
Road trips…. enough said, right? I remember growing up taking long road trips to California to visit family. The vacation once we got there was always a blast but the traveling just felt like torture. It never started out that way either, it was so exciting pulling out of the driveway and heading towards vacation, we would play games, listen to music, snack and of course talk. Eventually though these things would get boring and then the car ride fighting would begin. There was always the classic “your on my side” or “are we there yet?” My poor parents! Of course I think every parent heard a version of this.
Eli may not be old enough for the classic questions and fighting with siblings (of course he doesn’t have one yet) but even at his age he can still let us know how he feels about the long car ride. Last weekend we went with my husband’s family to visit his grandparents. We caravanned, a girl car and boy car with each car having a baby, Eli and my nephew Mason. The trip is only supposed to take about 5 1/2 hours but with two cars, two babies and lots of adults it took much longer, almost 7 hours. The boys really did do such a great job, they were real troopers but by half way into the trip heading home both boys were over the car and just wanted to be home. Eli was tired, my poor nephew wasn’t feeling very good and they were exhausted from all the fun they had at their great grandparents house. Eli wouldn’t go to sleep and none of his toys were making him happy, the one thing that made him happy was me rubbing his ear (he usually rubs his own ear when he is tired). Like I said earlier, he may not be old enough to constantly ask if we are there yet but he had no problem communicating his feelings with us. No matter what it was a good weekend with family and the boys really did such a great job. Flexibility and patience are the best thing for family road trips. There are so many road trips we want to take our kids on as our family grows so the vacation adventures have only just begun!
Photo Credit: Emlyn Stokes


