Before our first major road trip (NY to FL 2011) I had purchased three portable DVD players on Black Friday and enough extension cords to wire up all three rows of the 12-pax van.
They only had certain times they could watch, but other than occasionally helping to fix a connection, movie slots were very nice for mom to zone out.
Otherwise I had packets of “work” for them to do (easy math, crosswords, coloring pages) and turn in for candy.
Each new state got a treat, too.
I’m all about tricks if needed. And not having lots of tech at home made it even more special in the car.
We also usually drive through the night our first night in the road. We have a system that works for us. However, my kids are now too large for comfortable van sleeping.
I know! My family lived in Holland for three years, and my parents were teachers, and we basically spent every summer in a camper van touring Europe. We routinely drove like 15 hours in a day because my dad likes to pick a destination and just get there - he literally bought a port-a-potty for the van so we wouldn’t have to take bathroom breaks. Our options were books or looking out the window. It seems ludicrous now.
Road trips down to Florida in the summers as a kid is basically how I finished so many books. LOTR - check. Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy - check. Dune - check. I read so much more than that too. I think my parents were always a little annoyed at the number of books I would bring, but it was better than bickering with my siblings.
We are considering making the next trip a road trip just so that the kids have the experience.
Today so far…slept in a bit, doughnuts and fruit with friends who are staying at OKW whom we haven’t seen in 10 years. A bit of shopping at Walmart and World of Disney to get an idea of what they might want and how much it costs. True to form DD6 wants everything. DD8 has found nothing “worth” her money. DD10 is being very selective.
Hot dogs for lunch, dinner in the crockpot, and some other friends who live about an hour away came to visit. We’re visiting by the pool while the kids swim. Found another pool we didn’t visit yesterday…I think that makes six.
It has occurred to me that today we have had the ultimate in junk food: doughnuts for breakfast (the girls did have breakfast burritos before the doughnuts), hot dogs for lunch, and pizza for dinner. I had dinner in the crockpot but our friends wanted to buy us dinner so…we’ll have that tomorrow instead. Our girls are now “night swimming” for the first time ever.
Waffles with strawberries for breakfast. Finished the puzzle. Working on another one while listening to Disney music. Getting laundry done, external charger charged, checking whose magic band is whose, packing the park bag for tomorrow, etc.
I know that lots of people come and hit it hard from the time they land at the airport. I am always so grateful for our relaxing days before hitting the parks!
so happy.
I had dinner in the crockpot but our friends wanted to buy us dinner so…we’ll have that tomorrow instead. Our girls are now “night swimming” for the first time ever.
