Vacation-Kids Bags For The Car Part 2

Today we are going to go through the list that does not require cooking or baking. This list can be done way before vacation and does take some time.

Kids Bags For The Car:

We have 8 grandchildren and with our new addition of Anni, our oldest grandsons new wife we have 9 grandchildren. The older ones do not get bags for the car anymore because they have out grown this tradition. We call the 5 older grandchildren “the bigs” and the 4 smaller grandchildren “the littles” to help us know which group of grands we are talking about.

The Dollar Tree is a great place to find items for the car bag that are not expensive but that will keep the “littles” busy for the car ride. I also add pencils and word searches that I make on line. The word search has all of our names in them and words like beach, sand, dolphins etc.

For the paper puzzles I just googled FREE PRINTABLE WORDSEARHCH or whatever I was looking for and made my own puzzles. In the wordsearch puzzle I used my own words. Like everyone’s name in the family and some beachy words.

My goal with the goodie bags is to keep the children busy for the long drive and the parents sane. You can make or buy puzzles. They do have puzzle books at the Dollar Tree.

I used to give the kids their favorite candy but the littles get too hyper so we stopped giving candy. Now they get a juice box and a bar or fruit snacks.

We try and recycle the bags that we use each year but sometimes it doesn’t work out to get the old bags so I always have a few on hand. The kids really enjoy the surprise of the bags and the fun puzzles, books, drawing pads, journals and snacks. This is a inexpensive thing to do that gives the kiddos some entertainment as they travel.

I hope this gives you some inspiration that helps you as you travel. And that it helps you have sanity as you travel to get to your destination.

Cousin Shirts & Tastings Are A Must-Part 3

Cousin shirts and pictures are a must for our family! This is something that can be done way in advance too. This year because we are all so busy we decided to buy a pattern to go on the shirts instead of coming up with our own. It made things move a lot quicker for us. We also put the number of each cousins birth order on the back.

We didn’t plan for the shirts to be different colors but when you order adult shirts and kids shirts the colors can be a little different. Our finished product turned out great!

The SUPER G was next on the list to purchase candy and drinks for the “tastings”

For the tastings, I try to buy the most disgusting looking drinks we can find. Some have floaters in them and some look like they have amoebas floating in them. The kids love the crazy anticipation of it all. Each person gets one cup, then pour a taste in each cup. We all do “cheers” and drink up. There is a large bowl in the middle of the table for pouring the unwanted drink in. At the end we usually offer a prize or a dare for the person who will drink out of the bowl. GROSS!!!!

The candy tasting usually goes pretty well. The “littles” look forward to this all week! Candy is usually sweet so the kids love this one. I pass out paper plates to each child so they can put their unwanted candy on it. And believe it or not some of the candy is weird!

These tastings are so fun and the kids look forward to this all week. They ask me everyday when we are going to do the tastings daily. I really hope this inspires you to step outside your box and do something different and fun! We don’t do everything perfect but we sure have fun! Stay tuned for more of how we beach it.

It’s Vacation Time Again!

Summer is here and vacation are here too!!! We wait all year for this special week that we spend with our loved ones so I really try and make it extra special. I want the grandchildren to always remember that vacation was a favorite time of year for them and full of fun and surprises. To get this “extra special” vacation right, I must start making list. Personally, I like to hand write my list. I find my favorite pen and paper, a quite spot and get started. My first list is nicely organized with each category underlined and the to do list below. It can seem overwhelming to some but for me it is my happy place. I love to make my family happy and throw in a few surprises. One year we did a scavenger hunt on the island we were on. It was great fun!

There are three list right now and I am going to break each one down for you. So if you want to know how we vacation and a few tools to help you vacation, stay tuned. Find your favorite pen and paper, your phone list or however you best like to make list and get ready for some fun!

Until next time……