I'm not opening my suitcase until we get there... it's about to burst! (I seriously hope it doesn't!!)
I'm packing books to take along to read on the way. My mom also made audiobooks for us to listen to.
Now, faithful readers, I have 2 questions for you. Don't let me down on the first one!!
1. What are some games and/or activities that you and your family do while on long car trips?
2. What favorite, special vacation has your family taken - that you remember?
So the next post will probably be written from Michigan! :D
Ta-Ta-For-Now!
Julia
I'm: 
Working!
Working!
Hey Julia!
ReplyDeleteThis is Jessica from Young homemakers and Literary Pursuits.
Boy, that's a toughy! I know that our family has played a couple of different games involving signs and things but I can't think of them. We also have done mad-libs together on long car rides. Here is one game in particular that our family brings on long car rides. It is called "Are we there Yet? - the auto travel game" here is a link to it.
http://www.amazon.com/Are-There-Auto-Travel-Game/dp/B000AR849M
Of course, I don't know if a store near you sell's this or not.
Also, reading books out loud is nice and listening to music and books on tape as you said.
(When I was younger and we got really bored. We used to see how many of one type or color of car we could find. to make it harder you could do both at once. Like trying to see how many white convertibles you can find.
Hope this helps!
Jessica
My family and I have played this game before when we are in the car for a long time. This is how it goes. Each player has to spot each letter of the alphabet in order from the words on signs, advertsisments, and car tags, and anywhere you see words! BUT no one can get a letter that another person has already called out. The hardest letter to find is Q. Look out for Quicktrip gas stations!:D Have fun on your trip!
ReplyDeleteAbigail
Oh! How delightful! :D I love going on trips! :)
ReplyDeleteBut as to what my family usually does: One of the things my brother and I do when we're bored is play the "Guessing Game". If you've never played it, what you do is someone will think of an object. For example: money, an airplane, a certain book, soda, etc. Then the other people who are playing have to ask questions like "What color is it?" and "How big is it" and "Do we have one?" etc. until someone guesses it. Either that, or until everyone gives up. It's SO much fun!
Also, this may sound crazy, but sometimes on our car trips we'll come up with ridiculous sounding songs. :P It's really fun, and everyone is laughing!
One thing that I like to do if I'm really bored is count the cars that go by, until I've counted 1000. :) It may sound boring, but it does pass the time.
Some of the best things to do while on a car trip are doing things like cross word puzzles, word searches, and Suduko. All of these are really fun, and pass the time really quickly.
And last but not least, this is probably my favorite thing to do on a car trip: Just look out the window! It's so much fun just to let your mind wander, and think about whatever. If you'd rather not just sit there, read a book or talk with your family.
My favorite vacation? Oh, that one is really hard... probably either the time my family went to Chicago, or another time when we went on a huge, long trip. First, we went to Baltimore, then to Annapolis, then to Washington D.C., and then to Williamsburg! It was really fun, and we were gone for 13 or 14 days.
Well, sorry for the unbelievably long comment! :P
~Madison
Michigan.... like right *above* Indiana? Are you passing through North-East Indiana???? :)
ReplyDeleteJessica,
ReplyDeleteOh Hi! :) Your sister comments here... I love reading "Young Homemakers"! :) Thanks for the link! I will have to check that out. :) The car game also sounds good. :D
Abigail,
Oh yeah! I remember that game now! :) That's a lot of fun! We've found that X and Z are also hard letters to find. :P
Madison,
(here's a secret... I LOVE long comments!! It tells me the person actually cared enough to spend time answering a question or that they really read all of my post. :D )
The Object guessing game sounds like a lot of fun! All your tips do! Thanks so much for telling me those. :) Oh, I would really like to visit Washington D.C. and Williamsburg!!! :D
Jocelyn,
Yes! We are! Is that roundabouts where you live? :) Maybe we could visit! :D I'll stop by your blog in a minute.
Blessings!
Julia
Hmm...not one particular vacation sticks out but we always have fun. Mom brings loads of snacks and we take detours and discover new places. Sometimes we get lost, but that's half the fun!
ReplyDeleteHey, Julia!
ReplyDeleteHmmm...what to do on long car rides. We listen to tapes and the radio. And sometimes mom reads. They play that alphabet game, but I can't 'cause it drives me nuts. Sleep is awesome for long car rides. lol. Seeeriously a hard question...
My favorite trips are to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle and cousins. But I like FLYING to see my grandparents. :o) lol. I used to like the drive to Michigan (is was a *lot* shorter then).
Anyway, not very helpful, I know. I hope you have a great vacation, though!!! And enjoy all that freezing cold and snow. ;o)
Love you, girl.
Joanna
Well, my family (at lest all the seven siblings) sing. We sing rounds, so each person starts at different time. I am not sure if your brothers would do it, but mine did! That passes a ton of time. Also, we do this game were someone thinks of a place, and the next person had to think of one, that's beginning is the ending of the last one. At first it is really easy, but then it gets really hard. Each place (or country)can only be used once. I don't really know any more ways to pass the time. I can't do anyhting with paper. Like reading, cross-word puzzels, mases, or anything relating to paper, because it makes me feel sick (I get motion sickness and then I throw up).
ReplyDeleteMy favorite place- Well, I think it was when we went to tons of different national parks. We did a lot of hiking. It was really hard, but it was super fun! Also, when we were in the Arches (in Utah) we were listening to the song Jupiter. (by Gustav Holds) (no idea how to spell that!) It is really pretty and majestic. It fit perfect with what we were seeing. So yeah.
Oh, and did you see my followers list. I now only follow a little. (and your one of them) I am sooooooo proud of myself.
Lover of your blog,
Lauren ann
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time visiting your blog, and I think it's very cute! It looks like you're going on a very exciting trip. :)
My favorite thing to do on long drives is listen to the Audio Theater productions put out by Focus on the Family. We have Little Women and Anne of Green Gables, and every time we go on long car trips (most are around 3 hours or so), I listen to all eight CD's!
Another thing I like to do to pass the time is read magazines. As soon as I know we're going on a trip, I save all the good magazines we get, after everyone else has read them. Then, once it's time to go, I have a whole stack of new-to-me miscellaneous articles on family, decor and the Bible.
Hope these help! Enjoy your trip!
Serenity
Let's see.....we usually just listen to music as we're in the car. However, on our past trips to Yellowstone, we always make sure to listen to this one particular episode of Adventures in Odyssey at the same spot.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite vacation....that's hard. Each has its merits =)
thanks for your lovely comment. I love them.
ReplyDeleteyour sister in Christ,
Lauren Ann
Where in MI are you traveling to, just out of curiosity?? Coz we live in MI too. :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. and I totally agree -- it's definitely the land that WARM forgot!!! :D
ReplyDeleteHey Julia! First, I hope you have a fun trip! Now...to answer your questions.....
ReplyDeleteWell, since my family just took a trip to NJ for 14 hours, I can probably list a few things that I did:) Books are definitely great! I also listened to music and my family played some games in the car! One of them I think someone already recommended, where you try to find ALL the letters in the alphabet. We played another one where you find a license plate and then you have to make up a sentence or phrase using the letters on the license plate. For example, if the license plate said ABF, you could say A Bird Flew! :) The game is really fun if someone spots a license plate with hard letters to find words for! Oh, and another game that is fun to play is the story game! Someone starts a sentence with a word and the rest of the people in the car have to finish the sentence using one word or two words. The game can last until everyone gets bored, again! I also brought some puzzle books, a drawing pad with some pencils, and some of my favorite CD's. If everyone in your family likes a certain CD, then bring it and everyone will have fun listening to it! :)I also agree with Madison...I spent half of the time staring at my window! :D If you have your camera near you, it's always fun to try and capture a cool picture while moving in your car! I actually got one of a McDonald's sign!:D Sleep is also a good time killer! If you bring a blanket, you will be all set! Well, I hope this helps!
And my favorite trip....hmmmm...Well, one of my favorite trips was going to Italy, Rome, and France...It was a gift from my grandparents and we went with them! It was a really neat trip! But my favorite trip in the U.S would have to be going to Washington D.C. It was about 3 years ago, but I still remember most of it! Especially all the disposable cameras my sister and I went through! :)
Well, have a FUN and SAFE trip! I'll be praying for you!!! I'm going to miss your posts:(
Laney
Hi, Julia. =) Michigan sounds like a blast! =D Wow. We don't go on too many super long car trips, but we do have a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteUsually we listen to the radio, with me singing along. =P Our car has a DVD player too, so sometimes the kids watch that. We look out the window, decipher license plates, see if we can find a license plate from each state, count cars, et cetera. =D
My favorite "vacation" would have to be the summer of '06. We went back to Nebraska (from Mauritania) because my grandmother had died. My daddy went ahead of us, so it was just mum and we kids going through France and back home to the USA. We arrived in VA, and went straight away (literally) to get hair cuts. And then we went to a hotel, and then shopping... =D Fruit, and veggies, and ICE CREAM!!! We bought SO much. =P Then we loaded it all up into a rental van and made the 1300 mile trip in a few days. =) We stopped a LOT. We played in the RAIN at rest stops, we ate such awesome food, we had an amazing time. We same LOADS of relatives I didn't even know we had. =D it was the best road trip vacation ever.
The second best would HAVE to be our almost week in Paris though... =) That didn't have much road trips. Just LOTS of walking & trains! =D
Anyways. Sorry for rambling.
~Riah
Hey there Julia!
ReplyDeleteI have been visiting your blog for a while and have been enjoying it very much! I was wondering, woud you mind if I followed you?
I hope you hve a great time on your trip. Michigan is freezing this time of year. I know, not because it is up North, but becuase I used to live there! When we moved to Georgia two years ago, we left two feet of snow!
As for games, well... I mostly look at scenery or read. Sorry!
Wow! Hey, something we do is keep track of how many honks each person can get from eighteen wheelers. Once you get to where your going see who got the most honks!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Hannah
Me and my siblings like to play a game were you have to find all the letters in the alphabet
ReplyDelete( in order ) by looking on signs and cars, it's pretty fun we play it a lot.
Thats all I can think of right now.
As far as my favorite vacation goes, I'd have to say when my family went to St. Louis for 3 days, but I have loved every vacation we have taken, so it's hard to choose a favorite :-)
Have a blast on you trip!
~Marissa
My blog is under contruction, but please come see my new header! I love it!
ReplyDeleteI must confess, I'm not a very good traveler. My poor family is kind enough to make frequent stops to accommodate my tendency to drink often. :/
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone!
ReplyDeleteI made it! I'm in michigan! :D
Thanks for the wealth of delightful comments... I think this is a record post for comments! :D I'm not going to be able to reply to all of them, unfortunately, because it's just about my bedtime as I type this... But I did have to say:
Serenity,
I'm so thrilled that you liked my blog! I ♥love♥ hearing from first-time-readers. :D
Sydney,
I'd be overjoyed if you followed my blog! :D Go right ahead! :) It's here for people to read. :D
I did read all of the wonderful comments I got, and I thank all of you for leaving them for me! :)
Thanks for the GREAT tips for car trips! We used some on the ride up and we'll use some on the ride down! :D
Blessings!
♥Julia♥