Back at the old homestead

It is always nice to travel and to visit family, but it is just as nice to be home again!

The kiddos and I got home yesterday late afternoon-The entire loop of the trip was from the Binghamton area to just outside of Boston, then from Boston down to Huntington (on Long Island) via the Orient Point Ferry, then back again from LI to Home. The kiddos are real troopers when it comes to traveling-but then again they have been doing it since they were very small. When we were stationed in Kentucky and in Virginia it was over 7 hours each way whenever we went to visit family.

Some tips for traveling with the little people (or just in general).

#1, as far as I am concerned a DVD player that you can run in the car off of the cigarette lighter is worth it’s weight in gold! Some things are worth spending money on for the calm it brings to the trip 🙂 Our rule is that the DVD player is ONLY used on long trips. If it was in the car constantly then it wouldn’t have the ability to really hold their attention. I also try to have some DVDs that are either new or that they haven’t seen in a long time. This trip I admit that I bought 3 new videos for them to watch, as well as took a few out from the library. Hey, I had over 12 hours of car time to occupy them for. . . . but for next time I think I am going to just stash some of the videos so that they haven’t seen them for a long time to make them feel new.

#2 Have car toys that they haven’t played with in a long time. In our case, my sister had given the kids an aquadoodle for christmas, which I let them play with for a few weeks and then hid in the top of the closet along with a magnadoodle, some workbooks, and my daughter’s leappad. I pulled them out for the trip and it was like having new toys.

#3 have some other toys that they haven’t seen or are new to keep them occupied where ever you end up. I had a few christmas presents again that were specifically saved for trips-a plastic thomas the train set for ds etc. I also went to the dollar store and bought a few things to take with.

#4 Bring your own snacks. Gas station snacks can run you a fortune. I usually don’t fill the kids up on gummi fruit and prepackaged cheese and crackers-but long trips are made for that kind of thing. I buy them at the dollar store and try not to worry about the nutritional content.

#5 Stop somewhere they can run around for lunch. Yes, I try to plan my trips around McDonalds with indoor playlands. For example, on Rt 17 half way in between our house and LI, exit 126 has a big indoor playground. You can bet we stop there every time, buy lunch (sometimes it is just worth it) and let them burn off some energy for about an hour. The long break in the drive is worth the relative calm that decends on the car after such a break. Bonus-I found a nice bread outlet in the strip mall next to the McDonalds and was able to stock up on expensive multigrain bread and whole wheat english muffins at bargain prices! Of course an even more frugal option would be in good weather to pack a lunch and stop at a rest stop then initiate a game of tag or something.

#6 For the adults, I just love taking books on tape out from the library to listen to on long drives. It really makes the time fly.

#7 Since we stayed in a hotel in the Boston area, I brough a cooler and milk, yogurt and cereal for the kids and my breakfast. We usually didn’t head over to our hosts house (my sister’s in laws) until about 10, and my kids like to eat approximately 2.5 seconds after they wake up. The hotel only provided coffee, so having the cooler enabled me to feed them immediatly and saved a bundle over eating out for breakfast.

Glad to be back. More later!