Help me plan for two LONG drives with three kids!

[TLuvsD]

Love the ideas already mentioned. Just a caution to take markers (washable) or colored pencils (DD's favorite) NOT crayons. Crayons melt in the sun....my MIL gave my DD a coloring book and crayons for a car trip. sigh. nice thought, not great reality.

Movies, coloring, stuffed toy, music are the favorites here. She loves to read, but can't always read in the car without getting sick.

 

[nboicepardee]

We LOVE this little device: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Satellite-Wireless-External-STBF500101/dp/B004Z0S7K6 It is a portable external hard drive that creates its own wifi. DH has ripped all our DVDs to it, so when we go on trips, we bring it with us-- up to three devices (ipad, kindle fire, ipod touch, pc, etc) can watch different movies at the same time. So, usually, the kids watch something in the back on the iPad, and I watch something different up front on the Kindle Fire. DH told me that there is a new version of the Go Flex that holds a terabyte and allows up to eight devices to use it at once. I'm sure we'll have that one at some point . We also have this contraption for the iPad in the car: http://www.amazon.com/Arkon-Tablet-Headrest-Mount-TAB3-RSHM/dp/B0072LATE2/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1370025921&sr=1-10&keywords=ipad+car+mount. It allows the iPad to rest in between the two front seats so both kids can see it. I'm all about using technology to get us through long road trips. 8 hours of movies once or twice a year isn't going to damage them for life . --Katie

Can you put any DVD on this device or does it need to be a digital copy? I am clueless!

 

[4littleones]

I know at McDonald's type places lots of people have the "you can't play on the playground or have your happy meal prize until you eat" rule. But I learned long ago with my nephews, if they could hit the playground first, we could eat in peace. Then when they were done playing, they were starving, and ate everything. So when traveling, we would stop at McDonald's or somewhere with a playground for lunch. Let one adult take the kids straight to the playground to run off steam, while the other adult got food for just the adults. Both adults eat/watch the kids play.

After the adults ate (this does work better with two adults), one adult would get back in line and get the kid's food "to go," and the other would take them to the bathroom, wash hands, etc. We'd get back on the road, and let the kids eat their food in the car. We ended up having a shorter stop this way, and the kids blew off some steam.

My friend has done this solo with her kids. She just takes them directly to the playground, then when done playing, she gets everyone back in the car, and goes through the drivethrough to get everyone's food, to eat while driving.

This may very well be the best tip I have ever seen on the DISBOARD Thank you, I for sure will use this!

 

[honeybunches]

I know at McDonald's type places lots of people have the "you can't play on the playground or have your happy meal prize until you eat" rule. But I learned long ago with my nephews, if they could hit the playground first, we could eat in peace. Then when they were done playing, they were starving, and ate everything. So when traveling, we would stop at McDonald's or somewhere with a playground for lunch. Let one adult take the kids straight to the playground to run off steam, while the other adult got food for just the adults. Both adults eat/watch the kids play.

After the adults ate (this does work better with two adults), one adult would get back in line and get the kid's food "to go," and the other would take them to the bathroom, wash hands, etc. We'd get back on the road, and let the kids eat their food in the car. We ended up having a shorter stop this way, and the kids blew off some steam.

My friend has done this solo with her kids. She just takes them directly to the playground, then when done playing, she gets everyone back in the car, and goes through the drivethrough to get everyone's food, to eat while driving.

We do this even when just meeting the cousins for a play date. The adults get to enjoy a meal and chat, the kids eventually get hungry enough to stop playing.