I am back. I know I have disappeared off the face of the earth for the past few weeks, but don't you all worry, I'll be making up for my absence in the next few days. I have A TON of pics to post from our Utah trip on this blog and pics I took for family and friends in Utah on my photo blog; but for now I just wanted to share some friendly advise for any of you insane enough to attempt a cross-country road trip will your young children. I have decided to write this Letterman style and will title it, "10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU CRAM ALL YOUR BELONGINGS AND FOUR YOUNG CHILDREN INTO A MINI-VAN AND TREK ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR 32 HOURS." I think is has a nice ring to it....what do you think?
Okay, lets start with....
10. Three staples are a must: snacks, portable TVs and Dramamine!
9. Whenever you stop, make ALL the kids use the restroom, even if they don't have to go..if you don't, you WILL be stopping every hour...trust me.
8. Barf bags are a necessity. (That takes us back to number one....Dramamine!) Even if your child doesn't make it into the bag, they are great for discarding the soiled clothes that you really aren't going to cart across the country with you. Cut your losses and toss them! Unfortunately the smell doesn't really go away anyway. :( Oh, and pack lots of wet wipes too!
7. Do not travel across the country in the middle of winter! You are only asking for misery. It tends to get colder and colder as you travel west.
6. Ductape little shoes to your children's feet. If they kick them off while you are driving you might as well kiss them good bye for the rest of the trip....you're never going to find them amid all the stuff you've crammed into your car, and it makes those bathroom stops a pain in the..keester.
5. Did I mention Dramamine? (If you're child is too young...dum-dum suckers work well to keep them happy for a while, however, you'll be peeling them off your seats for months.
4. The more screens and sets of head phones the better. Seriously, forget about "happy family time" while driving and just survive. The happiness will only last about an hour, and that's when the whining, fighting, poking, crying and total chaos kicks in. Individual screens is your only hope. You know as well as I do, NO ONE is going to want the same show!
3. Bring a reward to hand out every hour! (We used silly bands.) NO joke about this one, it really works great!
2. Avoid Nebraska. It n-e-v-e-r ends! (Wyoming is a close second.)
1. On second thought....don't drive. Just fly. Really...plan ahead, budget it out, sell an unimportant organ....do what ever it takes...fly!!!
Okay, lets start with....
10. Three staples are a must: snacks, portable TVs and Dramamine!
9. Whenever you stop, make ALL the kids use the restroom, even if they don't have to go..if you don't, you WILL be stopping every hour...trust me.
8. Barf bags are a necessity. (That takes us back to number one....Dramamine!) Even if your child doesn't make it into the bag, they are great for discarding the soiled clothes that you really aren't going to cart across the country with you. Cut your losses and toss them! Unfortunately the smell doesn't really go away anyway. :( Oh, and pack lots of wet wipes too!
7. Do not travel across the country in the middle of winter! You are only asking for misery. It tends to get colder and colder as you travel west.
6. Ductape little shoes to your children's feet. If they kick them off while you are driving you might as well kiss them good bye for the rest of the trip....you're never going to find them amid all the stuff you've crammed into your car, and it makes those bathroom stops a pain in the..keester.
5. Did I mention Dramamine? (If you're child is too young...dum-dum suckers work well to keep them happy for a while, however, you'll be peeling them off your seats for months.
4. The more screens and sets of head phones the better. Seriously, forget about "happy family time" while driving and just survive. The happiness will only last about an hour, and that's when the whining, fighting, poking, crying and total chaos kicks in. Individual screens is your only hope. You know as well as I do, NO ONE is going to want the same show!
3. Bring a reward to hand out every hour! (We used silly bands.) NO joke about this one, it really works great!
2. Avoid Nebraska. It n-e-v-e-r ends! (Wyoming is a close second.)
1. On second thought....don't drive. Just fly. Really...plan ahead, budget it out, sell an unimportant organ....do what ever it takes...fly!!!
We had a wonderful trip really. Keep a watch out for the bombardment of pictures that will be coming! It's great to be back.
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11 comments:
Becki - you are so funny. We drove for 27 hours with only two kids and it was just one way and no fun, so I am sure it was a crazy few days. I bet your family was excited to see you and now you can laugh at your kids when they have kids and complain to you.
Oh my gosh. 32 hours in the car each way???!!! I would have sold some organs and bought plane tickets, LOL!
We use to do it straight through. When my mom passed away we were in OR, so we drove for 40 hours straight with two cars, 6 grown-ups and three kiddos. It was crazy!! Shawn and I decided when Skylah was a babe that that was our last time driving across country during winter. Holidays with family are great, but we prefer driving in the summer!!! And we now have plotted camping spots every 8 hours or so. Yes, it takes us a few days to cross, but it is so worth it!!
I will have to remember the Dramamine though. Skylah just started getting roadsick this last time. And it is usually only when it is dark out.
Anyhoo, glad you all had fun! Can't wait to see the pics!
Funny!! Mark wants to take a road trip back west in the summer of 2011, I'll have to show him this post :) Glad you made it and had a good trip. Look forward to all the pics.
Thanks for the laugh! I can't wait to hear about y'alls trip. We'll have to get together soon.
you are too stinken cute! I think you made ME tired. I'm gonna go take a nap now.
OK, that was hilarious! But seriously next time you go to Utah during the winter take the Southern route. You go up to Memphis, TN and get on I-40 and take it all the way to to Gallup, NM then go up through Colorado and up the Southern part of Utah. It nowhere near as cold and its probably prettier too. And its not much further at all. That's what I did when I drove out there last winter. :)
Hilarious! I'm glad you survived. It's not a trip I would like to drive by myself let alone with kids. Glad you are home!!!
Oh that cracks me up! I will never roadtrip (well, I can't say never) with kids - but it doesn't sound fun!
TOO FUNNY!!!!
Hate that you guys had such a rough trip - we drove straight through to Denver after Christmas and the 20 hour trip took us 23. Luckily, we had done it before with just the boys and knew that we could handle the through-the-night trip. So, Aaron and I took turns and amazingly, we made it without any problems. The kids were amazing too! Believe me, I've said about a thousand thank-you prayers that we were kept safe, but also that the kids were happy and quiet the whole time. I just wonder if it will ever happen again! Even though it's hard on us, I'm a total advocate of travel-through-the-night as much as possible!
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