Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Wordless Wednesday: Countdown to Vacation!

There are sure to be some much better Wordless Wednesday photos ahead. But meanwhile, I would LOVE some of your best ideas for car ride activities and travel foods. Go ahead, leave me a comment!

8 comments:

Heather said...

I would love to give you some suggestions, but our kids are too little to go on road trips. We're too scared. I just wanted to marvel at how organized you look!!

Destini said...

Hi! Thanks for the encouragement you left on my blog, I will be sure to look into the links you left.
As far as travel foods and ideas, I have traveled a few times with my kids on long road and plane trips. We always go and get them "things" and don't let them see them until we are on our way. I sneak in juice or water, crackers, fruit snacks (some of their favorite things) Crayola color wonder or explosion books and markers, sunglasses, a disposable camera always goes (1 for each) stamps, envelopes, paper. Sometimes we pick up postcards to mail along the way.
My mother in law included little (dollarstore) chalkboards. They loved those. Once we included a travel version of guess who. We've had the mini magnadoodle things. As they've gotten older, they stay occupied with games where you have to go through the alphabet spotting road signs with appropriate letters, license plate games. We collect brochures at the rest areas that pertain to the area we are going to...they can do their own research. Some times I bring stuff from home like travel guides so they can "research" on their own where we will be and maybe plan a stop. Dollar stores are great for stocking up for trips. I also pack hand sanitizer and baby wipes in each child's bags. It really comes in handy. sometimes I throw in a new toothbrush and toothpaste (small travel size tubes) We've had some trips where we've pulled over to sleep in the camper and then got right up and drove again. Helps to have these things in a small bag where the kids can just pull them out and use them instead of digging through the luggage. Sometimes we give them a little money to be able to spend. Makes stops at gift shops more interesting! I guess that's about all I've got this am...Happy travels!

Anonymous said...

I still haven't been on a trip with kids, but I do hope your vacation will be a blast! Take care!

Mine's up, too! You can check it out here:
Jenn Was Here.

Tracy P. said...

Heather--I PROMISED myself I would be organized so that I would be well rested before this trip and not a spazz that no one wanted to travel with. It's working so far!

Destini--Wow, you've done this before! Thanks for the great ideas!

A Thinker said...

Hey Tracy. My Mom and I went to Cracker Barrel the other day (down on the frontage road off 35 in Lakeville...by HOM furniture) and in their gift shop they had some retro stuff that I used to love on car trips - those road trip bingos and "magic" message books - can't remember what they're called, but you use this pen to decode secret words and pictures. I can't remember if it's a car game thing, but I used to use them on road trips. Books on tape? Narnia? What about The Ungame family/Christian edition?..it asks questions and each person in the family gives their take on the subject (like my idea of the best family vacation ever...or questions of faith - great for generating substantive family discussion...Jon and I have the couple's edition and like it). NW Bookstore. Those are my ideas! I like giving the kids' disposable cameras too...then they can scrapbook when they get home. Have fun!

Destini said...

I forgot one of the big things...we used to take along our Adventures in Odessy tapes. We have a set that has about 5-6 stories (1/2 hour ea) on each tape with about 5-6 tapes...those go a long way too!

Tracy P. said...

Wow, look at these great ideas! We should be set! And now I have them to look back at next time besides. Thanks bunches!

Anonymous said...

We traveled from MA to GA with a box set of children's music cds, PB&Jelly sandwiches, chips, baby carrots, pocket arcade games 2 fluffy pillows, a favorite blanket, 4 favorite toys and a partridge in a pear tree...