First real vacation

[lyndam]

We have a 3 year old and an almost 2 year old. We are hoping to go on our first vacation. We will be driving from northern MI, to MD. It’s a 12-14 hour trip, but we are expecting it to be wayyyyyy linger with 2 little ones. We will be taking multiple stops. Our vacation will be for 10 days. We want to make this as painless as possible on the drive there and back.

We plan to pack our own snacks, food and drinks. Our 3 year old is potty trained but we are bringing diapers for her just in case. We plan to bring their iPads, so I’ll have to download apps that will work without internet (can’t download much, as it’s all toddler enhanced/ no Netflix or anything). We plan to bring some toys as well. We will be leaving right after hubby gets out of work, (between 7-9 pm)and hoping to drive through the majority of the night if possible, while they sleep.

Any tips, hacks, or fun little pit stops? The longest road trip we have done was 3 hours. We are visiting my MiL and SiL.

Oh and we have about $1800 saved up, and hoping to add another 1k before we leave in May. Not even sure if that’s enough money or not, plus hubby will use his paid vacation, and his credit cards. (Seriously we have yet to even leave the state ever, so this is a first. No idea on gas prices, or food prices, or anything)

We plan to visit Animal Adventure Park
Washington DC
New York City
The ocean
Boston Massachusetts
Possibly take a day trip up the coast a little bit.
Possibly visiting my brother and his kids in NC (if he can get a day off of work)

MiL will pay for the girls and us for the most part, her request. We see her at least once a year and she spoils our girls, they got the iPads from her for Christmas. So to visit her, and the whole road trip is something on my bucket list.

 

[katrina2017]

@lyndam when my son was 2 and we were on a road trip, we finally discovered the magic of lollipops. I'm not sure if you have, but damn. Those things make a big difference.

Lots of time to play on the floor. Random playgounds in the passing neighborhoods are just as good as or better anything else.

If you can download a copy of a movie (Maybe 3 movies, $10 each range), I think that's a relaxing addition to the apps you choose (I don't know apps). Also, my son misbehaves more when he uses his tablet more (he's 4 now), so beware.

We always planned the longest amount of driving soon after lunch since the kid would be most likely to take a nap at that time. If you want to make a 'bigger' pitstop though, midday is a good time for that so it's a little challenging to juggle that. Even if you don't get back on the road until 3pm after lunch, just make sure that drive is pretty long (2 or 3 hours) so the kids can get a good rest. If I woke up my son 5 minutes after sleep, he wouldn't sleep again!

 

[lyndam]

@katrina2017 My kids have their iPads on throughout the day, mostly as background noise. They play a lot. We are hoping for every 2-3 hours for stretching legs and changing diapers. Lollipops are a great idea, not so much the mess, but I’ll have wipes on hand already . Good suggestion. We may leave at 3 am so hubby can get some sleep, since he is usually up between 3 and 4 am anyways. I’ll be driving some during the day, but not at night since I’m night blind.

 

[grady63]

@lyndam We made our first 16 hour drive when our son was 2yo. We were super nervous because we’d never done anything longer than a couple hours but it was fine. He actually didn’t want to get out of the car when we finally arrived haha. We decided we would just have a “no rules” attitude while in the car so junk food, candy and unrestricted iPad screen time was allowed to try to make the idea of sitting in the car for two days as fun as possible. We held back on all screen time for a day to two prior so he would really be into it. We broke the drive into a 10 hour day and a 6 hour day and spent the night in the middle. We’ve since made the trip a half dozen times or so, all without an issue. Biggest things are to figure in more frequent and longer stops into your planning and count of the kids having TONs of energy to get out when you do stop or get there. It’s pretty much a given that our son will be bouncing off the walls of whatever hotel we are in at 10pm so just plan on something to get that energy out. We actually now try to stop at a playground or something for 30 minutes or so to let him play so he isn’t running up and down the halls of the hotel well past his normal bedtime. But bottom line if they are addicted to screen time like most kids you’ll probably be fine with an iPad.

 

[lyndam]

@grady63 My kids ironically are not addicted, although some days I wish they were so I can get stuff down. They use them mostly as back ground noise throughout the day. I’m planning on a lot of energy from these two, and thank god MiL already stated as soon as we get their she has the girls for the day. My girls love going for drives/ since we rarely go anywhere as it is due to hubby working and such. So they love it when we even go to town. Plus they fall asleep rather quickly in the car.

 

[creekwalker]

@lyndam We've done plenty of trips. Just some tips

3 year old potty trained? That's good, don't make a mistake and bring gatorades/juice/ or any other type of liquid that runs right through them. Unless you enjoy stopping to find a restroom every 30 minutes and then hope to get there before they have an accident.

We bought a set of tv's that hook to the headrest and play DVD's. It was a set of two and pretty sure less than $100.

Snacks. Toys. Our electronic device restrictions are thrown out the window.

Make any foods the kids will eat, that travel well, and you'll save some money from not stopping for lunch/dinner.

Do stop at some rest areas and let them stretch their legs so they don't become restless. Obviously not if at night and they're sleeping.

Add a few hours to that travel time lol

Your kids may not be old enough. But we printed off (i'd have to find it on google) these sheets that have different types of cars/trucks/tractors/road signs/license plates pictures, which was a game to see how many we could find and circle it on the sheet.

 

[lyndam]

@creekwalker Good good idea. My 3 year old loves looking at different types of vehicles, and helicopters and planes. She also loves the different scenery’s, trees and flowers. And animals. So I’m sure we will be doing a few scenic stops as well. Also so I can take a lot of pictures. As for the headseat TVs, that’s a great idea. Or at least a portable DVD player. We have plenty of dvds for them. I’m sure it will be a decent drive, but I’m always wanting to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Our plan is no fast food on the drive, to help with costs. So I’m making sandwiches and subs, as well as a bunch of finger foods. I’m sure there will be some hiccups, but that’s ok. Thank you

 

[creekwalker]

@lyndam Oh he'd like that print out game then. Get a clipboard and see how many yall can spot. There's a lot of different free ones on google. A quick google search and walmart has the dual headrest dvd players for $99. Possibly find some cheaper on amazon. Good luck. You'll be fine.