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Summer is halfway through and our summer bucket list is still jam packed with all kinds of things still left to do before the start of the new school year. One of our biggest things for this summer is that we want to hit the beach as much as possible, the kids love the water and really there is no better day than a day at the beach. But, we live about 2 hours away from the closest beach. What does that mean for us every single weekend? Road trip!
We live inland so the kids have pretty much gotten used to us having to make a road trip out of most outings since where we live is very small and far from anything fun. Every weekend the kids have grown accustomed to having to pile into the car for a few hours drive and I am pretty much an expert on what to bring to keep them happy and entertained for the duration of the car ride.
Of utmost importance before we go on any road trip is of course the maintenance of our vehicle. We did just get a new car, but even so before any trip, we take the same steps that we did with out older van. I will have Adrian check the air pressure on the tires before we take off and we make sure that the date on the oil change sticker hasn't passed. If it has we just leave an hour early so we can stop by Walmart, which is on the same street we live on and super convenient.
A quick stop at the Walmart Automotive Care Center and we can get that oil changed without changing up our schedule or going out of our way. We can drop the car off for the oil change and pop into Walmart for some of the snacks we will need for the trip and any other items we might be missing (sand pails and other beach toys). Our old van used to use Pennzoil® High Mileage Vehicle® (currently on rollback from $39.88 to $35.88 6/15-9/28) which kept the old girl on the road even on a recent 14 hour trip to Arizona. I am going to miss my van I really am, she was really good to us. Now with the new car we've just had to switch over to Pennzoil Platinum®: Full Synthetic Motor Oil with PurePlus™ Technology. Getting my oil changed with Pennzoil {oil that helps clean out sludge lesser oils leave behind} at Walmart helps make our summer road trips a success by saving time and money, and in less than an hour we can be on our way to the beach.
To keep the kids, who just ate but will ask for snacks anyways, from starving, we have the bag of drinks and snacks we purchased at Walmart. These are a MUST on any road trip with kids.
The electronics are also a must have on these longer trips. They won't be on them the entire time but they will at least keep them busy for a good while. The small kids all have their learning games and Angel who is older can watch his YouTube videos or chat with a friend.
Coloring books are essential on a road trip. Sammy is always working on something creative and these books are a lifesaver for her since she's not overly into playing on her phone.
The jams are also super important. We have an iPod full of everyone's favorite music and we always take turns picking the next song. A lot of our trip actually consists of us just listening to music and signing badly along.
Road trips are full of memories and therefore a camera is always on hand. I am the memory keeper and this is a very important job. We also bring along some reading books for those moments when they might want to use their brain for a little while.
Road trips can be fun as long as you bring everything that the kids will need. Believe me, we do this trip so much and four hours total in the car can get tedious, but we get through it in one piece. Sometimes barely, but we make it.
And the destination is SO worth it I promise. We usually arrive pretty early so we can stay to watch the sun go down. All summer days should be so great. Thanks to planning well we can really enjoy the trip to and from, and our day at the beach.
