What I Did on My Summer Vacation...or How to Stay Sane with Your Family in the Car for 53 hours

We decided on a whim to visit my husband's family in British Columbia earlier this summer. While we love to visit and the destination is gorgeous, getting there is not for the faint of heart. It is about 27 hours of driving each way. Here are some tips for a successful trip.

1. Pack your own food. Having food with you in the car allows you to stop whenever the mood or opportunity strikes rather than waiting for an exit with something you'd like to eat. Instead of spending time trying to find a place to eat and sitting down to eat the meal, we're able to let our kids get out and run and play and then before we buckle up again everyone gets their plate of food to eat while the wheels are rolling to the next stop. For us, this also means that we eat much healthier than eating fast food and we save a ton of money. On the way out, we were able to just clear out a lot of things from our fridge at home and we had a good variety of food to eat along the way. Snacking also provides a little something to do along the way and a motivation for kids to sit tight.

2. Know your travel style and goals. In this season it is actually easier for us to put in really long days and stop overnight fewer times. It is a challenge to get the kids really settled in a hotel room and is actually not all the much fun to stay in hotels right now. As our kids get older we look forward to making stops to see things along the way, but for now putting the pedal to metal just works out better for us.

3. Consider entertainment. We don't want our kids zoned out to videos for hours on end, but keeping them engaged with something is helpful. Our kids love to listen to Adventures in Odyssey and Radio Theatre. They also had books to read and notebooks to draw and color in. And yes, they watched a handful of videos along the way, too. And the grown-ups enjoyed some podcasts also.

4. Pack for your stops. I packed just what we needed for the hotel in a laundry basket so we were not hauling everything in and out of the car for each stop. So helpful!

5. Let them run! Since we try to eat while driving we really encourage active play during our stops. We brought a ball to throw around during stops and did some laps of rest areas and some races. If we are able to tire them out a bit, our kids ride better.

6. Allow for some splurges. Starbucks coffee, Krispy Kreme donuts, and some road trip candy. Why not? :)

7. Travel different routes coming and going. We love the variety and seeing more of the country. And taking a road trip reminds you just how big this country is!

8. Make the most of the miles. In our case, we were able to stop at Wheat Montana to get a couple hundred pounds of wheat that is very reasonably priced and far more difficult for me to source here. What do the areas you are traveling to or through offer uniquely?

9. Leave early. For us the hours before noon are really easy in the car. Some may be able to pull the through the night drives, but that just isn't the way we roll. Use your good times of day to your advantage.

10. Enjoy the ride! Seriously, these moments in family life fly by and before we know it we'll be the empty nesters that can spread the journey out over several days, making many interesting stops along the way. I so enjoyed the time, too, to talk with my husband about our life and goals and plans for the coming months and years. The time in the car certainly was not wasted.

Considering a long trip with your family? Go for it!

Stanley Park 2011

On our recent trip to British Columbia we took a day to enjoy Stanley Park. It is truly a must-see if you are in Vancouver! We hadn't visited since our oldest was 1, almost 8 years ago. We took a walk around part of the sea wall, had a picnic and took in a playground. A delightful day, despite children being disappointed that the splash park wasn't open for the season yet and hearing many complaints from children that they were too tired to walk anymore.

the totem poles

playing on the same fire engine that Grandpa played on when we was a boy

hooray for a moment of brotherly love!

you're never to old to play

so many things to look at!

the mermaid wearing a Canucks jersey....the Canucks being in the Stanley Cup final did, indeed, have something to do with the timing of our visit

this sweet girl loves to explore

a happy photo of us taken after we put our grumpy kids back in the van
...real life still happens on vacation

Family 4th of July

We traveled east to see my parents and my siblings and their families over July 4th. It has been been a roller coaster year for our family, but we had a great time nonetheless. The kids splashed in Nana & Papa's backyard, we went to a huge extended family picnic at a lake, we celebrated Smiley's birthday (again), we had a second memorial walk/run to honor my grandmother, we celebrated 10 years of marriage and a whole lot more! It was certainly a jam-packed few days.


A fun nephew joined us for a family picture

A full crowd ready to embark on the memorial walk/run. I'm so thankful for this big family!

10 year anniversary photo....yikes, we've aged! A lot!


Smiley pondering this oh-so-good gift. For some strange reason our kids love to watch our recycling and garbage being picked up and he loves this truck!


Huddling to stay warm while eating homemade ice cream on a chilly July 4th evening

Good times!

Camping with Young Children - Craziness or Courage?

We recently went camping for a weekend at a state park nearby with some good friends and their two kids. It was great to get away into God's creation, but "roughing it" comes with some challenges for all of us...less sleep than normal, more fresh air and tiredness, the long process it is to cook anything for a meal. But we came away with some great memories and are hopefully training our kids to handle these situations with more grace each time we go. We especially enjoyed a great family-friendly hike and the kids loved the craft time made possible by my friend who had the foresight to bring along some craft supplies for the kids to enjoy. Oh, and of course the s'mores.

BIG Summer Trip '09

a.k.a. 60 Hours Together Enjoying North America's Highways!

Tons of photos ahead, but actual text does follow the images.
















In June we took our first ever road trip (with children) to visit my husband's family. The kids did great with most of those 60 hours in the van. We put in 4 long days, partly due to limited vacation time and partly to save lodging and on-the-road dining expenses. But every mile was worth it to be able to visit a few different parts of the family, in the places they call home, and to see old friends from university, too. We were away 2 weeks and logged over 3500 miles. And now the kids seem to really understand just how far it is to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Flying again is looking better and better.

The number of photos in this post could be likened to an infamous vacation slide show, but really, this is just a small sampling. We enjoyed beaches, splash parks, beautiful family gardens, finding ladybugs, reading books, celebrating Smiley's birthday on multiple occasions, going to a great indoor aquatic center, seeing extended family, attending a BBQ at the home of friends, getting out for a date with friends to The Keg, visiting a historic site in the vicinity, croquet, letting the kids run free in the big backyard and visiting friends at their homes, among many other things. Oh, and hauling home 200 lbs. of wheat berries from Wheat Montana in Three Forks, MT.

Some things that helped make this possible:
- Our van's DVD player. We were always the type that resisted them, but when it was included with the van, well, we put it to use. The kids watched 3 movies on the way out and 3 movies on the way home, so the movies weren't on all the time, but something they had to look forward to as the days were dragging on.
- Packing meals for the road on the way to our destination. We crossed the border into British Columbia after 2 days of driving with only $20 of dining out expenses...and that was only because ham sandwiches were getting a bit old. We did not do as well on the way home, but find it is just easier to have food with us and stop at a park or rest area during the time we are not moving forward to let the kids play and refresh all of us. And we had lots of snacks in the car along the way, too.
- Welcoming family who warmly host us in their homes.
- The summer season with lots of daylight to drive by. A trip of this length during the winter would take several more days.

After a shorter trip over a much shorter distance over the 4th of July, we are happily home for the rest of the summer.

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

We had a blast going to find and cut down the Christmas tree shortly after we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's, even though it was a very frigid day.

This girl loves snow and outlasted her brothers outside almost every day.

We had a beautiful morning out with the family, a memory that will be long-remembered!

Stepping Into Fall

This summer has been full of activity, but not exactly tons of fun stuff. Our fully-staged house has been on the market since mid-May and we have had less than two handfuls of showings. Even without many showings, this has put a crimp in our family life as I have not wanted to go out of the house unless it was in great shape...just in case. We've discovered through this that although we do like a clean home, we really want to live here even more. Some furniture had been moved for a better presentation, but that has proved far less functional for our young family. We're ready to put things back in their family-friendly places, to move some belongings back in from the garage and just enjoy living here without pressure again. We will be taking our listing off the market within the next week and we're thinking of a family celebration to mark that event.

Aside from having our house on the market, we were concerned about my grandma and her health and then traveling to say goodbye and then traveling again to grieve and celebrate her life with all of the family. We continue to grieve this loss.

But, in between the stress and sadness we've experienced this summer, we've had some enjoyable times, too.

Sportster enjoyed being on his first team and looks forward to soccer this fall.

The kids enjoyed splashing in our backyard pool.

We enjoyed our July 4th weekend at home with a neighbor's party and fireworks and a outing to a very nice county park.

Surprisingly our littlest guy delighted in our hike the most.

My garden gave me LOTS of surpise pumpkin plants, which added lots of green to our backyard. And the kids are excited about the sunflowers, too! And we ended up with some free landscaping materials from a professional job next door which helped the cause, too. The tomatoes are coming along, too, so I am hoping the frost doesn't come too early as they still need much more time to ripen.

We endured a family camping trip with our church community. It will a great memory in the distant future, but the details are still a little too fresh to see it that way now, though we know it will certainly get easier as the kids grow up. In years to come we may actually be able to sit by the fire and fellowship or go hiking with those we went camping with.

We have been able to help with teaching Sister's Sunday School class and have so much more appreciation for those who serve in Children's Ministry!

We celebrated Smiley's birthday and transitioned him to a big bed, though the transition is still in process. He is enjoying the freedom a little too much.

And we have decided on a school option for Sportster which best suits him and our family for this year.

So, all in all, the summer was fine, but maybe not all we had hoped it would be. There are still many things on the Summer Fun 2008 sheet we made at the beginning of the summer which have not been even remotely attemped and with school starting tomorrow morning we will not get them done. But we're thinking it is going to be a great fall! Maybe I'll just make a new list....Fall Fun 2008!

We hope to get out and enjoy this beautiful place called Colorado even more!

P.S. - Most of these shots were taken by my husband and I think they turned out great! Also, this post is actually being published early on Monday, August 25th but I can't seem to change the date from the initial draft. If you know how to do this, please fill me in!

We Needed That!

We are approaching one month since my husband and I went away on our trip alone, but I thought I would post a bit about it anyway. Thanks to Nana & Papa for keeping the kids at FarmMed and for the week of very nice lodging in Myrtle Beach! This was our first trip away together (except for one night when Sportster was our only) since we have entered parenthood! It was just the right mix of sightseeing and just relaxing on the beach, at the pool or in our place. We visited two plantations, Fort Sumter, Sunset Beach in North Carolina, The Hammock Shops at Pawleys Island, and the Confederacy museum, Hyman's Seafood and the market in Charleston. And we celebrated my husband's 32nd birthday and were able to put to use his birthday gift, a Canon Rebel XT camera. (Thanks for all the sightseeing recommendations, Erika!)

This was a great week of sleeping in until we weren't tired anymore, having full conversations without interruption, eating out at some establishments that wouldn't be in our normal kid-friendly repertoire, and just enjoying our married life without everyday concerns and distractions. All in all, just a time of refreshment! And we returned renewed for the privilege of parenting and carrying on for what lies ahead for our family.

A few pictures from our time away.

We're hooked! We'd love to visit South Carolina again!