Monday, May 21, 2012
Fun: Vacation Part I
 |
| Our first rest stop in New York! |
Today's post is all about the car trip ! We had a long one - 10 hours from Quebec to New Jersey!
My husband and I have two little ones (one nine, one ten months). Obviously my nine year old son is a lot easier to keep busy in the car than a ten month old! And although he is a great big brother to his little sister, there were still moments that were difficult and full of crying, of course, during a 10 hour car ride!
To help along the way, here are some things I recommend that I'm glad we did!
- Bring things to do that are car appropriate!
For our nine year old, this included some books, his 3DS, and some word puzzles. For our 10 month old, we brought some little books to read with her brother, some small toys, as well as her favorite talking stuffed dog.
- Load up your IPod with music for everyone!
Before we left, my husband loaded his with music for both us and the each of the kids. Our favorite bands and singers for us, Pokemon soundtracks for our son, and Raffi/nursery rhymes for our daughter.
Singing and dancing (as much as you can in the car anyway) during long stretches of road was refreshing for all of us!
- Stop often
Luckliy, along our way there were quite a few indoor rest stops where we were able to stretch our legs, get a coffee, and let our daughter crawl around. Most of them were near the Adirondacks and also had beautiful scenery! (a great bonus!) The picture above shows our first rest stop :)
- Stock up
10 hours is a long time for anyone, kids included, and especially the driver! Remember to pack a lot of snacks, juice, and water!
Now that I've shared things that I did that worked, here are some things I wish we would have thought about!
- Plan Ahead!
We used a GPS to help us get to our destination, and choose a feature on it to avoid tolls. Big mistake! We ended up stuck in 3 hours of traffic in the Bronx! Always plan your route ahead, and I would recommend just bringing some extra cash for the tolls!
- Think about water!
No matter where you're travelling, you never know how the water is going to be, so it's probably a good idea to buy some water! Usually we do not buy bottled water, and are big supporters of drinking tap, but even that is not worth getting sick over!
- Expect the unexpected!
We had a moment where we thought we had lost our car keys! Even though this lasted all of a minute, I don't know what we would have done had we lost them! Bring along spare keys!
I hope these road trip-tips have helped! Although we made a few missteps we definitely enjoyed our trip and all the views!
Tomorrow, I'll be sharing a bit about the hotel we stayed at :)
Debbie Jean
Mom: Daily Quote
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)