We survived over 40 total hours on the road with our 2 kids, 2 and under!! Its taken us several days to completely recover but we are back in our normal routine and starting to prepare for the holidays!! (Like seriously though, wasn't it just June?!? WTH??!!)
So yes we drove from our house in Virginia to my parent's house in Dallas and back again which was a grand total of about 40 hours with our 25 month old and 4 month old. We left our house at 4am on a Wednesday morning and arrived at our hotel for the night at around 4pm in Mississippi. We let Jordyn run around and jump all over the hotel like a crazy monkey, ordered some dinner and went to bed early.
We left the hotel at 6am and drove to my grandparent's apartment near Waco, TX. We got there around 5pm. We were planning on staying at a hotel in Waco but we changed our minds and opted to drive the additional 2 1/2 hours to my parents house which we got to at about 11pm.
We stayed for almost 2 weeks, visited with family, went to the Texas State Fair and just enjoyed hanging out at my parents house and chilling.
Beau and I left the kids with Nonna and Papa J (my parents) and got to go out to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary!
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| So tasty!! |
We left their house at about 6am on a Tuesday morning and headed out to a friend's house near Memphis. We then drove a few more hours from their house after stopping to visit for a bit and stayed at a hotel near Nashville. We got up at about 730am the next morning and were able to get home at about 5pm.
The kids did fantastic and were such troopers!!
They were very tired and both just desperately wanted out of their car seats so it was hard but we kept pushing and everyone was beyond thrilled when we made it home.
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| Took her less than 15 minutes to destroy the entire main level. |
We made the drive in our 2015 Honda Odyssey minivan with a Rocket Box mounted on the top. Our kids are both still rear facing so they both rode in the captain's chairs right behind us and the far back seat was used for bags. They rode in their normal spots which is Jordyn behind the driver's seat and Tucker behind the passenger seat. This worked out well as I could turn around in my seat (Beau drove most of the way) and put the pacifier back in his mouth or hold his hand if he was having a meltdown. I was also able to reach Jordyn pretty easily.
We had all the bags I mentioned in our Packing Our Bags post although I did have to use our larger suitcase instead of the carry on size. We also had a large Pelican case, 2 Pack n Plays, our double stroller, a snack box and Tucker's swim raft and play mat. And toys...so...many...toys...
We learned a lot from our trip last year and this trip so I thought I would share some of the things we've learned!
Here are some random products and tips that helped make our trip so much easier!
Snack and drink cup leashes!! Jordyn is at that age where throwing things around the car is fun... So rather than me having to contort myself into strange positions to grab things more than I already have to, I took the little velcro straps off of her stroller and hooked them to her car seat. This kept her snack and drink cups attached to her seat so she could reel them back when she threw them. Big help for sure. We had a paci strap for each of them as well and those were great too! Tucker has learned to bite and shoot his so the strap helped keep it hooked to him. The sippy cup straps we have are the Bogginhead SippiGrip and the paci straps are the Little Loved Ones Pacifier Clips both from Amazon.
iPads with extra long charger cords! Jordyn loves her iPad so as much as I hate for her to have it that long, it was the one thing that kept her happy on the drive. The battery is great but it doesn't last forever so we made sure we had some, I think, 8 foot charger cords that could reach from our charging station in the front to her seat in the back.
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| Stock Photo from Amazon |
Energizer car charging station!! This little thing fits perfectly into a cup holder so it isn't sliding around and it has 3 USB ports as well as an outlet. Our Odyssey only has one USB port built in and Beau's phone is usually plugged into that since he uses it as the GPS. This station gives us 3 more so thats one for my phone, one for Jordyn's iPad and one for Tucker's Kindle Fire plus the outlet which I could use for my breast pump if I needed to. Again from Amazon!
Smart Works Pop-Up Hamper. We got this hamper off of Amazon and I usually use keep it in the car for groceries or other shopping but for the trip we used it as a catch all for the kids toys and what not. The pockets on the outside were great for keeping track of things like Lysol wipes, trash bags and the kid's change of clothes. We kept it between their seats and it worked well for toys, books and what not. It was very handy as well that the top is open so that Jordyn could just toss things in from her seat rather than them getting thrown all over the floor.
Refillable drink cups from Pilot or another gas station. Pilot gas stations are chain of full service gas stations (like Sheetz, Wawa and Luves) that are common along our drive so we keep our plastic refillable Pilot cups (which are big, have handles and have rubber bottoms that fit great into the cup holders) along with our Pilot rewards card. This allows us to get cheap sodas, coffees or other drinks like lemonade for cheap and keeps the van from filling up with a bunch of disposable cups and we are usually stopping for gas anyway.
Food Basket. We brought a little plastic basket for Jordyn to eat out of in the car. We stopped a couple of times for (nasty) fast food and the basket helped keep her from spilling fries all over herself and her car seat.
Tip, clean out at every stop. Keep a box of smaller trash bags or grocery bags in your car and/or park right by a trash can and throw away all the trash in the car every time you stop. That will keep it from getting out of hand and being a huge mess to deal with when you stop for the night. I had planned on bringing my little Dirt Devil to keep on top of the crumbs at stops but the darn thing died on me since I used it last so that was a bummer.
Pick stops with a play place. We were trying to save as much money as possible this time since we were paying for 2 nights in a hotel instead of one so we brought most of our own food from home but we did prefer to stop at Chick Fil A for our breaks. We would usually get a large fry and drink for the 3 of us to split for a treat then Jordyn would run around the play place to get some energy out. Tucker loves to watch her so that gave them both something to do rather than sit still in a restaurant or tear apart a convenience store.
Set up a changing station in your car! We didn't do this last time and trying to wrestle with a squirmy toddler (or baby) on the floorboard of the car is difficult and they don't like it! This is what we did.
We put a blanket and a spare changing pad on top of the seat that folded down and we had diapers and wipes in a box on the seat next it. This way we could back into a parking spot and change the kids easily. Made things a lot easier than trying to drag them and the diaper bag into truck stop restrooms, half of which don't even have changing tables, every time we stopped.
Doggie pads. Put a doggie pad in the carseat under your babies! Tucker blew out his diaper a few times during the trip and that car seat is a pain in the butt to take apart and wash. I had packed some for the trip but forgot to put them in the car seat before we left.
Pick family friendly hotels with a pool and/or playground to get your kids tired. I recommend Drury Inn and Suites (see my full hotel review here). They have been stuck in those car seats all day and the more energy they can get off before bed, the better everyone will sleep.
Tips/Products for The House
Our Roomba. Our trip up to Philly for Tucker's hand appointment was the first time we have been gone since we purchased a Roomba for our house and as luck would have it, one of our dogs decided it would be a good idea to take a nice poo in the dining room floor rather than go when the house sitter had let them out and the Roomba ran over it... Luckily, it didn't ruin the Roomba and know I know to schedule it to run at 11am which is AFTER she stops by for her morning visit. Other than th learning curve on that, we have LOVED having the Roomba and it is great when we are gone! We would come home from trips to mountains of dog hair, dirt and dust everywhere but the Roomba takes care of everything on the floor and we have noticed that makes a big difference in the amount of dust around the house.
Air Fresheners. We've noticed that our house never smells right after we get back from a trip, usually stale and stinky dog smell. So I've learned to put out some nice smelling things right before we leave and that seems to help a lot. I like things like reed diffusers, Air Wick Plug Ins, potpourri, that kind of thing. And I have noticed the Roomba helps a ton with the dog smell. When we came home before, the first thing I would do was run the vacuum because our hardwoods would just be covered in dirt and dog hair and made the whole house reek of dog. Now our house sitter empties it once a day and it keeps the hair and smell at bay.
A Lock Box. On the suggestion of the cleaning lady we had hired while I was pregnant, we purchased a MasterLock lock box for our house. It's similar to the boxes that realtors use for houses they are showing that fit on the door handle except this one bolts to a wall or fence post or whatever. It's a small box with a combination on it and you leave a house key inside. This came in so so handy when Tucker was born. My mother got into town right after he was born and rather than take a cab to the hospital to get the house key, then one back to our house, she was able to get a ride straight to our house, get Jordyn from our neighbor and let herself into the house. It was also good that our neighbors watching Jordyn would have been able to get into the house to let the dogs out if she hadn't been able to make it as fast as she did. All we would have to do is text someone the code and they could access the house key. Great for emergencies and kept our house sitter from having to keep up with the key. She just saved the code on her phone and used it to let herself in every time. We are old fashioned. We prefer plain old deadbolt locks instead of the new key pad or remote entry ones. If the batteries died or something like that then no one could get into the house and to our dogs. This way, no one is relying on any batteries or anything electrical to get in.
Home Security Cameras and Home Automation. We have very much enjoyed having our new Arlo Camera System this time as well. We have 4 external cameras and are waiting to see if they go on sale over the holidays to purchase a 5th. It was very nice to be able to look in on things from our phones as well as get alerts every time the house sitter came and went. They are on motion sensors so we would get alerts whenever they would trip. We also have a smoke detector and thermostats that we can monitor and control from our phones via the Smart Things app which we love! I will do a full review on both systems later on as we are still learning the apps and adding things to it. We usually set our thermostats hotter or colder than we normally would while we are gone but this time while we were in Texas, our area had a cold front. We were able to turn the AC off and turn the furnace on one night when it got too cold. That helped us save money on our power bill and make sure that the dogs didn't get too hot or cold. We also enjoyed having the smoke detectors this time as well. We receive alerts to our phones and tablets if they are tripped which is great in case something happened and no one was around to hear them go off.
The last big tip that I can't recommend enough is to order groceries for when you get home! Usually we have to either stop and shop on the way home or go the next day which SUCKS! I've always hated having to do that. This time though we had the option of ClickList with Kroger! They started this service at our local Kroger just a few weeks before we left so we tried it out and LOVE it. I use it every week for our regular groceries but it was so, so handy for when we got home. I knew we would be home that evening but I wasn't sure what time so I selected their latest pick up time of the day which was between 8pm and 9pm. We got home around 5pm and completely unloaded the car before we sat down for dinner which we had grabbed on the way into town. We got the kids in bed and I headed out to Kroger, got my order and was back home in less than 35 minutes. And I didn't have to get out of my car!
Things I Wished we Had or Had Done
I wish we had a mobile hotspot. We have "unlimited" data on our phones with AT&T but they do put a cap on the amount of data you can use before you get bumped down to slower speeds and Jordyn's iPad is Wifi only and it would be nice for her to be able to use the YouTube Kids app instead of just being limited to what is downloaded onto the ipad itself.
If you haven't seen our pumpkin carving video, be sure to check it out here! Jordyn is very proud of it!
**Random Tucker Update**
I've been getting some questions about what is happening next with Tucker's hand surgeries. He has an ECHO scheduled for November 11th to make sure the little hole in his heart has closed properly. We do get to see the cardiologist while we are there so we will know if everything is good before we leave the appointment. We will then send everything up to CHOP in Philly for anesthesiology to clear him. He is tentatively on the schedule for Wednesday December 28th for his first surgery. This one will be separating his pinky fingers from his ring fingers. We will be driving up to PA sometime on the 27th and are hoping that we will be able to drive back home after his surgery while he is still sleepy from the medications rather than trying to drive the next day when he is more awake and possibly hurting. We will update once we have the surgery scheduled for sure and we will be posting regular updates on social media throughout the procedure.
Be sure to follow us on our social media pages for updates on Tucker and notifications of new blog posts!!
Thanks guys!!
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