Wednesday, May 7, 2008

St. Louis...still?

I have had several questions about the car trip. 8+ hours in the car with a 3 and 5 year old. It actually was around 9 going there and 10 coming home.

I think that's one of the reasons I was so surprised at how well the trip went. The drive was so easy. I brought a ton of things along to do and staggered when I gave them to them. We stopped about every 2-2 1/2 hours. One of the stops each direction was for lunch at a play place. After that stop, Noah was allowed to play with his Leapster with the headphones and Aaron slept. That lasted about an hour and a half. When Aaron woke up each time, we stopped for a snack and bathroom break and then broke out the movies. Winnie the Pooh movies tend to be the favorites in the car.

I had also bought Noah a Mandala book. Are you familiar with these? They are pictures of just round patterns of different shapes that you color. Along with some new markers (there's just something special about new markers) he was amused for over an hour. I got them both a clipboard to put their activities on. Noah still picks it up every time we go somewhere in the car.

We also had bought some books on CD packages from the Scholastic book orders...they're too expensive if you buy them any other way. These kept Aaron occupied quite well too.

One of the reasons that it was good that we fixed the van instead of getting a car...if squabbles started, we could move Noah to the back and they were separated for awhile.

All in all, the drive was way better than I had anticipated. I am a lot less worried about the 24 hour drive to Disney next March because not only did they do well on this trip, they will be a year older and that much more able to handle it.

What are your ideas for amusing children on long car rides?

6 comments:

Betsy, short for Elizabeth, formally known as Esther said...

DISNEY? WOW you are brave!!! I have toyed with the idea, but my kids are to young for that yet.

We do all of the same things that you do whenever we get in the car for a long ride.

Looks like a FABULOUS trip!!!

Debbie @ Three Weddings said...

We are going to Florida in July. It will be a 2 day trip there and we'll stopover in Memphis. I'm confident the older two will do well. With three kids, we need to get used to long car rides. I'm a little more concerned about Peanut. She watches movies pretty well these days, but that's a lot of time in the car. It should be interesting.

Deb said...

We haven't done a trip of more than a couple of hours in so long, I have no idea how my kids would do. I think you had the right idea with varying the activities and lots of stops. Sounds like it worked out perfectly! :)

Jenny said...

I'm glad the car trip went well for you! It sounds like you were very prepared. I'll have to take notes from you so I'll be ready if we decide to try it out in a few years!

Lindy said...

Glad it was a relatively easy drive:)

We have lots of drive time for Jacqui's far-away hospital trips so we invested in a DVD player for the car -- all I can say is sooooo worth it!

Mom Knows Everything said...

My 14 year old isn't too bad, her MP4 usually keeps her occupied. My 3 year old is a different story.