Favorite Unplugged Travel Activities for Kids

There is nothing I love more than traveling with my crew.  Luckily for us, they travel pretty well.  From the time with were born we've been going to the lakehouse several weekends a month.  We took the kids to Michigan was Cullyn was 5 weeks old, and Jordyn went to South Padre Island at 8 months.  We drove to Florida when the kids were 1 and 2.  All this to say, our 'car bag' as accumulated over the years! :)  Above is from our road trip to Oklahoma and plane ride to Colorado last summer.  We also have Brain Quest in there, I'm not sure where is was for the photo!

BOOKS
1. The 50 States Book | We love this book & have been looking at it for years.
2. The 50 States Activity Book | Same here.  It's just a fun book to learn about the state you're heading to.
3. Books about where we're headed {usually from the library}
4. High Five/Highlights Magazines | My sister and her husband generously subscribe to this magazine for all of their nieces/nephews, so I usually hoard them when they come and save them for the car trips.  Bonus -- you can throw them away as they go through them, so you're accumulating one less thing as you go.
5. Reading Books | The kids always have a chapter book or two going, so they bring those along too.  Cullyn has no issues reading in the car, but if Jordyn has an empty tummy or if we're going through the mountains she is prone to car sickness, so we have stock in kids Dramamine.

GAMES
1. Games on the Go 
2. Monopoly Deal
3. Spot It! 
4. Table Topics 
5. Would you Rather? 
6. iSpot 
7. OldMaid 

ACTIVITIES
1. Usborne Activity Packs
2. Magnetic ABCs & 123s 
3. Wiki Sticks

2. Coloring books + colored pencils
3. Wiggle Box *A favorite for gas station fill ups

FOR LITTLES
1. Chalkboard Laptop | bonus that it's a hard surface for other things
2. Magnetic ABCs + Flashcards | on a cookie sheet
3. This for a snack box | snacks always help pass the time :)

We're preparing for an epic RV trip in a couple of weeks, so I've added this and this to the collection. 

St. Patrick's Day 2018

St. Patrick's Day marked 1 year with glasses for the kids.  In that time, we managed to buy 4 pair, let Lola chew the lenses on 2, and lose them just 2 times.  Much better than I expected! :)

Adam had a band gig the night before, so the kids spent the night at my in laws.  They brought them back to us on St. Patrick's Day.  I had hoped to take them to the parade downtown but I'm a fair-weather parader, so when I woke up to snow I knew that wasn't going to happen this year. Instead we opted for indoor activities such as a scavenger hunt with gold at the end and making green pancakes, Lucky Charms cereal bars, a snack mix, and green glittery Playdoh.

Cullyn's 4th Birthday

I always feel so fortunate to have a job that allows me to take so much PTO.  I always taken the day off to spend with the birthday child and it's been one of the best decisions ever!  The kids always love picking what to do that day and hearing yes all day!

We started Cullyn's birthday off with balloons, as we do all birthdays. :)

From there we dropped sis off at daycare and went out for donuts, followed by iPad time, Batman cookie baking, and TV time.

Next up was a trip to SkyZone & then meeting daddy for lunch & games at Chuck E Cheese's.

As it turns out, if you only play racing & shooting games, you don't get many tickets.  He ended up with a lollipop and a spiderweb thing ;)

After that, we picked up Jordyn from school and headed to the park for a bit.

We convinced you to let daddy make us cheeseburgers for dinner instead of going to McDonalds, and ended the night playing outside and enjoying cupcakes with the neighbor kids. When I tucked you in that night you said it was the best day ever, so I consider it a win!  I can't believe my baby is 4!  I hope you have the best year yet little Super Hero!  Thank you for letting me see the world through your eyes. All my love, Mama

Art Class | Jordyn

Jordyn just finished an 8 week art class through the our city {much like her cooking class}.  It was convenient being just across town instead of downtown Des Moines, but I will say, the projects were much like you do in elementary art class.  They did 2-3 quick projects a night where as the Des Moines Art Center does one nicer project each week.  I'm glad we tried it, she really enjoyed it, but we probably sign up again.