Road Tripping 101

Living 700 miles away from Grandma and Grandpa has made us seasoned road trippers. And since we've been road tripping with kids for the last eight years, I've had plenty of opportunities to figure out how to keep my kids entertained for 12 hours in a car. So if you're taking a family vacation this summer and want some advice, here's what works for us:

I bought these bags at Target several years ago for $2 each. They're special car bags that the kids are not allowed to play with unless we are on vacation. When I'm out and about, I watch for fun little surprised to put in the bags. The dollar bins at Target are a goldmine, and the dollar store is great too. I've also bought little packages of party favors and divided them among the bags.
This summer Haley's bag had a coloring book, some stickers, a book about dogs that I got at the dollar store, bubble gum, some of my old scrapbooking scissors, a little LED light to play with after dark, a mini Slinky, and a bunch of little party favors. She also has a little HSM activity book that has been in her bag for a while.Carter's bag had the same things, but I also stuck in a Mad Libs that I saved from a Wendy's kids meal, and those little electronic games which are at WalMart for $1 each. Those games have been in his bag for a while and he loves them. He also has a pinball game that has been in his bag for a while - he's always excited to see it again.
This idea was a huge hit. I bought 3-ring binders from WalMart and personalized them with leftover scrapbooking paper. The best part about the binders is that they double as lap tables.Inside the binders is a bunch of 3-hole punched blank paper, and the front pockets hold the activity books that the kids got at our recent family reunion and a packet of Crazy Cartoons. Who remembers Crazy Cartoons from elementary school? I was so excited when I found them online because I was sure Haley would love them as much as I did when I was her age. We all had a blast creating cartoons of each other all week. My other big idea this year was the one that got me the most excited. Every single time we road trip, somebody spills their crayons all over the back of the van. I have tried every container on earth, and nothing has worked. But this year I saved four plastic Crystal Light containers, which fit perfectly into the van's cup holders. Finally, no spilled crayons! I used Mod Podge to decorate them with more leftover scrapbooking paper. I filled them with those twistable colored pencils because crayons would be hard to reach in those long containers. The Twistables were a bit of an investment, but since the kids only use them twice a year I figure they'll last a while. Plus, they won't break like crayons do, and they don't need to be sharpened. I also added a couple of those pencils with the leds that you pull out and stick in the bottom (what are those called?) because they don't have to be sharpened either.The little guys are a bit trickier because they're not really into coloring yet. I've found that the best car toys for toddlers are the ones that make noise. It's a bit annoying to hear their noisy toys all day, but way less aggravating than screaming! So I just load their bags up with every battery-operated toy in our arsenal. Last year I found some mini bead-track things in the Target dollar bin that the boys still enjoy. They've also got books and Magna Doodles. This year I added airplanes to their bags, which are better than cars because they don't require "roads". The twins really liked the little Slinkys but they ruined them pretty quickly, and they loved the LED lights. If you click on the picture you'll see that there's also some whisks in there. The twins love whisks ... I don't get it but whatever. Haley really liked measuring spoons on a ring when she was a baby and those are good too.To keep myself entertained (because I get really, really bored too) I sign up for every free magazine subscription that comes my way, and then I save them all for our drives. I'll also save a month or two of church magazines and any catalogs that come before a trip. I also have our little portable DVD player in case it gets too dark to read, and then I'll just watch a movie I want to watch while the kids watch something else on the overhead DVD player.

So that's it! Wow, that was a long post. Hopefully something in there will help make your - dare I be so cheesy? - road a little less bumpy!