We are leaving at 4am Thursday morning to head up to Nor Cal for Thanksgiving. The 5hr plane ride to FL this summer was my own personal living hell so I am biting my nails just thinking of what 7 hours is going to be like.
I just bought a dual dvd player for the headrests and have plenty of movies and individual headphones so they can watch their own shows. I have the Duracell car charger that plugs into the cig lighter for dead battery situations. We have a leap pad, my ipad and travel coloring book/desk top sets. I packed snacks up the wazoo and plan to have a cooler with "fresher" items.
Am I missing anything? Are there comfy head rests so if they nap they don't slouch? I know we should stop mid way to let them get some energy out but we really just want to get there because they'll all be waiting for us.
Please tell me this wont be as horrible as I am imagining! I am the most worried about my 2 1/2yr old. He's a feisty one.
wrap little toys ( like finger puppets, coloring packs, toy trucks Target Dollar Spot Stuff) Wrap 1 for each kid for each hour. When every you sense trouble throw two new ( IDENTICAL ) wrapped gifts in the back seat. these will buy you like 25 minutes of happiness.
Also H invented tickle zones, quiet zones and singing zones. In our car tickle zones are orange construction cones, quiet zones are exit signs ( LOL) and singing zones are blue signs. You can use this as you like but it helps the car ride go faster if you have a silly game like this to play for the last hour or so.
I'm fighting the urge to shake my cane and yell "Get off my lawn!" here, while also sharing how my family took many a 7 hour road trip while I was growing up. Anyway.
I actually think that dealing with kids in a car is going to be easier, a lot, than dealing with them on a plane. They aren't going to make you miss boarding, and the only one they can bother is you. You also have slightly more room to move around in a car.
Even though it delays the trip, you should stop every 2-3 hours so everyone can get out and stretch their legs. Unless the kids are sleeping of course!
I think you need to pack a bottle of wine to drink once you get to your dinner too!
Depends on how old your children are, but you sound set for anything. We've done 7 and 10 hours with one 2 year old in the mix. We got her one of the horseshoe shaped pillows but she only used it once on the way home. We made more frequent stops just to let them run and we were good.
Post by CrazyLucky on Nov 24, 2014 12:45:00 GMT -5
We have a drive that is 7.5 hours without kids, 10 with. I understand your desire to get to where you are going, I really do. But it is worth your sanity to stop and let them run around. Stop for breakfast at McDonald's with a play yard. Or something, but let them burn some energy! What kind of vehicle do you have? We also found they are better if one of us can sit in the back with them. We can do that with the van, but not the Prius. What time do they usually wake up? Mine wake up at 6. I found that if we leave at 4, that is close enough to 6, plus they are SO excited to be seeing Grandma that they just stay awake and it's hell on everyone. If you can leave at 2 or 3, they will be more tired and will sleep better (hopefully!). My four year old is old enough to do games like "Let's find an A, ok now let's find a B." And the 2 year old can look for something green, or blue, or a triangle. The drive to visit family is one of the reasons I want to move back home!
We do longs trips like this often. This summer I gave DD1 5 tickets and if she complained about the car ride or asked "how long" she had to give me a ticket. If she had one left when we got there she could "buy" a new toy that I brought and had showed her.
Post by ladystardust on Nov 24, 2014 12:49:32 GMT -5
They might be a little young yet but we did our road trips similar to this as kids. We would leave at 3am for an 8 hour drive and our parents let us camp out in the living room and stay up late so we would sleep in the car. It worked well but I think 2 1/2 is probably too young for staying up late. Either way, I think you should get some sleep time out if them. Snacks, activity books, our gameboy and music are what worked for us.
I have a 2 year old and he needs to get out every 2 hours to run around. I just pull into a rest stop and chase him around the lawn area for 15 minutes. He really couldn't do it without runaround time.
We have an 11 hour drive. We are doing half of it tomorrow after work so hopefully he falls asleep at his usual time and then the shorter half will be the following morning.
You're right @crazylucky . We might want to consider leaving an hour earlier. We had planned on stopping at a halfway point but maybe we'll have to make at least 2 stops to let them out and run around. I hated these car rides growing up so I think I am projecting.
We have a Mazda CX9 grand touring so its very spacy. We'll have partial 3rd row out because that will be my dogs little private sleeping quarters. Not sure if we'll have to trade off sitting in the back but that is a good option.
Thanks everyone for the car game ideas too. Those will be perfect for my 4yr old.
Post by emoflamingo on Nov 24, 2014 12:52:51 GMT -5
We drove Kansas to NC and thankfully, the iPad with a movie was good for the baby. He slept a lot too. Snacks and drink, stopping for diaper changes and pit stops meant he stretched his legs.
OH! I just remembered something else. You can buy the little individual color sets with stickers/colors/markers/activities in packets at most dollar stores and at Wal-Mart. I got a few of those for each child and at certain intervals they got a brand new "thing" to work on.
Post by ElizabethBennet on Nov 24, 2014 13:02:22 GMT -5
I do the drive from Nor Cal to So Cal a few times a year and it's really not that bad. D is almost 4, but we've been doing it since she was 2. I let her pick out a toy or two for the car, some books, and usually pick up a couple of other little toys from the dollar section at Target. We've never done movies or anything in the car because she hasn't needed it, but loading up your phone or iPad with movies is a good idea. I also pack snacks and pace when I give her the toys so she's not bored with everything all at once.
We just did this drive with DDs. DD1 occupied herself with dolls and singing to herself. DD2 slept most of the way through.
We did make two stops along the way. I don't think I'd attempt it without at least one stop.
You're from my area right? What stops did you make? Anything exciting along the 99? Or did you do the 5?
I know this wasn't directed at me, but the 99 stinks, literally. There are more places to stop, but I find I get more traffic on the 99.
The 5 has stops, or at least a gas station every 20 miles or so, but its mostly in the middle of nowhere. It's boring drive, but I personally find it much, much easier.
Oh hell yes we plan to stop. I meant, we only wanted to have 1 stop at the halfway point, so we can get going but I see that we'll likely need to stop more often than planned.
We recently did a 24-hour trip broken up into three days. The best day was the one where we happened to find a playground (we were on a back road) and spent 30 minutes playing there. The kids loved it, it was good for all of us to get out and get fresh air, and it made the rest of the ride very pleasant. If you are able to find somewhere to do that and the weather is decent, I would try it. See if you can find somewhere that you'll hit about lunch time. Then you can play, eat and gas up and be on your merry way, ready to start up a new movie on the DVD player.
You're from my area right? What stops did you make? Anything exciting along the 99? Or did you do the 5?
I know this wasn't directed at me, but the 99 stinks, literally. There are more places to stop, but I find I get more traffic on the 99.
The 5 has stops, or at least a gas station every 20 miles or so, but its mostly in the middle of nowhere. It's boring drive, but I personally find it much, much easier.
Good to know, thanks. One of my friends suggested to stop at Bravo Farms on the way (which is off the 5) so I think we'll need to change our route.
We recently did a 24-hour trip broken up into three days. The best day was the one where we happened to find a playground (we were on a back road) and spent 30 minutes playing there. The kids loved it, it was good for all of us to get out and get fresh air, and it made the rest of the ride very pleasant. If you are able to find somewhere to do that and the weather is decent, I would try it. See if you can find somewhere that you'll hit about lunch time. Then you can play, eat and gas up and be on your merry way, ready to start up a new movie on the DVD player.
We found a place called Bravo Farms (a friend suggested it) so I think it would be a good stop along the way. I was hoping to find a playground area too so they could get some energy out and am praying for good weather.
We have the same drive but to AZ leaving on Wednesday. We plan to leave around 6 a.m., grab breakfast on the road and stop every two hours. We have done this drive many times with DS and he does well. I let him stay in his PJ's until we hit the first rest stop and then I have him change into comfortable clothes. I always hit up the $1 section in Target and get lots of new things for DS to play with on the way as well as those packs with crayons and coloring books. One thing that really helped us make our trips better was getting DS headphones so we could listen to our music and have discussions without having to compete with his ipad. We make a point of stopping at McDonald's so he can get a happy meal with a toy and get some wiggles out. We will have the dog in the car so we stop every two hours at a rest stop so she can stretch her legs, drink some water, etc.. I think all of the snacks are a great idea and make sure you have extra water, we always drink and need more than we think. We also make sure to bring an extra set of keys so we can lock the car with the dog inside with the air or heat on if we stop someplace that we can't bring her inside with us.
Don't be afraid to stop and enjoy the sights and roadside attractions. I have some great memories of doing this with my parents growing up and it always made the drive that much more fun. It is longer but the stress level is less on everyone and it doesn't feel like as much of a race to get there.
-Also, I always get a disposable camera for DS. It is another thing to keep him busy and he can take pictures of whatever he wants.