Road Trip!

A couple of weeks ago we took the whole family on a 30-hour road trip from Kansas to California to see my husband’s family. Were we dreading this trip leading up to it? Absolutely, I mean no one can prepare you for what could possibly happen with three toddlers on this long of a road trip. To be honest though, our kids did AMAZING!

What helped the most, in my opinion, is that prior to starting the trip we sat down and mapped out where we were going to stop and get the kids out at. We ended up breaking the trip into 3-4 hour long stretches then we would stop at a kid friendly park. The kids would play and stretch their legs for 20-40 minutes then we would eat a snack or meal before loading up into the truck again. This was the first time we have went to California and have stopped to enjoy the states that we traveled through, usually we just want to get out there as fast as possible.

We made two overnight stays on the trip out there and on the way back. Again, we booked these hotels in advance for a couple of reasons. First, booking a hotel in advance on a road trip gives you the dedication you need sometimes to continue the journey. We did get the cancellation plan each time just in case something major were to happen. Second, we know hotels book fast and we wanted to ensure that we were going to have someplace to rest.

Just like we dreaded the physical driving, we dreaded the nights staying in the hotels. The twins still do not sleep through the night so we were for sure thinking that we would hear screaming the whole road trip and then screaming the whole night and end up just being exhausted. However, ALL the kids slept so well in the hotels. Our 2-year-old would sleep between my husband and I in the bed and then the twins would sleep in their pack-n-plays. I know they slept well because they didn’t take great naps in the truck during the daytime but hey it worked out well for us so we will take it!

We found that if the kids had books, toys, a movie, or food then they were happy. I brought many different types of toys along with us and kept them in a cubical storage bin – this was so nice because I didn’t have to keep searching through bags to find something. Then we purchased a device that attaches to a headrest and holds your phone, tablet, or switch and that is how we would play a movie if the kids were starting to act up. I packed a large, insulated bag full of goodies and snacks that way we had a variety to choose from. This also ensured we wouldn’t have to stop constantly if someone was hungry. We also kept a cooler in the back of the truck bed. This held milk, soy milk (Koehn is lactose free), snacks, and lunch items. When we would stop for gas, we would always fill up the bottles with milk. If the kids were thirsty while we were driving, then we had water or juice in the cab of the truck that I would pour into their water cups.

Now even though this trip went WAY better than we could have thought of, there were still times when we were all going crazy. Koehn did not like when his ears would pop so we had to always make sure we had some sort of drink to give him during that time. He also got car sick a few times which meant we had to take some time to clean that up. Kinzley would randomly scream, which normally wouldn’t be a problem, however her scream is a very high-pitched girl scream and hearing that in close quarters gets annoying quickly. Kinzley would also go spread eagle and put her feet in her brother’s car seats. Koehn could care less about having her feet in his lap. Kaison on the other hand, did not enjoy this. He would scream or squeeze her foot till she would move it. It was like the toddler version of “I’m not poking you”.

Overall, we are extremely impressed with our little travelers. Now that we have conquered driving 30 hours, the next time we go out we are going to try flying! Sorry in advance if you happen to get stuck on the same flight as us!

Here are some items that helped us on the road trip.