Need suggestions.... going on vacation

[ahacker]

Well, we finally decided it is time to take a vacation. My brother was going to come here to see us. But since he has been her the last 4 or 5 times, it is time for us to go there. He lives in Denver CO, which is about a 15-16 hour drive from here. We cannot afford to fly, so we are driving.

I have no idea how this is going to go. I hope that she won't cry the whole time. We are leaving in March, so I have plenty of time to plan. We will leave on a Friday night after Dh gets home and we eat dinner. That way Willow will be about ready to sleep for the night. I know she won't be as comfortable sleeping in her car seat, but really it seems like the best way to start the trip. That way we can get at least 8 hours of driving behind us. I know we should stop every hour or so for Willow to get out and walk or play.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this a bearable drive? I plan on bringing all her kids cds to listen to. I am hoping to borrow a portable dvd player too.

Oh, Willow will be almost 19 months then.

Thanks,
Amy

[ANNIEW]

we drove to florida when ds was 2.5 yrs old. we borrowed a portable dvd player and that worked great! i bought new movies he hadn't seen and it kept him busy for hours. we also l eft about 5pm friday night, and ended up getting a hotelfrom 5am-9am (for quick nap for us) and go to disney world around dinner time saturday night.
i would say definitely get the dvd player!!! ds was into "cranes" the machine things, at the time,and we made a game of countinghow many cranes there were going down there-i think we co unted like 32!!!!!

[esarah]

Amy- On the plane (a five hour flight and an 8 hour flight. With layovers and driving to and from the airport and such a 26 hour trip.) I had books, a magna doodle (which she loved the most), color wonder paper and markers, little soft plastic cars, and I also had treats. Things she would normally not get to eat but were special for the trip. She really did love the magna doodle though. That was one of the best things we got for her for Christmas. We got a travel sized one. I asked her to draw things and she would talk about those things that she was drawing while she scribbled on it. On the way there Leata was nearly 19 months and on the way back she was nearly 20 months. She slept a lot on the plane as well. She love having a blanket and a stuffed animal to cuddle up to.

[MommyX3]

I like the special treat idea.. We're planning a road trip in the fall to Omaha @7hrs the girls will be 22mo. almost 4 and 8yrs.. I have a video player in my van but might need to upgrade to the portable dvd players.. drake and josh for one and dora for the other.. I am worried how the baby will do...
When Andrea was 11 months we drove to Memphis @12hrs She wanted to listen to Sawyer Brown the whole way espically the song "Drive me Wild" and once there she never wanted back in her car seat. We probly should have made more pitt stops along the way.

For our trip I going to try and find fun places to stop at that willn't take us to far of track. Maybe like chuck e cheese..

[ahacker]

The Chuck E. Cheese is a great idea! I will have to see what options we will have. Not much through Kansas!