We had a great time visiting the beehive state of Utah. It was all that I think a vacation should be, lots of non-routine, tons of fun, a bit of rest, physical activity, more togetherness, with the end result of everyone happy to be back home to status quo.
We divided up our long drive so that the first day we drove 2/3s of our trip and the second day we only had to drive 1/3. This worked really well. We spent the night between in hotels that had pools hoping to get all our energy out, but learned that indoor heated pool means different things to different people! Next time, I think we will just opt for a hotel near a good park.
When we needed to stop for meals, we would pick up some food, and then go straight to a park. Mike and I would eat at the park while the boys played and ran. We would run with them after we were finished. Then, when they were hungry, they ate their food in the car while we drove. This worked perfectly!
If you have a long drive ahead of you, I highly recommend getting or borrowing a GPS system! We have affectionately named our Meredith (it is a womans voice) and we LOVE her! Whenever we needed to go to the bathroom, we would simply ask Meredith where the nearest Starbucks was (well, of course we needed coffee at about the same intervals!) and Meredith is how we were always able to find a park no matter where we were. Also, Meredith allowed us to eat the things we wanted like a fresh Subway sandwich rather than being stuck with the gut-bombs found under the yellow arches off the side of the road. In addition, we could look at Meredith any time and know what time would be arriving at our destination and where we were on our map. And of course she did her main job of telling us the best route and when and where to turn. Yeah
we really like Meredith.
For in the car, some of my plans worked and some did not. Here is what I brought and how it fared.
- I traced a map of each state (we went through four) and showed our route through the states as well as the larger cities we would be passing along the way, as well as our planned stops. This was really a success for the boys to know where we were in our journey and to understand the geography of it all. It is a poor trace job and I have terrible handwriting, but it worked great anyway!
- I printed out state maps for the license plate game. We colored in a state every time we saw a matching license plate. To be honest, I liked this game the most, I think the boys are a little young for it. But it was fun for them to watch me get excited every time I saw a new plate and color in their maps for them.
- I wrapped a bunch of snacks and little things for them to unwrap along the way. This was silly. The wrapping paper was a mess, and it just didnt provide the magic I was thinking it would. They were happy with the snack or treat but I dont think the wrapping added anything but mess. Not worth my time.
- My youngest watched his first video ever. I guess when they are strapped into a car seat they are interested in things. Miss Patty Cake has stolen another of my boys hearts.
- The several audio books that we bought for the family to listen to did not work for us. We listen to them all the time at home, but for some reason on this trip the road noise was too much for any of us to follow along. In the future, when we are on these kinds of roads I think earphones will solve this problem.
- Mike does not get car sick, so he was able to read aloud to us all as I drove. This worked as long as his voice held out and was really enjoyable for us all.
- We kept our usual rods in the car so that our discipline could be consistent and look just as it does at home. This was good for all.
- We tried to keep our nap and eat routine the same as usual. This was really helpful and really do-able.
I think these are the main things that we did for the 15 hours we drove there and back. The older boys were never a problem; my toddler was true to my predictions and got sick of it after a while. But we made it, he survived and so did we. I write about our actual week of vacation next time.
Have a great Tuesday and happy schooling!
~Amy
[edit] picture of Meredith for the curious
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