The Travel Bug
Recently, several friends of mine have taken trips with their young children. When I see their pictures or hear their stories, I get the travel bug. Before the kids were born, Jason and I did a little traveling. We went to Winnipeg a few times, Seattle, Florida, and some more regional travel. Since kids, we haven’t done much at all. Looking at pictures (thanks, Facebook!), I am starting to get the travel bug.
Then, reality hits. 
We did a small roadtrip this weekend. On Friday, we drove the 4 hours to my parents’ house. We brought books, toys, burp cloths, and snacks. I thought for sure the trip to their house would be no problem. Unfortunately, K and A didn’t agree with me. They slept for less than an hour, and the rest of the time, they really needed to be entertained. By the time we were about 30 minutes from our destination, I was ready to go to Bismarck the next day in order to buy a DVD player with dual screens for the trip home. (We didn’t do that, but I was very serious about doing it.) The trip home turned out to be much easier which was a pleasant surprise, but I am definitely not ready to try too many trips that are much longer than this one was.
I suppose some of the wrinkles get ironed out with practice and as the boys get used to being in the car for longer periods of time, but that seems like a painful transition! Maybe there are some secret tricks I don’t know, if there are, please share. I would love to know! I am pretty sure that if there aren’t secrets that would change the whole experience time and practice are probably the answers. I guess the travel bug will have to wait a little longer to be satisfied.
I am sorry it was such a rough trip there but I am glad the return trip was better. I was supposed to go to Boston with Pete and it would have been about 5 hours with them in the car *yikes*. I hope the next time goes better for you!
My mom and siblings all live about 8.5 hours’ drive from me. Until Reid was 2, I flew a couple times per year but we’ve always had to drive for holidays and visits. I keep little toys that she accumulates at restaurants, in loot bags from parties, etc., to pull out on the trip. Cheap toys are appreciated for their newness. Little snack size packages of crackers, cookies, etc. are good to dole out as boredom hits. I will admit to letting Reid watch videos on my iPod or laptop but that will be hard for you with two. We often leave at bedtime — or at least naptime — and hope that the car lulls them to sleep. Mostly, I try to divide the trip into manageable chunks, like 15 or 30 minutes, and then just get through the next chunk. You know, she digs into the craft bag and 30 minutes later we sing and then 30 minutes later she has a snack and 30 minutes later I read some stories, etc. Also, we don’t drive much more than 90 minutes at a stretch without a bathroom break unless Reid is sleeping. And if she is asleep and we need gas, my husband (who does most of the driving) gets a does of my evil eye ;+) I’ve travelled solo with Reid a few times and have stopped at McDonalds with play structures to give us both an extended time out of the car, which we both really needed.
Travelling by car is a lot like flying in terms of the parental creativity required. You could google for other ideas. Good luck!