinterest for tips on road tripping with toddlers.  There were great ideas such as giving them a cookie sheet to snack/play/color on.  I glued fleece on the back of each childs cookie sheet so it had some cushion and wouldn't slide off their little legs.  Both kids enjoyed and utilized their sheet (Lila mostly used hers to kick and produce noise, but whatever).  I also visited the dollar bin at Target and bought each kid 6-10 small toys that I wrapped and let them open a long the way.  It was great to tell them I would let them have a prize if they were good for the next hour.

Movies were also a fairly big hit.  We haven't figured out how to have the radio playing up front and the movie sound go through the back headphone speakers only.....so we all listened to Bubble Guppies, Dora, and Team Umizoomi more times then I can count.  We need to figure that glitch out before our next trip.

St. Louis 1993-ish
Snacks were asked for frequently!  We had a variety of food and beverage on hand.  I can't remember how many small trash bags we filled with wrappers and juice boxes just riding in the car for roughly 16 hours.

On our way to Colorado we left in the evening and planned on driving all night while the kids slept.  As life sometimes go, our plan fell apart quicker then a snowman on a hot day.  The kids wouldn't sleep, or if they did fall asleep, the other would wake up and  proceed to wake the other up.  By midnight we decided to check in to a hotel.

On our way home from Colorado, we ate breakfast and hit the road.  The kids played and napped throughout the day and by 11pm they fell asleep and we managed to get them in bed when we arrived home at 1am.  Driving all day was much better for us then driving at night.

We learned a couple things on this first "big" road trip as a family.  First we will leave in the morning as opposed to at night.  Next time I will get a few more items for once the sun goes down and it's dark in the car.  We found a few glow in the dark toys for the kids and they were heavily played with when the sun went down.  Next time I'll also pack some glow sticks.
Colorado 2015
Sure there were moments when both kids screamed like they were getting their feathers plucked, but at the end of the day, would I do it again?  Absolutely!!  Road trips are part of my upbringing and I want the same for my children.  The open road is a great time for families to spend together and talk about life.  It's much cheaper than flying and the view from the backseat is pretty good.  I can't wait for our next little adventure.
Top of the world 2015




Comments

  1. PolkaDottyPlaceMarch 13, 2015 at 12:24 AM

    Amen!! We road tripped to New York and to California with my family growing up and it was so much fun. Some of our fondest memories are from those trips. I loved seeing your vintage family photos. You girls were even stylish back then!

    I love traveling with Olive and it's very doable if you plan ahead. We've also run into the night time toy issue because it sometimes gets dark long before we arrive at our destination. Our solution was to bring a small lantern/flashlight to put in the backseat so Olive could still see to play with her regular toys. Works like a charm and wasn't too distracting for the driver :)

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