Trippin': 101

For the last few years we have made a pilgramage south to visit Daddy-Cakes family. Mainly his grandma who currently lives in Vegas. Last year we flew, which was fun, a little easier in some ways, but also a huge headache. Trying to cart two kiddos, car seats, luggage and carry-ons through the airport was difficult to say the least. This year we decided to drive. And to visit friends and my aunt in California on the way. We also made the decision to visit the little mouse who lives in Anaheim.

We have taken several long (i.e. 8+ hours of driving) road trips with the boys and there are some things that have been great, and some that have not. Here is a list of ideas to help you get to your destination without leaving the kiddos at a rest stop, or getting out and refusing to go any farther yourself. ;)

1) New things. Doesn't matter what they are, just as long as its something new. The dollar store is your best friend here. Some of our favorites this trip were glow sticks, cheap dollar sticker books, and I splurged on $2.50 airplane which had a moving propeller and lights. These were a huge hit and even more fun when the boys realized they had candy in the bottom. It became a game then, with them asking for candy, me placing a few small candies in the bottom, and them opening it like, ta-da, candy magically re-appeared!

 2) Candy. Or snacks they don't usually get. Try to go with clean foods, but if their favorites are messy (like my boys) just remember extra baby wipes. Some of our favorite rare treats for trips include fish crackers, plastic cups with mandarin oranges, gummy candies, jerky or pepperoni sticks (only a hit with Monkey who was then banned from eating them after choking and puking all over himself and his carseat), and pretzels.

3) DVD player. This was our first trip with one and Monster LOVED it! Monkey on the other hand hated it and would scream when we turned it on. So think about your kiddos ages before deciding to use one, or give the older child his own device to watch videos or play games. We had our tablet with us and Monster used it on the last day of our trip.

4) Organize your car so everything is within the co-pilots reach. If you are traveling alone with kids, put everything in the passenger seat organized in separate bags or buckets such as food, toys, new items, etc. I had a bucket of toys between the boys, pillow and blankets within their reach, and the food/new items bucket on the floor in the back seat. We also kept coats, shoes and an extra set of clothes for each boy up front with us and stored everything else in the bed of the truck.

5) Take kids music. We didn't and we ended up singing random songs we could remember the words to for 3/4 of our trip. Then my mother in law gave us some kids Cd's while we were in Vegas and the boys really enjoyed listening to them instead of Daddy-Cakes and I's off key singing. :)

6) Make stops count. I have the smallest bladder in the world, so I need to stop every 1.5 hours. Daddy-Cakes doesn't care, but it doesn't go over well with the two back seat drivers who want to get out every time we stop. We aimed for stopping about every two hours. We ate at the golden arched fast food trap for most meals on the road because it is the ONLY one in most towns with a play place. But it saved our sanity as the boys got time to run, they love chicken nuggets and Monster is hardly eating anything lately, and although none of their food is extremely great for you, they do offer salads and un-fried chicken sandwiches. We did take food with us and stopped at parks occasionally, but sometimes it was just easier to let someone else cook.

7) Daddy-Cakes wins again with his ingeniousness for this trip. We bought a mini fridge over the summer for $20 at a garage sale to keep eggs in, which we buy in bulk from friends. Daddy-Cakes hooked it up to the truck and we had it in the back- keeping cool whenever we drove, staying cool when we stopped because the little freezer compartment held ice packs, and getting nice and cool when we were at a house because we could plug it in to an outlet. We took ham sandwich making, pulled pork filling for sandwiches, extra snacks, and the boys milk. I don't know if I could ever go on a trip again without it!

8) Stay with friends. It's cheaper, you get to visit, and they usually know the best places in their area to take kiddos who need to get some energy out. If you don't have friends or family on your trip, book your hotel the same day, but at least four hours ahead of time. You can get discount deals on the same day you are staying, but if you wait too long, we found out, they sell out or the offer expires. Or if you are brave (I wasn't) take your tent and camp along the way.


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Funnies from our trip:

We had gone about 1/2 a mile on our trip with Monster asked "Are we there yet? Or not quite yet?"

Monkey screamed the first hour and a half of our trip.

We asked Monster what we wanted to do the first night (we stayed on the coast in CA), and he said "See fish and the ocean". We never made it to the beach that first night, but we did see ocean on the drive, and we found a cute little aquarium in Cresent City, CA. We got to pet sharks, see an array of fish, and watch some seals and sea lions do tricks for us. Monster is obsessed with a certain children's pirate show and mis-names a couple pirate items. We drove past giant anchors next to the aquarium and he shouts "WOW! Look at all those hookers!"

The only way to get Monkey to sleep in the car (he hated the driving, by the way), was to sing. The first day out I ran out of new songs and asked Daddy-Cakes what to sing next. He broke out "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". On average it took about twenty beers and Monkey would be out.

At some point during the trip the conversation of how babies are made came up and Monster instilled this knowledge in us: "Maybe you put food in your mouth and then you have a baby sister!"

Monster was eating pretzels in the back seat and giggling to himself "*giggle giggle* boobies *giggle giggle*" I asked what he said and he shouted "IT LOOKS LIKE BOOBIES!" Yeah pretzel fun...