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Last weekend Kris and I packed up the girls, and hit the road for a little vacation! I wore this dress, which is so soft and comfortable! I paired it with a jean jacket because Kris likes the car to be colder than I do, ha! I also got the chance to wear these gingham slides - they are THE cutest on and only $25! I l typically wear some variation of this outfit for every road trip!
We only drove to Lake Placid which is a relatively quick drive, but it can seem veeery long if you have a crying baby! Kris and I have done our fair share of road trips with the kids, mostly to Disney, which is about 4 hours away. Some have gone better than others, but I have learned a ton about what works and does not work for us during a road trip with toddlers! I wanted to share some of my favorite strategies for taking surviving road trips when you have little ones!
1. Lists Lists, Lists! This is so key! As you are trying to get out the door with kids in tow, you are bound to forget something if it is not written down. I will make a list of everything that we need for the trip, and break out what needs to specifically be available to use in the car. I use these Rifle notebooks because making lists is much more fun when you have a pretty notebook, ha! I also found some super cute notebooks from Hobby Lobby that are narrow enough to fit in my purse and work well for list making! On this last road trip, I got a bit over confident because we have done this drive so many times...didn't make a list...and ended up forgetting 2 major things! Lesson learned!
2. Time Your Road Trip Carefully. As much as we can, we try to plan our road trips around our girl's nap schedules. Charlotte will normally nap between 1 - 3:30 and Avery only naps about 50% of the time, but when she does it is at the same time. If we are going on a 4 hour road trip to Orlando, I will feed the girls around 11:30 and then we will leave by 12/12:15. That way they have some time to wind down before taking a nap and hopefully they sleep for the majority of our drive. Doesn't always happen, but that is the goal!
3. Make Them Comfortable. I try to dress the girls in comfortable clothing and socks for our road trips, which typically means inexpensive leggings and t-shirts from Target. It makes it easy for sleeping and I won't be upset if their outfit gets messy. Let's be honest, it's going to happen! We also bring a light blanket for both girls and a pillow for Avery. The blanket can be used as a sun shade if necessary as well! When the girls were younger I would also pack the portable noise machine that clipped onto their carseat.
4. Pack Enough Snacks For The Length Of Your Trip. And then add in a few more :) It is amazing how quickly Annie's Fruit Snacks will turn a mood around, ha! Mini bags of crackers/goldfish/pretzels, lollipops and baby food pouches are my other go to snacks.
5. Bring Ziploc/Small Trash Bags. I keep a lined dry cereal container in the side door of my car for trash, but on a long road trip, you will want to have more ziplocs or mini trash bags to contain trash! Oh, and have a million wipes on hand!
6. Pack a Variety of Toys/Entertainment. In addition to watching movies/playing games on our tablets, I also like to pack a magnetic drawing board and smaller toys that make noise like remotes or phones. Avery will get a sticker packet (I love this one) with paper/crayons as well. I also make sure that I pack their favorite lovey - my girls can't leave home overnight with out them!
7. Make a special playlist on Spotify/iTunes. I created a play list of the girls' favorite songs that we use daily in the car, in addition to on road trips. These playlists include mostly Disney songs and praise music that we sing at church/chapel. It is a great distractor and everyone has fun together!
8. This is SO random, but it has worked every time...if your little one is crying, open and close the sunroof if you have one! I can't even count the number of times Avery and Charlotte have been crying, and the only way to get them to stop was to open the sunroof! It instantly distracts them and allows you to change what they are focused on to something more positive.
I would love to hear your tips for taking road trips with your kids!!
XOXO Meggan
