So it begins... I am one week away from adventuring out on a 16 hour road trip from Chicago to Florida... in a Ford Fusion... with 2 kids ages 4 and 5, and a 65lb dog.... AM I CRAZY?????
Let me give you a little back story to this. My parents moved from Chicago to Florida in the past year and of course all my kids talk about is visiting them and basically using them for their swimming pool. I mean who can really pass up having a place to stay in Florida, with a pool! So after talking with my parents we agreed we would come down for a week vacation a month after school was out. Immediately after our conversation I hop on Travelocity and prices are OUTRAGEOUS! So I am thinking, hmmm this must be a glitch in the system lets check out Priceline... same price. OK Orbitz give me something good... nope... same price. I cannot wrap my head around spending close to $1200 for 4 people to fly for 3 hours, plus the cost to board our dog for a week. We are looking at the same price we pay monthly for our mortgage! I quickly realize that vacation is not going to happen, which in turns causes meltdowns from my children, and myself. My parents state that they will pay the cost for us to all to drive down! Problem solved!!
So here we are, reality has set in and I will be honest, I am DREADING this! My kids start to complain if we are in the car for more than 30 minutes, how are we are going to do a 16 hour trip! Granted we are breaking it down to 10 hours the first day and 6 hours the next, it is still going to be a nightmare.
Everyone I have talked to is pretty much giving me the "Good luck with that" speech which is not helping. I have created a little list in my head of things that may help. I have their DVD players but there are only so many movies that can keep them entertained, I have their tablets pre loaded with games but of course the only ones they want to play require Wifi, small coloring items and snacks.... that pretty much covers the first 2 hours, what do I do with the other 8?!?!?! I am imagining at the end of this I am going to be full on Britney Spears circa 2007.
Give me the strength I need to get thru this, but most importantly let me know what has worked for you, give me ideas to keep them happy (and quiet). Any tip or trick you can provide me with, I will forever be grateful for! Oh, and wish me luck that we all survive this in the end!!