Road Trip Endeavour-Day 1-Rules of the Road

This is the day!  It is finally here!  We are leaving on "Road Trip Endeavour"!    John was working a lot this week, so he still had a few things to do before we left. The first thing he did was change the shocks on the van.

While he was doing that, I was loading the van.  I already had all of our comforts packed.  I just had to do the bags and the last minute stuff.  Here are some travel tips for those of you with small children.  The boys got these Bugsby worm pens for Christmas from Aunt Joy and Monkey Michael last year.  You can get a lot of different books for them and they just run the worm along the words and it reads it to them or they can play games.  I also bought them each a pair of ear buds to plug into it, so John and I wouldn't have to listen to it.  We have traveled with these before (never for such a long trip), and somebody usually drops the pen on the floor and starts whining.  This time I thought of an award winning idea.  I attached a retractable badge holder to the pen, then put Velcro on the clip part and attached that to the car seat.  Then, to bring it in the hotel, we just have to unsnap it.  Worked out AWESOME!  

The two big kids sit in the back on the bench seat.  In between them I put a collapsible bin with pockets on each side.  They put their ear buds in each pocket, so they don't get tangled.  In the car they were each allowed to bring Bugsby books, one washable stuffed animal, two small toys, car bingo, their neck pillows (shown on the top of the seat) and their Thomas blankets that Aunt Joy made them when they were little.  Easter was only three days away and I knew the Easter Bunny would be bringing them more loot.  And they always manage to talk us into buying them junk high quality items that they really really need, so we had to stay limited on our initial day.

all three boys locked and loaded

Another thing that is key to making any road trip successful is tons of snacks.  I brought a big reusable shopping bag full of snacks.  I also took out the extra captains chair and replaced it with a big cooler.

We decided to make use of the hours when the kids are sleeping and we left around 5:30 pm.  We ate our first meal in the car.  And guess what.  The kids got their first toy of the trip.  And that is exactly why they are only allowed to start the trip with two toys.  After dinner, we gave the boys their headphones, put in a movie for them and plugged in the iPod for us.  John and I took turns driving and sleeping.  It worked out great for us.  There is so much less stopping for potty breaks when kids are sleeping.  I would definitely do it that way again.

after dinner movie

and their out