first family vacation

May 22, 2003

We are taking our two boys on our first family vacation to San Diego in June. We will be gone for only 4 days but this is very new to all of us and I honeslty don't know what to expect.

The drive will be approx 6 hrs and I am prepared for potty brakes and how to intertain our 7 yr old. I'm lost on what to do with a 3 yr old. He it still too young for car games and I know he is going to get restless. Any good ideas on what will work for him and what I should expect from a 3 yr old after that long of a car trip.

Thanks for any advice you have.

~Steph~

luv2chatt

May 23, 2003

Make sure you stop at a resturant that has a playground. Give him time to get some energy out. Last year we had to drive to San Diego with our now 2 year old ,but we were coming from Oklahoma. He sleeped alot.

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crathke

May 23, 2003

I'd suggest a "travel-sized" Etch-a-Sketch for your three-year old. (maybe your seven year old, too?) You can get them at Target.

We take a two-hour trip to Grandma's house frequently and we've got a backpack full of trinkets that our three-year old can dig through; Hot Wheels cars (they can amuse themselves just looking at them, running them up the sides of the car seat, etc), "guys" (action figures--preferably "posable" ones), that sort of thing. Really, anything that will amuse him in a restaurant will work in a car, too; picture books, etc.

Do make sure you stop every couple of hours so that they can get out and RUN. Major crabbies if they have to be penned in too long! If you're lucky he'll nap for part of the way and you can get more miles under your belt.

Once you reach your destination, be prepared to dance to his tune for a little bit and cut him some slack on behavior; he's just done what You wanted for the last few hours! :)

mckenna

May 23, 2003

my friend had a great idea for her 2 1/2 yr old. she bought some new toys, like sound books, magna doodle, ect and gave them to her child at different points during the trip so they held his attention for a little while since they were novel to him

SusanF

May 24, 2003

Hello,

I have three boys ages 8,7, and 3. The best money I have ever spent was for a small TV/VCR unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car. I think it was about $139 at Costco. We strapped it in tight so it wouldn't fly loose in an accident and set the boys up with headphones. My husband and I had 8 hours to talk to each other on our drive from Seattle to Sun River, OR! We hadn't had that much time to talk to each other since before kids! The boys were thrilled to have time to watch their favorite movies, since usually their TV time is more restricted. Have fun on your vacation!

PR728

May 3, 2004

I'm definitely with the last response - - the VCR or DVD. We just travelled from NY to Georgia (about 15 Hours) with an 11 year old and our 2 (almost 3) year old. Our little guy just watched his movies, played with his toys, ate, drank and slept. We would stop and let him run around a bit. He was amazingly good. Have fun and good luck!