Family

Main Gate (Medium) January 11th, 2012

Top 5 Highlights of LEGOLAND Florida

Posted by: Dan Weisman|0 comments

by Traci L. Suppa

As the first major theme park to be built in Central Florida in a decade, LEGOLAND Florida opened in October to great anticipation. When I visited the new park in Winter Haven, FL with my 11-year old son, – a fervent LEGO aficionado since toddlerhood – it was nothing short of a pilgrimage.

I’m glad we had two full days to explore the park, because at 150 acres, the world’s largest LEGOLAND offers too much to do and see in just one day. Depending on the time of year, the hours of operation here may limit you to just seven hours in which to cover ten distinct sections.

What did we enjoy most about the park? Here are our top picks:

Miniland

At the top of our list was Miniland. You’ll need at least an hour to stroll through the eight geographical areas with LEGO replicas of skylines, landmarks, and city scenes. We were amazed by the clever details which elevate these creations from plaything to art. Water features, sound, moving pieces and vehicles add to the realism. There are several buttons kids can push to make fountains gush, soldiers march, and D.J.’s play.

Unique Rides & Coasters

Being a “tween,” my son was eager to try out the rides. We found several that are unique to LEGOLAND. I enjoyed the 360° view when we ascended 150 feet in the air on Island in the Sky. It’s the perfect vista of the entire park, as well as Lake Eloise. His favorite was the Aqua Zone Wave Racers. We raced jet skis around a central dock, while steering to avoid – or in his case, hit head on – fountains shooting water 15 feet high.

The four roller coasters don’t break any size or speed records, which is why we enjoyed them. This is a park targeting kids 2-12 years old, and even the coasters are sized appropriately. Coastersaurous is the first wooden coaster within any LEGOLAND park, and Flying School is the first suspended coaster. LEGO Technic is designed in a Mouse Trap style. The longest lines stood outside for the Dragon coaster, a hybrid of a dark indoor journey through a dragon’s lair and an outdoor ride offering spin, turn, and drop thrills.

Cypress Gardens

LEGOLAND purchased the land of what was once the Cypress Gardens attraction, and responsibly preserved and restored the lush gardens with species from around the world, as well as the cove for water ski shows. The gardens are lush, shady, and quiet, with the perfect trail to walk along if you have a youngster in need of a stroller nap.

Neither of us had ever seen a water ski show before, and we both did a lot of “oohing” and “ahhing.” During “The Battle for Brickbeard’s Bounty,” the brave Imperial Soldiers fight Brickbeard the Pirate. The ski stunts are impressive, and the cast engages the audience in water cannon play and pirate talk.

Lots for Little Ones

LEGOLAND excels in catering to the pre-school set, so I almost regretted not bringing my 4-year old daughter along on this trip. DUPLO Land is an entire section dedicated to children five and under, with indoor and outdoor play spaces. There are multi-level playgrounds and play spaces in the Land of Adventure and LEGO Kingdom sections. Several rides allow children at the height of just 36” to ride by themselves, including Royal Joust, Beetle Bounce, and the Junior Driving School. All the other elements are in place to facilitate young families, such as a Baby Care Center, stroller rentals, and healthy food options.

Water Park

Actually, the water park hasn’t opened yet. But knowing my son and how he loves swimming, I’m adding it to this list of highlights. The water park will open this summer, and will feature a wave pool, water slides, a super soaker area, a toddler play area, and a special Build-a-Raft River, which allows families to design and build a raft out of LEGO before floating down a lazy river.

Traci L. Suppa drags her small-town family to see a quirky array of the world’s largest, longest, or tallest things, and blogs about it at Go BIG or Go Home.

Categorized as: Family Read more →
CaliThanksgiving1 November 17th, 2011

California Thanksgiving

Posted by: Kaila McIntyre-Bader|4 comments

Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the things we value most in life.  For my Californian extended family, turkey and football aren’t exactly at the top of that list.  Instead, we cherish healthy food, good wine, time spent outdoors, and time spent laughing together.  Each year we head to my aunt and uncle’s beautiful old ranch on the Santa Barbara coast to catch up, cook, eat, and play.

Rule #1 of California Thanksgiving- Eat outside

No matter how cold it is, Thanksgiving dinner is enjoyed outdoors.  We pull a bunch of wooden picnic tables together under the Eucalyptus trees and cover them with tablecloths, flowers, dried leaves, and candles.  We wrap up in warm jackets and put on our thick socks, and keep a fire going in the fire pit.  There’s nothing like enjoying the festivities with the sound of the waves crashing in the distance and the breeze rustling the leaves. 

Rule #2 of California Thanksgiving- Don’t forget about the vegetarians

In our family, there are quite a few vegetarians, so the spread has to include plenty of options for the non meat-eaters.  We make tons and tons of food, and sometimes two of the same dish, one with meat and one without.  Some of the family favorites are a green bean casserole with water chestnuts and crispy fried onions, and grandma’s weird dessert of green jello full of nuts and cottage cheese.

Rule #3 of California Thanksgiving- Keep the wine flowing

Some of the best wine in the world comes from California, so we give thanks for living in such a beautiful climate that produces all kinds of grapes for all the different varietals.  Usually earlier on the year, our family goes wine tasting at different vineyards in Napa and Sonoma.  We buy all our favorites, and save them to enjoy when we all see each other again in the fall.  We appreciate the bottles so much more after waiting to drink them together!

Categorized as: Family Read more →
safefamilytravel November 11th, 2011

6 Safety Tips for Traveling Abroad with Kids

Posted by: flipkey|2 comments

by Jason Brick

Travel to foreign countries is always an adventure, travelling there with children doubly so. It creates a situation where a parent has to balance a fun and enriching experience against the risk of a child becoming hurt or lost in a place where you don’t know the language, layout or laws. Although every country presents its own unique challenges, a few safety rules apply wherever you choose to take you little travelers.

1. Be Realistic

Don’t plan on a 10-mile hike along the Great Wall if you have two toddlers. Don’t go to Mexico City with your teenage daughter. Your trip will be better if you plan it with the abilities of your kids in mind. The U.S. State Department keeps updated files on how safe other countries are – and can help you plan the right trip for your family.

2. Have and Practice a Plan

Create an emergency plan for the most common family travel troubles: a lost family member, getting separated and an injured child. Give each person a specific job – even toddlers can learn to grab onto mommy or look for somebody official. Practice each scenario at home until everybody knows their part.

3. Keep a Photo Handy

Imagine for a moment describing what your child looks like, while panicked, using a foreign language. If you have an image on-hand you can bypass that problem with a solution worth 1,000 words. Better yet, snap a photo with your cell phone every morning as the family leaves for the day’s adventure. That picture will include your child’s current hairstyle and the day’s outfit.

Categorized as: Family Read more →
Family-Tunisia November 10th, 2011

Why We Travel

Posted by: flipkey|2 comments

Today we’re featuring a post from another inspiring traveling Family. Jenn Miller and her family have been on the road, living it up and keeping us up to date at the Edventure Project.

by Jenn Miller

Our mornings are all very different, and yet, delightfully the same, no matter the continent or country. Children wander from tents or hammocks, beds or boat bunks. Tea is brewed. The day’s adventure begins. Every morning I remember; this is why we live this life: Because it’s about the people, memories & moments, not things. Our life is lived without a clock, without cubicles or classrooms and on our own terms.

Almost four years ago we sold our house and our stuff, quit a six figure job, packed up our four children and hit the road. The idea was to take a year “off” and bicycle from London, England to Tunisia and back. Somewhere in there, our gap year became our life and the Edventure Project was born.

“Why would someone do that? Especially with kids?!”

There are lots of families that do, and I can’t speak for all of them, but for us, these five reasons just about sum it up:

1. Love People, Not Things

This is a mantra we repeat often to our toddlers and try to live out as a family. It guides so many of the choices we make, including the choice to travel as a way of life. We’ve intentionally chosen to spend our lives building relationships with each other and with our children, full time, instead of investing the time in jobs, projects or pursuits that would send us chasing other directions after other things.

Categorized as: Family Read more →
October 25th, 2011

Two Family Day Hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park

Posted by: flipkey|2 comments

by Kari Bradley

While visiting Colorado with my two young kids (ages 4 ½ and 6), I set out to find fun activities for them so we could enjoy the gorgeous scenery together.  We made two day trips to Estes Park (an easy hour drive from my mom’s house in Fort Collins) to try out a couple of the different hikes the National Park Service recommends for families: Sprague Lake and Bear Lake.

Sprague Lake

Our first adventure was stopping at the picnic area near Sprague Lake.  The air was distinctly fresh and smelled of pine – which was a new experience for our “city noses!”  The kids gobbled their lunches in a hurry so they could explore the area and look for the different flowers and wildlife.

After our picnic, we headed to a ranger station to pick up the official Junior Ranger Activities Booklet for ages 5 and under.  The booklet includes eight fun activities for the kids to do while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park.  In order to become a Junior Ranger, they must complete the activities in the booklet, then take it to any visitor center and speak with a Park Ranger about what they saw and did.  The Ranger will sign their booklet and give them an official Junior Ranger badge (and what kid doesn’t love collecting “official” badges?).

Booklets in hand, we drove off to our first hike.  We noticed several cars on the side of the road, so we stopped to see what everyone was looking at.  There were two HUGE male elks, just hanging out, patiently letting people take pictures of their very impressive antlers.  It was a thrill to see them up close and personal!

We arrived at the Sprague Lake trail for our first hike.  This lake hike is short (about ¼ mile) and flat, so it was no trouble even for novice hikers.  The kids had a blast racing ahead of us to look for animals.  We played “Eye Spy” from the Junior Ranger booklet and they saw fish, squirrels, chipmunks, and a family of ducks with their 3 ducklings.  They also enjoyed seeing a man fishing in the lake, and several families either fishing with poles, or using nets to catch fish in a little stream leading up to the lake.  One young boy excitedly told about catching his first fish!  We’ll have to bring fishing poles next time.

The kids also enjoyed completing the Scavenger Hunt in the booklet.  They were prompted to look for something prickly (pine needles), something soft (baby chipmunks), something that smells good (flowers), something moving (water), something an animal eats (pinecones), something tall (trees), and something blue (bluebell flowers).  It was so much fun, and encouraged them to slow down and truly observe the nature surrounding us.

Sprague Lake has beautiful views, with many scenic points to stop and take pictures (like this one with Hallet Peak in the background).  All in all, it was a perfect introduction to hiking with young children.

Bear Lake

Our next excursion was to Bear Lake (which is a bit longer than the Sprague Lake trail, and not quite as flat).  The first thing the kids noticed as we headed down the path was a patch of snow.  Mind you, this was the end of July! Our kids loved it and they were throwing snow balls along with several other kids. It was an unexpected summer treat for everyone.

Near the path were lots of fun rocks for the kids to scurry up.  We weren’t sure how they would do on these hikes, but found there is so much to see and do that they were totally occupied and discovered a newfound love for hiking.

About halfway around the lake, my son exclaimed “I see something moving in the water!”  We followed him over to the side of the lake – and lo and behold, he really had seen some fish.  There were three of them huddling under the tree branches in the little stream that ran towards the lake. The kids were excited to watch them and notice their colorful scales.

Overall, our two day trips to Rocky Mountain National Park were wonderful.  One tip I would share with other parents is to be sure to bring along bug repellent and good shoes for the kids to climb over the rocks and run around comfortably.  Your little explorers will thank you for it!

Here’s a final shot taken from Bear Lake.  A thunderstorm just missed us, but it was fun to listen to all the birds and animals, along with the boom of thunder just down the mountains.  I highly recommend visiting the Rocky Mountain National Park with your little ones.  We are so glad we had this chance to expose our kids to the awesome sights of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.

Kari Bradley is an enthusiastic family explorer and part of the team at Estes-Park.com.

Categorized as: Family Read more →
October 21st, 2011

A Thanksgiving Education at the National Museum of the American Indian

Posted by: Suzanne Johnson|2 comments

An Exhibition from the Museum of the American Indian

As Thanksgiving approaches, kids all across the United States are crafting construction paper into tall, black pilgrim hats and yellow and orange feathers to glue into Native American-style headbands; they’re rehearsing their parts for the school play re-enacting the first Thanksgiving harvest dinner. If that sums up the extent of your kids’ education on Native American culture and history, it’s time to plan a visit to the newest of the Smithsonian museums along the Mall in Washington DC: the National Museum of the American Indian.

When we visited last year, I was immediately struck by the organic feel of the museum building. From the undulating exterior walls to the spiraling central hall, every design detail reflects the connection to nature that is so vital to Native American culture. We planned to make it a quick visit, but were so completely drawn in by the artwork, the artifacts, and the stories they told that a full day slipped away.

The Our Universe exhibit draws on timeless themes that help visitors find more commonalities than differences with the ancient Native American societies. Interactive activities for kids and families happen regularly at the ImagiNATION activity center, and the movies offer a chance to keep learning while you get off your feet for a bit.  Any family with a horse-crazy teen really needs to get there this November, as the NMAI opens A Song for Horse Nation, an exhibit that explores the impact of horses on Native American culture.

Just when you think your eyes and ears have taken in all the Native American culture that a person could possibly absorb in a day, head down to the Mitsitam Café to get your fill of the scents and flavors of traditional Native American dishes. Five counter areas allow you to choose specialties from the Native American tribes around the regions of America: the Northern Woodlands, the Great Plains, the Northwest Coast, South America, and Mesoamerican. I’ll admit the café was my favorite part of the museum – the combinations of ingredients from each region may have been traditional, but I found them a fresh and delicious way to connect with Native American culture.

Categorized as: Events To Travel For, Family Read more →
October 14th, 2011

Add a Little "Offbeat" to Your Next Family Vacation

Posted by: flipkey|0 comments

by Traci Suppa

I’m one of those parents who thought Clark Griswold had the right idea for a family vacation. Drive cross-country with every expectation of adventure, and the willingness to drive four hours off course to see the world’s second largest ball of twine.

Sure, I want my daughter to experience her princess character breakfast at Walt Disney World. I hope to bring my son to the towns of Italy where his great-grandparents lived. But I also want them with me when I finally get the see that ball of twine. For the record, the world’s largest ball of twine is in Cawker, KS. There’s also one in Darwin, MN with the equally-impressive title of world’s largest twine ball rolled by one man.

Our Christmas Cards Last Year Looked Like This

“World’s largest” attractions are always on our “to-see” list, and my kids have become accustomed to standing in front of oversized bowling pins/garden gnomes/globes/boots while smiling for the camera. I highly recommend seeking out a quirky roadside attraction during your next trip. The resulting photos – so fun, so clever – may just appear on the cover of your next Christmas card. You can utilize RoadsideAmerica.com to find sites across the U.S.

This museum was an unexpected treat

The thrill of reaching these sites can be short-lived, so we try to find attractions with a little more to offer. The world’s largest bowling pin, for example, sits in front of Splitsville Luxury Lanes in Tampa, FL. We enjoyed a fun family evening of bowling and a lane-side dinner. After we gawked at the immensity of the world’s largest rotating globe in Yarmouth, ME, we headed ten minutes north to shop the outlets in Freeport. After my kids climbed through the world’s largest kid – “Eddie,” the 45-foot exhibit inside the EdVenture children’s museum of Columbia, SC – we spent several more hours enjoying the facility.

Should you prefer more educational vacation experiences, well, I’m there with you. Travel is the best education. But as I can attest from my own childhood being dragged through archaeological ruins the world over, you have to make the experience accessible in order for it to be remembered. Part of the reason we went to see the world’s largest light bulb in Edison, NJ was the opportunity to visit the adjoining museum in the Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park.

We spent an hour poring over exhibits of early light bulbs and other inventions with a helpful tour guide, who even let us listen one of Edison’s original phonographs. The bonus was posing my son under the 14-foot light bulb, which sits on top of the 117-foot Memorial Tower. I love that it looks like he’s just had a bright idea!

A-HA!

It’s a precarious balance; giving kids the trips they want, while still getting to see what you want. Success is when your itinerary entertains everyone!

Traci L. Suppa drags her small-town family to see a quirky array of the world’s largest, longest, or tallest things, and blogs about it at Go BIG or Go Home.

Categorized as: Family, Trips Read more →
September 14th, 2011

Grapes, Giggles, and Girlfriends: The Perfect Getaway in Napa Valley

Posted by: Suzanne Johnson|3 comments

Book clubs, cooking clubs, bunco, bridge…what is the unifying theme to most women’s gatherings? Wine! If you can add in the opportunity to do lots of talking, while sipping wine, in beautiful surroundings—even better. So when a group of girlfriends and I decided to look for a getaway destination, Napa Valley was an ideal choice.

We needed to coordinate travel plans from the Midwest and the West Coast. Flights into Sacramento would have brought us closer to Napa, but we found that flying into San Francisco had better prices and better timing—although the congestion in and out of the city would make me re-think Sacramento on my next visit. The first half of the four-hour drive was spent weaving through lanes of traffic, until the rolling green hills beckoned us away from the urban chaos.

September and October are the months to see Napa Valley in high gear, as the juicy clusters of grapey goodness are harvested from the fields. This year, cool temperatures at the start of summer may have delayed the harvest by a few weeks—which gives travelers an even bigger timeframe to get in on the festivities of the fall crush.

When I first heard about the fall crush, I half expected to get barefoot and stomp around in a vat of purple mash, just like the old I Love Lucy episode. I’d love the experience, but cringe at the thought of drinking wine that once squished through someone’s toes! These days the fall crush is more of a celebration—the hard work of the spring and summer has paid off, the grapes are in off the vines, and the transformation into wine will soon begin!

We spent a day biking vineyard to vineyard along the Silverado Trail, starting with renting bikes in Yountville through the Napa Valley Wine Tours. We stocked up on picnic supplies—olives, flatbread crackers, cheeses—at the Oakville Grocery market, and thus fortified, we set out. By day’s end we’d visited half a dozen vineyards and covered over twenty miles! If I were to do it again (and I would love the chance!) I’d do a guided tour, led by a local biker who knew how to avoid the traffic—the roads we chose did not have wide shoulders, and we did worry about drivers who may have sampled too many.

Over coffee the following morning, the four of us were stretching our aching legs and wishing we’d thought to make massage appointments. We spied the lovely Villagio Spa, just down the street from the coffeeshop, and—our guardian angels of wine and pampering were looking out for us—we found they’d just had several cancellations, and could fit us all in for massages. If you ever have the chance to be spoiled rotten by the Villagio Spa, don’t pass it up! Better yet, plan ahead and make a reservation!

Tastings and opportunities to learn more about wine are everywhere, and cater to everyone from wine and cheese pairings for the casual wine drinker to the serious oenophile. It’s not just the grapes coming in from the fields at this time of year—the farmer markets overflow with bounty, and if your group can cook at all, you will love gathering the ingredients for a fall feast back at the vacation rental, where everyone can mingle freely instead of staying seated in a restaurant. That way, the conversation and laughter goes on until the wee hours…and isn’t that what the girlfriends’ getaway is all about?

Suzanne Johnson lives, writes and plays in the Cascade mountains of Oregon with her family of adventure-prone boys. More of her writing can be found a SuzanneMyhreJohnson.com.

Categorized as: Events To Travel For, Family, Food & Drink Read more →
August 23rd, 2011

Back to the City for Back to School!

Posted by: Suzanne Johnson|0 comments

Whether your family’s summer was full of baseball games, fishing at the lake, or just hanging out with friends, I hope it was like ours: a grand reprieve from the structure and routine of the school schedule. I know—summer’s not officially over until the Fall Equinox in late September, but that’s just a technicality! Ask any kid and they’ll tell you summer winds down on Labor Day Weekend.

In some ways September is more a New Year’s event than January, especially for families with school-age kids. It’s a fresh start with new teachers, a new set of classmates, and a whole new set of goals and challenges. Labor Day weekend offers a perfect opportunity to say farewell to summer while kick-starting the school year. Instead of another trip to the lake or another relaxing picnic gathering, families can embrace the upcoming school year with an urban weekend that jumpstarts the brains after a long lazy summer, and fills the closets with back-to-school gear.

Midwesterners have an easy choice for a Labor Day urban getaway: Minneapolis is easy to get to and easy to negotiate, with great vacation rentals and more than enough culture to engage the whole family. Whether your family gravitates towards art, science, or theater, you can find it on Labor Day Weekend, plus fill in the gaps with great shopping.

Spend an afternoon meandering the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for a look at how people have expressed themselves across the globe and through time, from African masks to Japanese scrolls. Then go big and head over to one of my favorite spots, the Walker Sculpture Garden, where the Standing Frame sculpture frames the city scenes and Prophecy of the Ancients frames the sky. The sculptures in this garden aim to change your perspective on the world, and one way or another they do succeed.

Across the river in St. Paul, the experiment gallery in the Science Museum of Minnesota is a favorite destination for kids of all ages, followed by a visit through the dinosaur and fossil exhibit. The best reason to go to this science museum over Labor Day?  It’s the last chance to walk like an Egyptian through the King Tut exhibit – it closes right after Labor Day.

If your family is more into Shakespeare than mummies, here is a good option: take in a performance of Hamlet, a modern take on the classic story, at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. After which you might ask… “To shop, or not to shop?” and the answer will definitely be “Shop!” Without a doubt, you’ll want to give yourselves a full day for the Mall of America, where you can break up the shopping with adrenaline-charged roller coaster rides and flight simulator experiences, or head for a quieter diversion in the aquarium.  Whichever activities you choose to fill the urban getaway, it’ll add up to a great transition back to the new school routine, and maybe will even become a family tradition.

Suzanne Johnson lives, writes and plays in the Cascade mountains of Oregon with her family of adventure-prone boys. More of her writing can be found a SuzanneMyhreJohnson.com.

Categorized as: Events To Travel For, Family, Travel Tips Read more →
August 05th, 2011

5 Tips for Healthy Eating on the Road

Posted by: flipkey|1 comment

by Sheri Wallace

As road trip experts, we drive thousands of miles every year as a family. We’re the people who can hardly wait to pack everyone in the car and find a new scenic byway, a downhill grade over 10%, or an unknown territory. Notice I say “we” because our whole family is an expert on everything that goes with a road trip. But, typically, as the mom, I’m the one most concerned with nutrition and vegetables as we travel. It’s far too easy to grab onion rings when you stop for gas, a root beer float at a roadside stand and top that off with cheese curds you’ve seen advertised for 200 miles — not exactly pediatrician or cardiologist approved.

Tip #1

To make healthy eating easier takes a little planning, but you can do it. The first tip coincides with the first rule of the road trip. Stop rushing. When you sit down to plan the trip, it’s tempting to try to do 600 miles a day, but you’ll live (maybe) to regret that. Slow down and allow plenty of time to enjoy what you find around the next bend. That lets you plan meals much more easily and adjust for your family’s needs.

You might get on the road early before breakfast, let the kids sleep a little and then stop for breakfast. Or, eat breakfast in the car and stop for a mid-morning break. You get the idea. But a healthy breakfast makes everyone a lot happier – and doesn’t cost a fortune. We’re fans of bagels and hard boiled eggs or chicken – nothing too messy. We avoid food dyes and sugar as much as possible — keeps the tantrums less likely.

Tip #2

Getting gas is not where we eat, take a break, or buy anything. Except for gas. Planning your day in advance lets you have a pretty good idea when the kids will need to get out of the car and when you’ll need to stop for gas. Stop before the fill-up and let everyone work off some steam. Eat a picnic and play a game of Frisbee. See who can climb the rocks the fastest or do some geocaching. But, do it before the petrol. If you get snacks or a lunch break combined with the scheduled stop, no one will suddenly go into convulsions at the sight of cookies or Cheetos. Avoiding temptation is 90% of the game.

Tip #3

Involve everyone in the healthy eating game. We consider food out of the cooler free. Everything else is budgeted and we set a daily budget of about $20 for food not out of the cooler. You can set a personal budget or a family budget and let people make choices. Even the little people. If you feel it’s your decision to stop now because you really have to have that ice cream sandwich and you don’t have money for the root beer float later, it’s your own tragedy. Money left over from the budget can go to souvenirs or attractions you didn’t have money to schedule. You’ll probably be shocked at how much ice cream suddenly isn’t as important as another day at Wally World.

We try to use the food budget as a way to teach map reading, build interest in upcoming stops and try local foods we aren’t familiar with. Farmer’s markets or ethnic supermarkets are a fun topic of conversation. And it works really well. If you add up the empty calories and junk you miss along the way it’s probably pretty substantial.

Tip #4

Keep the cooler stocked. It’s hard to suggest a healthy snack if the cooler is empty. We tend to stock up every couple of days and be sure we can make sandwiches at the drop of a hat. Our longer trips usually involve our trailer so we stop at a rest area and make hot food quickly and then get back on the road. We mix it up and try to not fall into a rut, and most importantly, we let everyone pick foods. Maybe your family appoints everyone a day and they manage the cooler inventory or you just stick to snack appointments. You’ll be shocked at how much the backseat can talk about food choices and what they might do with their next budget. Older kids can make a competition out of calories or grams of sugar, etc.

Tip #5

Sometimes you just have to let it go. Get out and have that root beer float or the fried cheese curds. Try to make it special and not a Taco Bell or some other restaurant you have at home, but once in a while, familiarity is a good thing. Every day is a new day and no matter how much junk you’re avoiding you’re still avoiding some. Stay positive and don’t try to do too much too fast. No one gets healthy overnight – especially on a road trip!

Sheri is an experienced publishing, public relations, and marketing professional and the editor at http://www.roadtripsforfamilies.com/.

Categorized as: Budget Travel, Family, Food & Drink, Travel Tips Read more →