15 Tips for Surviving a Road Trip with Kids

Our Relief Society activity this month was a "Talent Fair." Each sister was in charge of bringing a "talent"/"something they had accomplished over the summer" to the activity and display it (somewhat like your 5th grade Science Fair). Well, I thought to myself, "What in the world have I accomplished this summer?" My answer, "I survived taking four kids and three adults across the country in three days and actually enjoyed it." So, just in case you are planning a road trip soon, or are wondering if you should take a road trip, let me share my tried and true tips.

1. Try to keep your luggage in the back or in a roof storage, not under your feet. You’ll already be fighting feelings of claustrophobia, so try to keep around you as uncluttered as possible.
2. Buy all snacks ahead of time and have them put in baggies by individual servings -- this cuts down on spills as well as one person getting more than you want of one thing. Don’t bring any snacks that you wouldn’t mind you or your children eating large amounts of. I found that string cheese, blueberries, crackers, grapes, granola bars, dried fruit, chex mix, crackers, gogurt, and almonds worked great. I had one small bin and one small cooler that kept all of the snacks and waters. This was the only stuff kept up front.
3. Bring a large case of water bottles and freeze some to use as the ice for your small cooler. Each night you stop at a hotel, freeze more waters for the next day.
4. Don’t bring any candy. If needed, use a treat as an incentive for your kids to behave in the car and when you stop to get gas, if they’ve earned it, then they get to choose an item.
5. Buy movies ahead of time when you find them on sale and put them away. Watch for deals at movie stores like Blockbuster where you can buy 5 moves for $20. I didn’t worry about my kids watching movie after movie – I just kept telling myself that I don’t do this on a regular basis, so three days of it won’t ruin them.
6. Bring books on CD. I recommend “The Treehouse” series. The author reads the book and can get through the entire book in 40 minutes. The kids loved it and it was even tolerable for the adults to listen to as well.
7. Always have a grocery bag or two handy in case someone gets sick or to gather trash in.
8. Attaching a roof storage of some sort is very useful. But only store things you won’t need to get at until you get to your destination.
9. Bring as little into the hotel each night as possible. I carried in two duffel bags – one with the whole family’s toiletries and one with everyone’s change of clothes.
10. Dress comfortable and do away with pj’s for the nights you’ll be in a hotel. Each night we spent in a hotel we would eat dinner, shower, and dress into the next-days clothes. Sleeping in next-day clothes was also one less thing we had to do before rushing out in the morning.
11. Stop every three to four hours while driving. It makes long days seem not so long and keeps your gas tank around half full in case you run into some kind of emergency.
12. At every stop make sure everyone gets out and everyone uses the bathroom. Be sure to run around, play follow-the-leader, tag, or do jumping jacks. Remember, you’ll never see these people who are giving you funny looks again.
13. Have a plan, but also be flexible. If your kids are doing well, keep driving. Also be sure to have a route planned and an atlas handy. Following a map makes it fun to see the progress you make each hour.
14. Don’t book hotel rooms ahead of time. You can get a great deal by just negotiating at the front desk and this also doesn’t limit how far you travel each day.
15. Put as much planning into your return trip as you did on the way out. (We learned this the hard way.) Take the time to replenish snacks, drinks, and movies.

So what it all comes down to:
Don’t be afraid to make that long road trip. It’s not bad and very cost friendly. Our “across-the-county trip” cost roughly $400 one way including gas, food, and hotels. Considering it costs that much for one airline ticket, it made it well worth it for our family of six. It was also so nice to have our own car when we arrived at our final destination.

Happy Road Tripping!

berry pickin'

A friend recommended that we take advantage of the great local blueberry patches before it was too late, so we took the recommendation (picked 6 pounds worth) and made dessert out of it! Good times and super yummy!

School Days, School Days!

Jaxton had his first day back to preschool today and he was pretty excited about it. It was hard for me to feel sad or abandoned by my little Jax when he was such a bundle of happiness to be headed back as PreK schooler. When I picked him up he said, "I had a GREAT day at school with Connor." (Connor is his best buddy who has now moved to our neighborhood and they get to attend preschool together.) I think Jax's in for an awesome year!

Mac started 1st grade last Wednesday. After he left for school I had an empty, lonely feeling inside -- all summer long Mac has been my "go to guy." If I needed something done and done right, I asked Mac to do it. He has grown up so much and become such a wonderful oldest sibling and example to his three younger admirers. His help was definitely missed all week long. When I picked him up that Friday after school and asked him how school was he said, "Kindergarten was a BLAST! It was the best year of my life! All we do in 1st grade is listen and LEARN!" I told him he better get used to it, 'cause he's got a lot of learning ahead of him. On a happier note, he's totally stoked about being in the same class with his best buddy, Carlo and getting to sit right next to him.

P.S. I just got back from picking Mac up from school and today he said school was GREAT! When I asked him why, he told me, "Because it's a new week and I got homework!" Looks like my school lovin' learner is officially back from summer vacation (phew!).

More of the Birthday Girl

I took Jilli to the doctor today and she is now weighing in at 20 lbs. 9 oz (50%) and is 30 in. long (75%). I can't get enough of those tan lines inside her little skin rolls. She has 12 teeth, including her molars. Jilli started crawling at about 10 1/2 months and now she's really good at pulling herself up to things, but she hasn't attempted walking yet. She also loves interacting and socializing with others by pointing, motioning for more or to come here, grunting, squealing, and dancing. Words can't express how much we love this little girl. Every day is a little more fun (and slightly more dramatic) because she's in it.

365 days of J.O.Y.

My baby is one year old today. Her face alone makes my every day better. We are so very thankful for the joy she brings to our lives.
As a family we talked tonight about what we love about Jilli and we came up with some wonderful things.
Dad: Loves getting her out of her crib in the morning.
Mom: Loves her snort face and her dancing.
Mac: Loves her panting noise she makes when she crawls and when she pulls herself up to play with toys.
Jax: Loves her kisses, her hugs, and how she plays.
Beck: Loves the way she crawls (he actually said he loves when she falls down and we made him think of something else -- do I sense some sibling rivalry?)
Jilli is everything wonderful and has been every 365 days since she came into this world. We love you Jilli -- happy 1st birthday!

Five Weeks of Nothin' But FaNtAsTiC!

We had such a great time in Utah. The kids definitely miss their cousins and being a part of such a close-knit group. Both Mac and Jaxton cried when we told the cousins "goodbye" and kept asking why we couldn't stay. Mac kept telling Nate that there were a lot of stores that he could work at for a job and that we didn't need to go back to NC just for a job.





Myles and Hailey got married the last day that we were in Utah and it was a beautiful day. Their sealer was Joseph F. McConkie and it was very cool to hear everything insightful that he had to say.

Their reception was held that night in Hailey's backyard, which included a pool, waterfall, playground, hot tub, volleyball court, etc. We had been telling the boys all night to stay away from the waterfall/pond and they had actually done well to listen. We made it all the way to Myles and Hailey's send off when Jaxton appeared completely wet from the waist down, with sand and grass caked on him. Come to find out he had got in the pond and then to dry himself off he had put sand and grass all over him. After he told me the story he was quiet for a minute and then he said, "What the crap was I thinking?" The kid is hysterical!


Mac and Jaxton took swim lessons at the SV pool (talk about childhood memories) while we were there in Utah. On the last day each of their classes got the opportunity to jump off the diving board if they wanted to. Both Mac and Jaxton were up to the challenge and Jaxton got up and did it with no problems. Mac on the other hand, tiptoed his way up, looked down at his teacher, and then as he jumped he screamed at the top of his lungs so everyone could hear, "I'M GONNA DIE!" But when he came out of the water he had a big smile on his face and wanted to do it all over again.










Until next year . . .

Just in case . . .

you're wondering if we made it back from our trip to Utah, well, we did! And we enjoyed every minute of it. Every. Minute. (not counting the last day of our drive home.) Who wouldn't love cousin sleepovers, making forts in the mountains, exploring a 400 acre ranch, staying in a cabin at Bear Lake, swim lessons, hiking a cave, picnics, celebrating holidays and a wedding, dodgeball camp, swim parties, and much more? Mostly my kids were in Cousin Heaven, enjoying every moment they possibly could with the people they think are the coolest.
But until I purchase myself new photo editing software (our other one bit the dust with our old computer), this post is going to have to suffice. Just understand one thing: even experiencing one day of driving with a child throwing up every 45 minutes, complaining of earaches, having to detour from our path to find an urgent care, cleaning up two not-so-easily-cleaned-up potty accidents, all while driving in the van for 17 hours and not pulling into our driveway until 2:30am will not keep me from doing it all over again next year. Now if that doesn't illustrate how much we love our family (or how crazy we are), then I don't know what does. Already counting down the days until next years 36 hour trip home.