7 state/10 day Road Trip with Kids

by jcastles | Jul 24, 2015 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized

Our kids are not good in the car….well they can be.  Problem is they hate being in the car (we like to drive around and explore….a lot).  But when we told them we could stay in Washington or move home to Texas they obviously chose to deal with the long road trip….like they had a choice, lol!!!

We have an 11 yr old and a 6 yr old that would be traveling with us. They each have an iPhone with the best mobile plans (don’t worry…no service is on my 6 yr olds….it’s and old phone of ours and is basically a Nintendo DS but with better games, lol!!) and iPad (and these were handed down so it’s not like we completely spoil our kids with new flashy items).  So first things first on a long trip like this is you have to completely give up all rules and allow them to use them…a lot!!!

A few days before we were to leave for our moving adventure I decided I should get some things for the kids to do so they’re not completely bored or on devices all the time.

Since we’d be going through 7 states I went to the Crayola website for some free state color pages.  I printed 2 of each state we’d be going to so each kiddo had their own color page.  The great thing is it also had state facts on them.  I also printed a US map so they could follow our route.  That helps eliminate questions.

Since we’d be traveling on July 4th I printed out a color page for that holiday.  I also printed out a few miscellaneous color pages I knew the kids would enjoy.  I printed out the kids favorite zoo animals since we’d be visiting the San Diego Zoo.  I put all the prints in order of travel, in a sheet protector, clipped to their travel clipboards we’d made a few years back.  I also added our Surprise destination of LegoLand!!!  I took their favorite Lego character from google images and edited it in photoshop.  I didn’t edit the photo…I adjusted the size so I could add words to the top.  I added Let’s Go to LEGOLAND!!  They were ecstatic when we revealed the packets and saw LEGOLAND was one of our destinations!!

Did our kids do all the activities in their packet…no.  But they did read them and learn about each state.  They also knew where we were going and what we were doing in each state.  And that itself was awesome because it lessens the amount of what are we doing here questions.

I hope this helps you plan a long road trip.  They barely fought, were not bored much, and overall just had a great trip.

Moving Day

by jcastles | Jul 24, 2015 | Family, Moving, Uncategorized

I believe it was the last day of school when we were finally told we’d be moving in one week.  In Washington state school didn’t end until June 19th.  The flyttebyrå Oslo. movers would be at our house on June 26th.  We’d already started to declutter but we didn’t think we’d decluttered enough.  on the go moving in bellevue company arrived at like 8:15 that Friday morning…..three guys.  They had almost everything packed by 5pm!!!!  The only things they didn’t pack was the bedding so we could sleep that night and the few bathroom things we weren’t letting them pack just yet (shower curtain and towels).  They weren’t bothered by it as it’s normal for them I suppose.  They had actually started loading the 18 wheeler believe it or not. Good movers like the Big T Moving (Alpharetta Location) are flexible and helpful like that.

The next morning they got there at like 8:30/8:45.  They immediately started tagging and loading.  They also finished up the packing and were done by like 3pm!!!  I was able to clean and let them take the vacuum cleaner and they left.  It was definitely a better experience than the move to Seattle.  Those movers were slow.

We took up 3/4 of that dang truck!!!

We dropped my husbands car off with friends (for transit pickup in a week).  We finally got to our hotel nearby by 10pm and we got a pretty good nights sleep before we headed out the next morning.  And since this was a vacation as well as a move we were taking it kinda slow in the mornings.  Trying to make sure we were all ready and stuff, since packing everything well is important for this, as explained by Sky Van Lines an expert moving company that help people with this difficult task.

Sunday morning came, we ate the hotel breakfast, loaded the jeep up and we were off for our adventure!!

30 days of clothes and necessities!!

Dog needs, medications, snacks, and of course the ice chest!

The backseat trio! Btw, I recommend a dog seat belt! That was a lifesaver!