Traveling With Kiddos!

As I've posted previously, this summer was FULL! Our niece Brooklynn and Our Girl (pre-adoptive foster placement) were with us this summer. Our Girl is still with us but Brooklynn went back home to Oregon at the end of the summer. We spent A LOT of time in a vehicle. It takes us about 25 minutes or so to get to Walmart so any trip to the store includes some time in the car. When we started the summer, each kid was assigned the following:

A tote bag including small crafts, coloring, books, etc.

A neck pillow - because who wants to sleep in a vehicle and have your head flop around?!?

High quality water bottles all around! It took some research but I had some requirements - no sweating, stays cold for ages, doesn't spill, large mouth for easy ice filling, easy to clean = no straws, etc. I ordered each of us one of these bad boys: Water Fit Water Bottle! 16 ounces for the kids and 20 ounces for Homestead Phil and I. Different colors for everyone with the rule that everyone was responsible for cleaning and filling their own water bottles! :)

Brain Quest Cards! Found here and available for all ages: Brain Quest Cards. I admit that the US Presidents pack is TOUGH! haha

Of course snacks! The more snacks the better!

A few things I learned and changed up from previous road trips. As much as I LOVE my Camelbak that I posted about here previously, the fancy water bottles were necessary! I did bust out the Camelbak for our trip to Kennywood though! It was more practical than us carrying our individual bottles :)

We took the kiddos on a canoe ride. When we were finished, they asked to go alone. We obliged although the anchor was dropped so they couldn't go very far and we pulled them in when it was time to be done! They went together and then separate enjoying every minute of their travels :)

Also, it may sound like making balloon animals in the car can be a bit on the edge of dangerous but it's so worth it! :) These two girls had so much fun and giggled the most when the balloons were out. Whether animals were created or not, many laughs were had! Balloons were popped on accident! More laughs occurred! So don't discount balloon animal making for longer car rides! You may end up with a balloon hitting the back of your head from the backseat but it's all worth it :)

Any must do, crazy, out of the box, options while traveling with kiddos?! We learned a lot when we traveled for 10 days with Brooklynn in 2016 and when we RV traveled with our last Little Guy in 2017. Balloon animals is now a top fav for a long trip in my book!