Trip Prep

Before we leave on trips I have to have the house clean from top to bottom and have all the laundry done.  All of this usually leads to me freaking out trying to finish everything.  My family is getting used to this and are so good to pitch in and help get everything done.  I also had to sneak in a few projects for the trip.

I made little travel and neck pillows for the trip out of Disney fabric.  I also used the ball cotton to make them nice and soft.  They were a huge hit. 

The girls helped make little journal / autograph books out of sketch pads. 

I picked up Mickey Mouse shirts before we left. 

Of course the little travel cards that we velcro to the ceiling of the van needed a little updating to the places we were going.  The kids love these because they can see where we are and where we need to go.

 

We charged up all the electronics and made sure we had chargers.  Jerrica and I picked up a couple of new movies, and mixed with Redbox we were stocked with shows.  I always get a big treat box that is filled with salty, healthy, sweet, and chocolatey treats.  This trip we would answer a few of these questions from this list as we snacked.  It was good to take breaks from electronics and get to know each other better.  Some of these questions brought out stories that we hadn’t heard.  I found the list on Pinterest and can’t find the site it is linked back to.  We would only do four or five questions at a time and the kids were always ready for more treats and questions every few hours.

We had glow bracelets and flashlights.  The kids made silhouettes on the van’s ceiling using the flashlights at night.

We rocked out to Stephen’s mix of music on Pandora.  I also brought the “Scene It” question cards and had a little game with them.  The winner could get whatever they wanted at Dairy Queen.  Stephen won.  ;)

I also had little slips of paper that the kids would draw at each major stop.  If they picked the “1” then they had first choice of any seat in the van.  Whomever picked “6” usually was not happy.  It kept the kids mixed up sitting by different siblings. 

It was a LONG trip, but really wasn’t too bad.  Seriously, how bad can a trip be with your favorite icy drink, chocolate, a good book and being surrounded by those that you love most! 

Trip Note

Kaylee and I got back late Monday night.  She headed off to school the next day with half open eyes and big yawns.  I couldn’t resist running to Kohls to get a dolphin as a reminder of our trip.  We saw dolphins when we were at the beach, and Kaylee fed one when we were at Sea World. 

I wanted to write a letter highlighting our trip and the memories that stood out to me.  I wanted to share my thoughts, advice, and praise her for what an incredible girl she is.

I could tell that she LOVED her “littler after trip gift” because of her smile and tears.  So many times we have thoughts that we never express to those we love,  AND those we love NEED to hear them!

Trip Postcards

While we were on our trip I bought postcards for the kids to write to themselves.  Then when we arrived home they had mail AND had great picture postcards complete with their own journaling of the trip.  I smiled today as Rebecca was taping hers into her journal.

I wish that I would have bought more postcards in other states for them to write on as we were driving.  When you drive that far, you need plenty of activities to do!

End of School Basket

On the last day of school it is a tradition to have a basket for the kids filled with goodies to get excited about summer.  This year I did one big basket filled with FUN!
 I’m really excited to give it to the kids tomorrow.  Some of it are things that we already had, and the other things are stuff that I buy for the summer anyway.  Here are some of the things:

• Roasting sticks (from Target’s dollar section) and marshmallows
• Our hike book with a package of bubble gum to chew while we hike
• Glycerin for our big bubbles
• Movie theater candy for our summer movies
• Cones for Dad’s running games
• Coke with Mentos taped to the outside for our Science Day
• A science experiment kit
• Summer reading programs
• Flyers of Summer Sports camps
• Shrinky Dink paper
• Ziploc of change and bills for summer garage sales
• Slip in Slide
• Map of a road trip we are taking
• Water balloons
• Doodle book and Sketch book
• Letter to each of the kids highlighting what we remember and enjoyed about their school year.  Stephen and I each write one to them because we each went to different activities or helped on different projects.  I usually stick these in their school scrapbooks.

We sign up for the Barnes and Noble reading program, the public library AND I do my own scripture one with the kids…

And the other thing I wanted to share was this summer fun doodle book.  It would be perfect for traveling or just doodling.  There are some really fun starter pages like “What is sitting on the eggs,  Who is jummping on the trampoline, What picture is on the Viking’s shield,  What is in this cave….  LOVE this book!  You can check it out here on Amazon -The Boys' Doodle Book: Amazing Pictures to Complete and Create (See all Children's Drawing Books)



Oh, I’m excited for summer!!!!  I’ve got a little summer plan that I will share later this week.  I also need to get all caught up on what we have been doing.  This is just such a busy time of year.

Random Travel Questions

How do you play Krazy Kickball?  Aunt Lael taught everyone how to play when I wasn't in there BUT Stephen says that these rules HERE look similar to how they were playing.  Picture how you would normally run bases, then run them in this order - 3rd, 1st, 2nd, and then home.  Also, if you are running with a group of people on a base you must hold hands as you run together.  When someone comes home, the next person in line just takes off to 3rd base without kicking.  If two people come home at the same time then two people take off to the 3rd base.  If I have missed something here, chime in Lael.

What is a favorite toy for your long road trips?  One of the LEAST messy toys that all the kids doodled on was this


It is awesome!You fill the pen with water and let them draw and play tic tac toe to their hearts content.  You can check it out here - Aquadoodle Travel Doodle.  Little crafts and Lego kits are fun to bring out and pass time. 

What kind of games do you play as you travel?  A favorite is family trivia.  The kids earn points and then can pick a treat based on points at the next gas station.  Questions are middle names of grandparents, favorite cereal of family members, birthdates, favorite movie or best friend of different family members... you get the picture.  The kids LOVE to play this and learn about the family at the same time.  I also like to bring the Scene It cards from the game and ask Disney trivia.  We also play A thru Z.  We start with A and yell out movies, food... whatever theme you decide and then when we have found one with A we move on to Z.  Some letters are hard, but we manage to find something for each one.  Starter stories is another fun game.  Although it always seems like the boys kill off the characters when it's their turn to add to the story.

Anyway, hope that helps with the questions and trips coming up.  Driving does take FOREVER, BUT you do save money AND it can be fun bonding time!!!!! 

Janie and Andrew's Wedding in ARIZONA

I still can't believe little Janie is married!!! She looked so beautiful and was so happy. She married Andrew Compton in the Mesa, Arizon temple. Everyone was able to come down for the wedding. Lael was very gracious to let our family, Jon and Janna and their girls, AND Erin stay at her house. She was an excellent hostess to us. When we first arrived we went to a park so the kids could play. Then we went back to Lael's to swim. Janie took her endowments out that night. Afterwards, all of the women went to Claim Jumper. The wedding was the next morning. Her colors were fall colors. All of the little girls wore the Gymboree brown Christmas dress and my boys were in brown cords. Thanks to Racquel for getting all of that coordinated. We had a ball just visiting and playing together. It's always fun to see everyone.

The trip to Mesa from Colorado Springs takes 12 hours. Yes, that is 12 hours!!! I made a map across the ceiling of our van with pictures and velcro so that the kids could keep track of where we were and how much further we need to go. The kids loved moving the van across the van. I tried to alternate between movies and activities. I found a lot of great ideas at http://www.momsminivan.com/, and Red Box kept our movies going!!!

We had a big Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. Don made his famous rolls and Brenda baked her pies. We ate at Paul and Racquel's. It was so weird to eat outside for Thanksgiving, thanks to the weather!!

Swimming was a must each day that we were there. The temperature was in the 80's. Of course there were races like walking on hands the length of the pool, swimming across with a kid on your back and the ever fun chicken fighting with a kid on the back once again!!!