Traveling with Kids

This week has been an extremely busy week as I prepare to take the kids to go visit family.  The kids are excited and full of extra energy so I find myself trying to find ways to keep them busy, refereeing more, and repeating myself more (for some reason whenever my kids get excited their listening ears shut off) while trying not to forget anything.

When I first started taking Princess on trips 4 years ago, I found the best way not to forget anything was to write a list.  Now I am so used to packing what we need that my list usually consists of things that need to be packed and done the day of.
The first step in our travel process is making sure that that car is ready.  This time that consisted of getting the trunk handle fixed (can't pack the trunk if you can't get it open) and getting an oil change.  I like to make sure that I have a full tank of gas and check all the fluids to make sure they are full the night before.
Next comes doing the laundry, dishes, and putting together everything we are going to bring.  I find that I enjoy the break so much more if I know I am coming home to a clean apartment.  While this doesn't always happen, it is something that I try to do.  The most important things for me are having all the dishes done and the trash and recycling taken out.  I am happy to say that this time the laundry is all caught up and the dishes are just about done.     Next is figuring out everything that needs to go up to my family.   This includes pictures, invitations, outgrown clothes for the consignment shop, birthday presents (no point in wasting money on stamps if we are going up there anyway).    Then comes packing.  On top of all of the clothing, diapers, and necessities I find it good to bring a few projects for the kids, 2 or 3 of their favorite toys, and a few of their favorite movies.  This really helps with maintaining their schedules and avoids the meltdowns when my youngest wants "Barn" (Barney) to quite down (especially for those days when they have been around a lot of people or had a lot of stimulation).

When I pack the clothing I find it best to make a pile of all the clothing I will be bringing for the one person and to finish that person's pile before moving on to the next.  I try to pull together all the clothing first.  I find the best time to do this is when I am putting away the clean laundry.   Then I pull together diapers, supplies for projects, toys/books/movies in that order.   I put everything we are packing in a special spot in my bedroom.  Our bedroom is gated off so the kids can't get in and remove items from our packing pile.  I store everything here for the trip until I am ready to pack the car.  This prevents the kids from unzipping the suitcases to check everything out.
When packing everything I find it best to try and consolidate as much as possible.  I have a big suitcase I try to put all our clothes in and a bag that all of our toiletries and medical supplies go in.  Any overflow goes into Princess' little suitcase.  I pack a backpack with the toys and things.  This travels in the backseat with the kids so that if they want a toy on the drive they can access it.

When it comes to packing the car, the bag of toys goes in the backseat (I also usually put extra underwear, several diapers, a ziploc bag of wipes (just make sure all the air is out before you seal it), a plastic bag for the dirty clothes and a change of clothes for each child in this bag.  It is easily accessible in case of an accident so I don't have to go through the entire trunk if I need something.  I also pack a bag that contains a juice cup for each child and a simple mess free snack that the kids can open themselves (like Teddy Grams in sandwich bags).  I put this in the passenger seat next to me along with the cds of stories and kids music.  That decreases the chance of them dropping it and getting upset.

Finally comes the actual trip.  I find the best time to leave is right before nap time.  Our trip averages about 2 hours each way, so the youngest will sleep almost the whole way there.  We also put him in a night-time diaper before we leave.  For some reason we have found that both our kids would wait to do their business until we were in the car.  So a night-time diaper helps us avoid all the fussing from being miserable, having to find a place to stop that is safe to change his diaper, and having to take the car seat all apart and clean it.

Princess and I sing songs, listen to stories on cd, and see how many "Daddy trucks" we can find and what color they are.  We find the letters of the alphabet using signs and license plates too.  On the way home she usually takes a nap.  How do you keep your kids entertained on a long trip?