Family Road Trip Survival Guide

My husband and I love road trips! There is something about packing up a car, hitting the road, and stopping at random gas stations, and rest stops that excite us, lol. We love it! I also love that we have so much time to actually TALK to one another, since we don’t get the time when we are back home with our busy schedules.

Well this road trip was a bit different. We weren’t alone. We decided to take a family trip with our 2 kids to Chicago, and we weren’t 100% sure about how the drive was going to go. From our place is 9 1/2 hours, and we knew we were going to be making multiple stops. For this reason, we made sure we left bright and early to give ourselves plenty of time to get to our destination. As we pulled out our driveway we crossed our fingers hoping it wasn’t a big mistake, lol

Well I am pleased to announce it was a success!! They kids were great! Yes, we got a lot of “are we there yet” questions in the back seat, but we made sure we brought things that would keep the kids busy.

Here is my list of MUST HAVE’S to make your trip a happy one!

1.) iPad– I made sure the day before we left our ipad was loaded with a bunch of new apps (games) for my son to play when we were on the road. We sat down together and picked a bunch of new ones, and he wasn’t allowed to play any until we were in the car. That way they were all fresh and new, and he wouldn’t get bored of them. **Make sure you FULLY charge it too before you leave. They last thing you want is for it to die 1/2 way into your trip.

2.) DVD PLAYER– If you don’t have one already installed in your vehicle, you can buy one that plugs into your car charger. The screens strap right to the headrest. Another option would be to buy a portable DVD player. We actually got these from my parents last Christmas from Canadian Tire and absolutely love them! We don’t have them installed all the time, we just bring them out for long drives so the kids can watch movies. For this trip we brought a few of their favourite movies and TV shows that they could watch on the drive.

3.) SNACKS and DRINKS-I packed a lot of snacks and drinks!!! Yes, it’s always fun to pick up a snack here and there when you stop for gas, but they are a bit pricey. You may also not find the healthiest items, so I wanted to pack my own. For drinks, I brought plenty of water and a couple of Sippy cups of milk for my daughter. I brought a thermos type cup for my son. For snacks, I packed fruit, cheese, crackers, veggies, raisins and granola bars.

4.) TOYS and BOOKS– For toys, I made sure to bring ones that didn’t have a lot of little parts, so they wouldn’t get lost in the car. My son wanted to bring a couple of his monster trucks and a couple of his favourite books. For my daughter, I packed a few of her squeaky toys, a soft baby book, and her bear that lights up and plays songs.

5.) SING SONGS– I made a list of songs that we sing at home with the kids to sing together in the car. We sang itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle little star, you are my sunshine, the wheels on the bus etc..

6.) GAMES– One of my son’s favourite games to play is “I spy” so we made sure to play that for a bit on our way there, and on the way home.

Oh and don’t forget to MAKE STOPS!! Don’t rush, enjoy the time together. We stopped every 2 hours. Not just for the kids, but for us as well. We stretched our legs, went to the bathroom, had a snack etc.

Now buckle up and hit the road!

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