How to make summer Road Trips easier with kids!

 

One thing my husband and I have always had in common was our love for the open road. We are road warriors.

 

While dating, I was living in Southern California for work. Anthony was still in Arizona. We had met just months before I left for a new job position but did not have our first conversation till the day I left to California. It was through an email I read while stuck in traffic to Los Angles with a jammed packed car full of must need items till my moving truck could arrive.

 

The email was a prayer for my move that he heard about earlier that day at church. That moment I knew there was something. The prayer from a godly man for my safe travels and new position at work immediately grabbed my attention. But great….. I was moving a state away!

 

Through the prayer we instantly connected. Our friendship grew quickly and it was obvious feelings was developing. Not long into our relationship, I prayed, “Lord, if this is Your will show me that it is, otherwise please Lord, do not allow a long distant relationship to start.”  That’s when something happened.

 

The company Anthony was working for close to ten years at this point, asked him to leave out of state to help open a new location and train the managing team. They would pay for his travel by flight Monday through Friday; which included hotel.

 

This is something the company had never asked anyone in his department to ever do. Coincidence…. I think not! It was all God!

 

Anthony was now only 30 miles away from me. Throughout the weekends together, we would create bucket lists of all the things we wanted to see and do in Southern CA.

 

As a single mom at the time, we often had day trips that was more family oriented so the kids was included in our dating experience.

 

We did things such as: whale watching, Navy ship tours, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Hollywood, farmer markets, long drives through the Topanga Canyons then up to the Pacific Coast Highway for the gorgeous views. We had also hiked to the Hollywood sign, tried steakhouses on the beach, watch a baseball game at the famous Dodger Stadium, and so much more.

 

Five years, five kids, and two dogs later, we still take spontaneous drives and road trips.  Now that we are back in Arizona, our visits to CA or anywhere else is usually long weekend trips.

 

Depending on where we want to visit, our road trips are anywhere between six to twelve hour drives; which means it can include Sundays out of church.

Whether home or not, keeping everything we do Christ centered is important to me and my husband. We truly believe in living as an example of Christ everyday no matter where we are. Along with Road Trip Tips, I also included tips of how to keep it Christ centered along the way.

 

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Just to share a statistic of how often we travel on the road…..

Within the past twelve months, we have traveled on four twelve hour drives and about six trips that has averaged approximately six hours each way.

Poor Mathias! He is just about ten months and has endured each one but the more we take with him as an infant, the more we learn for the next trip.

 

5 Tips to make a Road Trip easier with kids:

 

DVD Player:

We have tried the tablet thing but honestly for us, the DVD has been successful. Before being able to buy a vehicle with DVDs (in our affordable used but new to us, SUV) we purchased DVD players from Amazon.

Keeping it Christ centered:

We pack DVDs that are Christian based. Mostly Veggie tales and of any other cartoon bible stories.

 

Packed Food:

Invest in a good insulated bag. Trust me, it helps! We use to use to pack all our favorite sugary snacks in a paper bag but after feeding the kids junk food on long car drives, they would become cranky from sugar highs which made them more hungry. I finally bought an insulated bag, added nutritious snacks with easy to make items. It has made a huge improvement in our food expenses on the trip and they take longer naps while driving which makes them (and us) feel like the drive is shorter. A few favorites: sliced cheese and crackers, peanut butter sandwiches, and packaged fruits & veggies with hummus dip.

Keeping it Christ centered:

Even in the car, each child takes a turn to pray before we each any meals. It touches my mama heart hearing my children praying for the highways and for safety to every driver on the road.

 

A special stop:

My husband and I always try to make a stop that is just for the kids. The stop is usually scheduled for about 30 minutes because our main goal is to get to the destination. We try to look out for roadside attractions ahead of time. A few we have done were: roadside dinosaurs statues, Disney store at major malls, checking out a park, or anything else they may love that is new to them.

Keeping it Christ centered:

My husband and I love history, especially when it relates back to faith. Along quite a few road trips we have found stops that has been educational and faith based for us. Salvation Mountain, Biblical Statues hidden behind an historic town, old deserted churches, and even mission churches along the Pacific Coast Highway.

 

Willing to listen:

This is a big one that has taken a lot of practice. But through time I have noticed that listening to the kids when they want to talk in the car is a lot better than asking them to be quiet. It only creates them to become anxious. When we respond and engage in conversation with them as they are in car seat restraints the trip is a lot more enjoyable to each of us in the vehicle. I know it can be tiring to us mamas but trust me, it is probably one of the top keys to keeping happy little riders.

Keeping it Christ centered:

This is a perfect way exemplifying patience with our children. I have also noticed engaging with the older ones always end up taking things back to scripture.

 

Music:

At home, worship music is something we do every morning. It starts off our day good to have music playing in the background with the chaos of five children running the down the stairs. Worship music on the road brings the comfort of home to them. My husband is the music guy on our trips. He knows all the kids favorites and usually has a playlist ready. It is so much fun hearing them all sing along to their favorite worship songs.

Keeping it Christ centered: 

Worship music in the car. Encourage them to sing along.

 

My favorite part of traveling with my family is that 70% of it is spontaneous.

 

We are not trying to plan each day minute by minute with a to do list. With kids, that is not realistic. There will be stops that will need to be done. There will be tantrums no matter how hard you try and there will be exhausting days.

 

The goal is to start a trip with the mind set that the trip is to become closer and to feel freedom from the scheduling of day to day life. That is when I am able to enjoy all the small and big  things on the road.

 

As someone that likes to plan, it was hard to get use to. It took many trips to get myself to this point but I am so thankful that I can now laugh at the obstacles with a “Ok, lets keep going” attitude.

 

It has created so many memories. We come home laughing at so many silly things that could have been damaging to our trip but instead our children have learned to find it to be a funny story!

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