Tips for road trips with children

We have taken several short road trips with all of our children before.  Usually they don't require much planning or foresight.  For our family vacation this year, we planned to drive from our home in DFW, Texas to the cruise port in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Plotting this drive out on an online directions service, it shows 8-9 hours one way.  Because we are traveling with small children, we planned for this to take roughly 11 hours.  The idea of 5 people in an SUV together for 11 hours was enough to make me crazy before we ever left. 

I started reading up on ways to lessen the pain of a road trip with small children and annoying husbands.  Strangely enough, there was similar advice on both subjects!  The following are my tips for a positive road trip experience:

- Gifts, bribes and surprises, oh my! 
I packed a small backpack of small toys and cheap gifts to pass out to the kids in times of boredom and freak outs.  I surprised my teenager with a new pair of headphones before the trip since she would be sitting in the back seat with the two younger kids and I knew that she would need them.  They also came in handy when she wanted to sleep and couldn't handle the music that we were listening to. 

Days before the trip, I made several shopping trips to Target and Walmart for little trinkets.  I bought sticker packages, those bags with small surprise toys in them, a cheap Barbie and Ken set, etc.  We didn't have to use as much stuff out of the backpack as I thought that we would, but it definitely came in handy in stressful navigation times. 

I would recommend raiding the dollar section at any store like that for little toys and play things for the kids on the road trip.  You won't feel bad about them losing or breaking them and they will be excited about new toys, even if they get thrown away at the end of the trip. 

One of my friends on Facebook showed a picture of her traveling recently on a road trip and she had this ingenious travel desk situation set up for her children.  It was awesome!  That would enable the kids to color or read books without dropping pieces on the floor or agitating the neighboring child with their activities. 

- Drive while they sleep
Early in the planning of the road trip, my husband and I made a crucial decision.  We were going to align our travel plans so all of the children would sleep for the majority of the drive to Louisiana.  My mother had planned to take the younger children for the day before the trip so we could finish our last minute prep items and they could visit with them before their big vacation.  My mother and I speak several times every day and I think that this cruise was very stressful for her this time, because she could not check up on all of us until it was over.  The idea of her taking the children to her house was awesome also because it helped me to sleep during the late evening because I would be taking the first driving shift. 

We kept the kids up until we left, which was almost 1am.  They thought this was awesome because normally we make them go to bed before then and they felt special and jazzed up because of all of the energy in the air.  My son was so tired though that he was falling asleep as I was putting him in his car seat in the car.  The plan was to keep them up late, get them in their comfy pajamas, bring blankets from their beds and put them to sleep as we were taking off from the house.  Both of my younger children are still rear facing in their seats, so they are at more of a recline than other more conventional forward facing car seats.  I do think that this would have caused more of the 'dead puppet head' look if they were forward facing and might not have been as comfortable for them.  Warning: This is dangerous for anyone who is a notoriously sleepy driver or who can't stay awake when everyone else in the car is asleep.  Use your own judgment to determine if this works out for your family. 

The kids slept until about 8-8:30am, which put us only about a few hours away from the hotel.  They were well rested and ready for the day with only a bit of grogginess from being in the car.  By the time, that we got to our hotel for an early check in, my husband and I were more than ready for a nap and some relaxation time.  The kids turned on the television and zoned out for a bit while we napped for a few hours.  Trust me when I say that a bit of tiredness on your part is worth it compared to the torture of dealing with a steady stream of "Are we there yet?", "I'm bored", etc.


- Rest and stretch stops are mandatory!
Just like it is not healthy for you to be still in the car for hours on end, it is also not healthy for children to be that way.  Plus, it's uncomfortable!  Your children will be much happier if every few hours they are allowed to get out, run around and blow off some of the pent up steam that has been building.  And you will definitely be happier if they are happier.  I scheduled our breakfast stop at a place that I knew was loud and boisterous and wouldn't mind rowdy children.  They also have a large front lawn and rocking chairs for the kids to use as entertainment.  I also knew that they would eat well and would be full and ready to tackle the remaining few hours drive. 

On the way home, we planned the same thing.  We drove for a bit, then stopped for a restroom break - which seems to always happen with two relatively newly potty trained toddlers.  Everyone got out, used the restroom, stretched their legs, meandered back towards the car and away we went.  It also helps that I have very sleepy car riders.  It doesn't seem like we are in the car more than 5-10 minutes before they fall asleep, but they were definitely ready for the break and the walk around when it presented itself. 

This doesn't have to be a planned out thing.  If you notice that your children are getting antsy, pull off into a rest stop, find a local park, find a McDonalds play place, etc.  Anything where your child can have a break from the car and their seat for a bit.  They should run and stretch and just let loose for 5-10 minutes at minimum every few hours. 

- Have a steady supply of travel friendly drinks and snacks

In a previous post, I mentioned that we brought our own water bottles on our cruise.  We packed three of them in our carry on bag for my teenager, my husband and myself.  We used the other two as drink bottles for the kids in the car.  We stopped and filled up with Gatorade - my children's favorite drink (please don't start about how unhealthy it is - they like it and this trip was a vacation and not a health camp!).  We used the Contigo water bottles.  I like Contigo because they don't spill even when turned upside down and shaken - Silas decided to test that out for them one time in the car.  They also can be used without the straws.  I knew that I was going to have limited access to cleaning tools and wouldn't be able to properly clean out those pesky straws that come with the cups, so we left them at home.  They don't work the same way, but they still function.

We bought NutriGrain bars, chips, tiny bags of cereal, cheese sticks, etc. anytime that we stopped.  I bought anything that I knew was tiny and could be consumed by tiny hands without much assistance.  If I would have been a better preparer, I could have had a stash of prepared snacks for the car ride.  I am making a mental note to do that next time.  But then how am I going to indulge my road trip Combos habit? 

Yes, constantly feeding and giving your children drinks in the car means that you will have to pull over more for restroom breaks, but I find that is better for small kids because that gives them a chance to get out and makes them overall more happy to be traveling. 

I have learned a lot myself from this road trip and will utilize these tips in the future when planning another trip.  Road trips with children of any age is not impossible, but it does require planning, patience and creativity for the continuing sanity of all people involved. 

What are you tips for road tripping with children?

2014 Family Vacation Recap

Our family took our first family cruise with three of the four children this summer.  Everyone breathe a sigh of relief with me that it is over.

Sigh...

I have heard people say before that they need a vacation from their vacation and I have never really felt anything like that, until my vacation with toddlers.  We took a vacation a few years ago with two pre-teens and that is awesome because even though there is attitude, they are able to go and do things and not rely on you 100% for absolutely everything.  Toddlers need you for absolutely everything.  Combine that with my constant concern that they were going to fall overboard and you have the most stressful vacation on record for me ever.

It's not to say that it wasn't awesome.  Hubby and I have never been on this exact cruise before and we still had a number of different and great experiences than we have ever had on previous cruises.  Spoiler alert - this one ends with a broken arm!  It was an amazing trip and I am glad that we decided to do it.  It just makes me realize that I want to take a family vacation every year and I also want to take a grown-ups only vacation during the year as well.  

We booked a 5 day Carnival cruise out of New Orleans, La for the very end of the summer before our eldest daughter was set to start school for the year.  We drove to Louisiana in enough time so we could stay in a hotel the night before the cruise.  We cruised from New Orleans to Progreso, Mexico and then Cozumel, Mexico before returning back to Louisiana.

I will be posting several blogs over the next few days and will return and link them here once they are posted.  I have planned to do:

a review of the ship that we cruised on
the ship room that we stayed in
tips on packing for a cruise
tips for cruising with kids
tips for road tripping with children
a review of the shore excursion that we booked
Carnival Programs review - Faster to the Fun and Bottomless Bubbles Soda program
Louisiana hotel review

If there is anything else that you are curious about or would like to know you can message below and let me know.  I am far from an experienced cruiser but this was my fourth, so I like to think that I know a little bit more than your average joe.

Thanks for reading!  

2014 52 in 52 #5 - Baked Gnocci with tomato, bacon and mozzarella

Everything is better with bacon and cheese, right? 

I first found this recipe when I was looking on Pinterest for new recipes at my husband's request.  I am not normally a fan of tomatoes that are visible in food, but I figured that I would make a sacrifice this time because the rest of the dish sounded that it would be tasty. 

I had a semi-boring day at work today; not that I wasn't busy, just bored, so I figured making a longer recipe today would be better than saving this one for a different day where I was more stressed out during the day.  Plus all I needed to have unfrozen was some bacon that I bought yesterday.  It seemed like everything was lining up perfectly for today to make an awesome dinner.

Now the original recipe was written in grams instead of any sort of cups/ounces measurement, so I will spare you the conversion and write mine in ounces. 

This recipe has a few steps to it but the result is awesome.  It was flavorful and creamy and was an excellent answer to the need for comfort food.  A lot of the steps were completed simultaneously so overall this recipe takes a relatively short amount of time to cook. 

Baked Gnocci with tomato, bacon and mozzarella
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins  

Ingredients:
8 ounces bacon, chopped into small pieces
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
handful cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
2-3 tbsp. cream
small handful fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
17 oz gnocci
4 oz mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. 

In high sided skillet, fry chopped bacon until crispy.  Drain excess grease.  Add garlic and paprika and fry for 30 seconds.  Add all tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add cream, salt, pepper, and parsley. 

Boil gnocci until they float.  Remove from water with a spider strainer and add to sauce.   Incorporate sauce and gnocci and pour into oven safe baking dish.  Top with mozzarella cheese and bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving. 

Enjoy!

2014 52 in 52 #3 - Bacon Wrapped Lil' Smokies

Bacon, lil' smokies, butter and brown sugar... if you don't love that combination then you need serious mental help.  And you should definitely stop reading because you will be greatly disappointed. 

Hubby was the first one to alert me to this recipe.  I filed it away for another time when we were having a party or get together with friends.  This is definitely a 'man' recipe.  Anything covered in butter and bacon attracts men like flies. 

I am always on the look for appetizers and snacks for the kid's birthday parties.  I like to serve several different appetizers and snacks in lieu of a meal, that way people are destined to find something that they like.  I originally made this recipe for Isabella's third birthday party and it was okay.  There were several people who ranted and raved about it but I knew that it could be better.  If you make it like the recipe states it kind of swims in the syrup created by the butter and sugar and the bacon will never look or taste like it is cooked.  I definitely wanted that to be different. 

For Silas's second birthday, I made it again and this time, I think, it turned out a lot better.  I played with the ratio of brown sugar and butter and we changed the heat settings on the oven in an attempt to cook the bacon on the outside a bit more. 

Try it and let me know what you think!  Also, let me know what appetizers you like or what food you like to serve at birthday parties. 

Bacon Wrapped Lil' Smokies
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
2 packages of lil' smokies
1 and 1/2lb thin sliced bacon
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 and 2/3 cup brown sugar, divided

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cut bacon strips into thirds.  Wrap bacon around each lil' smoky and place in ungreased 8x8 pan.  I used an 8x8 and a 9x9 this time in order to fit all of the lil' smokies in.  You can also use a 13x9 but I found that they didn't all fit without overlapping and that created soggy bacon.  Combine melted butter and 1 cup brown sugar together.  Spread evenly on top of bacon wrapped sausages.  Crumble remaining brown sugar evenly over the top.  Cook 20 minutes uncovered on 375, then raise heat to 400 and cook another 5 minutes.  We then cooked the pans carefully on broil for an extra 5 minutes in an attempt to crisp the skin a bit.  It still could be more crisp if it were up to me, but the party goers seemed to like them in the state that they were in.  Serve warm. 

Enjoy! 

Avocado is not an acceptable substitute for cheese

Like most Americans, I re-started The Diet again yesterday.  The Diet is capitalized because at this point it deserves to be a proper name.  I have been on and off this diet several times a year since 2011.  It isn't rocket science; it is counting calories.  Pure and simple.  It works really well if you stick to it.  Unfortunately, it's just like the old adage that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.  You can tell a woman how to diet and lose weight but you can't make it happen unless she is ready.  This year, I am ready. 

I haven't been nearly as psycho with calories as I have been in the past and I am hoping that it is going to help me stick to it.  In past rounds of the diet, I have eaten no more than 1,100 calories per day and that isn't anything that I can stick to.  With all my other rounds of this diet, I have been meticulous with weighing my food and ensuring proper portion sizes.  Luckily, since we did this in the past, I know what a proper portion size is for certain foods and I am able to judge approximate calories based on certain items.  I have a lot of confidence that this is going to be something that I can stick to this time. 

With that being said, I did awesome on my diet yesterday and today so far.  Today I was back at work and it is usually easier for me to stay true to a diet while I am at work because I don't carry cash for the vending machines and there are only a select number of things that I bring from home. 

For breakfast, I packed a chocolate Belvita.  I LOVE these crackers.  I am not sure how long they have been around but we found them during our last diet round and they are awesome.  A pack of four of them are less than 250 calories, I think.  For a snack I packed baby carrots.  I like them because they have a mild flavor, don't need to be refrigerated, and satisfy that 'crunchy' craving that I feel like I have sometimes.  For lunch, I packed a salad with Romaine lettuce, baby spinach, pieces of cucumber, 2 hard boiled eggs and an avocado.  Normally, I smash up half of a small avocado in my salad and add an ounce of cheese.  This time I figured I would just use the entire avocado and not have cheese.  I thought that it would still provide the creaminess that I would have found in the cheese.  Big mistake.  It just turned into a weird squishy salad with too much avocado flavor.  Lesson learned. 

We also made our homemade healthy Ranch dressing.  This stuff is awesome.  Now, if you go straight from regular, full fat Ranch dressing to this, of course it isn't going to taste awesome, but it is an amazing substitute. 

The plan is to update on how this diet is going once every two weeks or so. 

Are you dieting this January? 

2014 New Year's Resolutions

Sigh... didn't we *just* make New Year's resolutions?  It seriously feels like just yesterday that I started regularly writing on this blog and came up with my 2013 resolutions.  Before I had children, time never seemed to fly by the way that it has since my kids were born.  Hubby and I were just talking about this yesterday that it has been 9 months since our eldest daughter moved out of her mother's house.  Seriously, when he mentioned that it had been that long, I almost fell over.  Time just flies by out of control. 

I will recap my 2013 goals in another post, but let's just sum it up by saying that I learned a lot about setting realistic goals and expectations for yourself when you have small children.  I am going to categorize them into three different areas similar to last year.  I will try to update once a month or so on my progress. 

2014 New Year's Resolutions

• Personal
• Post one blog everyday.
• This was on my list last year.  I really am happy with posting blogs.  I love sharing recipes and I love corresponding with other people who blog.  This year I crossed an awesome un-written goal off my list of 10k views on this blog.  That was amazing and felt awesome!  Without stressing myself out too much, I would like to make a more formal schedule of what kind of blog is going to be posted on what day.  I might try to plan that out and see what happens.   
• Go on more dates with my husband. 
• I don't know any married couples with children that feel like they spend enough quality time with their partners.  I know that I don't.  I want to change this for the better this year.  I love my husband and would like to spend more alone time with him continuing to build our relationship.   
• Start going on 'dates' with my kids, i.e. manicures with Grace, play-dates with Isabella, etc. 
• Rarely, do I go anywhere with only one child.  Normally, I have at least 2, if not all 3 kids with me and I am usually doing something that would be boring to them, like grocery shopping, shopping at Target, etc.  I would like to change this and go on at least one date per month with the kids.  I am going to try to do this in combination with Corry because it's important for them to spend alone time with their father as well. 
• Home
• Do 52 'Pinterest projects' for the year.
• I tried to do this last year and failed miserably.  I am determined to accomplish this during the year.  I really like Pinterest for crafty type things and recipes.  I will definitely be able to accomplish this if I put my mind to it.  The original idea is to do one per week to make this more easy to complete.   
• Stock freezer with prepared meals once per month.
• We did an awesome job of making freezer meals and eating out of the freezer this year.  I want to continue this during the year.  I like doing the big monthly meals, but, honestly, it is easier if I just double or triple recipes that I am making for dinner or on the weekends.  I like doubling recipes that I put in the crockpot, because usually I can just put those in freezer bags, freeze them flat and they are good to go.  Super easy to thaw and heat up for easy dinners. 
• Do 12 'preps' for the year. 
• Most of Americans need to store more water, food, and supplies.  I want to get better at this during the year.  We were barely decent at something like this last year, so I would love to get better at this during the year.   
• Health
• Drink more water. 
• Last year, my resolution was to stop drinking sodas.  As much as I would like to stop drinking sodas, I have more belief that I would be able to drink more water than stop drinking a soda.  I keep reading different ideas about how much water a person should really consume.  I am going to shoot for at least the recommended 64 ounces, but I would like to shoot for half of my body weight in ounces of water. 
• Do some form of exercise 5 days per week. 
• I would like to go on walks after work at least 5 days per week, and I think that I am also going to try to walk at least 30 minutes per day at work on lunch.  I am going to try to bring my lunch most days to work which allows more free time on my lunch hour that would normally have been spent driving to get food, eating there, and driving back.  This should totally feasible. 
• Take all medications and vitamins regularly.
• I only take 2 prescription medications - both for my thyroid.. well, my lack of thyroid actually.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to remember to take these medications.  It's got to be a mental block for some reason.  I was never a big fan of taking medicine when I was growing up, so when I had my thyroid out and was told I was going to have to take a medication every day, I knew this was not going to turn out well.  I know for a fact that I feel SO much better when I take it regularly, so I just need to buckle down.  I was told at my last doctor's appointment that I had a relatively severe Vitamin D deficiency, so I have recently started taking my pre-natal vitamins again (no, not pregnant... I just have like 8 full containers laying around my house), Vitamin D pills and Iron pills.  It's easy for me to remember this regimen when I am at work, but when I am home it's more difficult for some reason.  I am determined to get better about this.   

What are your resolutions for this year?