Road trip: with the kids.

By a sheer stroke of luck, Blayne happened to be off on a long weekend. So we packed up three kids and made the 8-hour drive to Lethbridge and we were off to visit Blayne’s grandparents for thanksgiving. Travelling with our kids, even short distances are always enough to give me a migraine, but for the first time, we now had an 8 week old baby with us. With that came it’s own challenges. These are the tricks that I have accumulated over the years to make travelling with our boys a tad easier.

• Let them pack their own bag – kids, or mine at least, get excited when they have some independence. Letting them pick and pack their own clothes really helps them be excited about what is happening and going somewhere.
• Leave early – on the way town we started or journey at 4 am. Cruel I know, worse for me than the kids.  Our hope was that they would sleep for the first part of the trip. HD was asleep the moment he was buckled into his car seat and Hunter didn’t make it out the city. Levi powered through nearly the whole drive but he is a unique boy. On the way home we didn’t get started until 8 and they were awake and fighting from the moment we left.
• Books – neither of my kids can read yet but that doesn’t stop them from flipping through books and making their own stories. I brought a handful and this kept them busy for a few hours.
• Have something for them to look forward to at the end of the drive – Heading home we had the promise of their uncles visiting when we got there. It was thanksgiving so they were making their own journey so it was convenient for us. Hunter and Levi will do anything to see their uncle Shylo and auntie Lissa. on the way down we used swimming as the lure which being me to my next point.
• If possible have a pool at the hotel – this was probably our best move. Levi has never been a strong sleeping and this was going to be his first night in a hotel. We were super worried that Sleep just wouldn’t happen for him. Swimming, even for a half hour is always sure to exhaust my kids so before bed each night we went for a swim by the time they hit the pillow they were already asleep.
• Bring their bedding – our kids each have a special pillow and blanket they can’t sleep without. By bringing them with us it was close enough to their actual bed that it wasn’t a big deal.
• Bring an extra full outfit – kids, especially my boys always seem to need an extra change of clothes no matter where we go. Levi managed to get syrup all over his shirt he was supposed to wear dinner. Hunter two pair of pants. I still don’t know what happened with that. Seriously just pack extra clothes.
• Games – I don’t usually let my kids play video games at all but we have a couple of personal games systems that we let them play with when they really got stir crazy and that kept them busy for a bit.
• Understanding – remember these are little people who normally move 100 miles/minute. Being strapped into a vehicle for hours means that energy isn’t being expelled. They are going to misbehave.

Travelling isn’t easy for anyone, let alone two little boys. We made it through unscathed and spent a wonderful weekend surrounded by family, who we don’t see nearly enough and some I had never met before. Plus I got two thanksgiving dinners and who can complain about that.