Road Trips

Flying is expensive and with our ever growing family it is only getting worse.
We now are resorting to flying when absolutely necessary - or we find an amazing deal on flights.

Our family has a growing edge in terms of road trips and we are slowly but surely figuring out what makes the most sense and how to make it happen.


Over the next several months we will be travelling to: Wisconsin, eastern South Dakota, Colorado, and western South Dakota.

Our trips will be a combination of full family trips and a couple of times I am going to attempt to make the trips without Marc. I MUCH prefer Marc is along, his sense of direction is exponentially better than mine, he LOVES to drive, and I can easily pass things back to the kiddos while he drives. With all of the kiddos still rear facing it is a little harder to pass things back.

Some things I have learned:

• I pack one of two ways
• On short trips I pack a large utility tote {from 31} for each night. So for our trip to Wisconsin where we will only be gone for two nights I will pack a bag to take into the hotel the first night and a bag to take into the house where we are staying the second night. I also throw in a bag of extra clothes and miscellaneous things just in case - because the tiny humans are unpredictable at best.
• On longer trips I pack a medium utility tote {also from 31} for each person. I will also have a bag of miscellaneous things as well
• Other important things: 
• a pop up laundry basket or laundry bag
• I don't like when our dirty and clean laundry mix and keeping it straight in random bags doesn't work for me - makes it easy when I start the dreaded unpacking - dump the laundry in the washer and start putting way the stuff still in bags
• a soft sided cooler with some food for the journey - saves us money so that we don't have to snag all our food from gas stations and fast food restaurants 
• milk, fruit, drinks, yogurt, cheese sticks, & soda for tired drivers
• a travel potty
• we have the "my carry potty" which I am not even sure if they make any more but it is wonderful - when Lucy {2.5yrs} has to go potty we don't always have miles of warning - it is usually only a couple minutes, so we can pull off and she can pee in the little potty on the side of the road - I wash it out when we get to our destination
• a box of things to keep the kiddos occupied in the van
• books, little people, movies {we try to not let them watch ridiculous amounts, however, sometimes this mama just needs a bit of time without having to entertain the kiddos}, stuffed animals, etch a sketch, color wonder coloring books & markers, dry erase boards 
• I also have our box of toddler busy bags that I created with some friends a few months back
• A small bag of things to do when we get out of the van to stretch
• bubbles - my sweet girl LOOOOOVES bubbles
• a ball to play with if we can't find a good park
• a blanket to sit on so we can eat meals outside and let the kiddos run wild
• a few thank you notes in our car because I like to be able to leave thank you notes when we stay with family
• A bag of stuff for this mama
• a book, my kindle, yarn, crochet hooks, chargers for the tiny human's kindle, phone cords, my camera {I do love my iPhone pics, but sometimes a real camera is nice}

Any road trip tips you'd love to share?

An Ode to our minivan

Before I had kids I swore up and down that I would NEVER have a minivan.
I didn't want one. END OF THE STORY.
           There are other options, I told myself
            I laughed at people who drove them
            I mocked at the amount of crap people hauled
            I laughed every time I thought of myself driving one
            I swore I would NEVER drive one





I drive a minivan and I must profess my love of it for this season in life.
She hauls all the things that I can't figure out how to exist without.
She is coated in a beautiful layer of goldfish crumbs and some other unidentifiable snack.
On top of the crumbs from snacks there is a layer of toys and other random things.

She has had the honor of bringing home our son from the hospital.
She has picked up several kids from worse situations than I even want to imagine as we welcome kiddos into our home for foster care.

Our minivan is our families primary means of getting around as we all fit easily along with all the gear kids require and the dog. Our minivan is where I find a few brief moments to myself. It isn't totally unusual for me to sit in complete silence from work to daycare or vice versa. Silence is a rarity in my life, my introverted self savors the silence.

In our semi-annual cleaning of the van {I'd love to tell you we clean her weekly, or monthly, but really about every six months we get nervous we will lose a kid in the piles and do a deep clean of the van} it is always amazing what we find: countless daycare art projects, notes from daycare we probably should have read months ago, a stack of after visit summaries from doctors visits, band aids, toys, and things that only God can identify.

I'll be honest on family road trips my husband most often drives - I'll take my turn but I have a terrible sense of direction, so I spend my time sitting in the passenger seat, passing things back to the kiddos, climbing to the back to put pacifiers back in mouths, filling milk cups, returning the cd to favorite songs, crocheting, & sleeping.


I imagine if our van could speak she would speak of:
endless hours of listening to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"
the joy and frustration of road trips
countless conversations on the way to and from places
the songs our daughter has sung at the top of her lungs
the joy of the silence when all the kids are asleep
the late night drives to get a kiddo to fall asleep
the things that I have crocheted while riding
the stories we've told
the conversations we've had
the meals we've eaten
the previous cargo we've hauled



Today, and in this season of life, I give thanks for our minivan. I give thanks for the memories we make inside the van, the stories we tell, the miles it carries us, the sleep my kiddos get in it, and the places it takes us. Thank God for the minivan.

In the next few months our van will take us on countless road trips to: Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, and to Colorado. Watch for adventures to come.


Do you like road trips?
Any road trip tricks or tips with small children?
Anyone else love their minivan?

Easter

Easter week was crazy nuts and marvelous all at the same time. This first year in call has been wonderful and a crazy learning curve, the people at Bethlehem are outstanding. The picture above is Marc, Dakota, and I after Easter services. We had a great time playing outdoors with my family, it is hard to believe that there is snow on the ground as I type.

I just got back from a wonderful road trip with my mom to drive my grandparents car back from Florida. We spent a few days on the beach and then a few days driving back. I had lots of crocheting time (which was amazing).