Tuesday, June 14, 2016

My #1 Vacation Tip

Whether you are going to the beach, the mountains, or just to Grandma's house for summer vacation, you are going to make some memories you will always cherish.  Vacation planning is one of my favorite things to do.  I love researching places to go, things to do, and favorites among the locals.  I inherited this trait from my mom.  She is the queen of vacation planning.  When I was growing up, my mom made me vacation journals to keep track of my memories along vacation AND to keep me busy on road trips.   Obviously, this was before cell phones and DVD players.  The vacation journals did the job of occupying me, but it also served as a little scrapbook of vacation from my point of view, that I am able to look back on years later.



Today, I am linking up with Shelly and Katy for Spiel the Beans with the Queens.  They are sharing tips for planning a family vacation today, so I thought I would share a few ideas for putting together a vacation journal for your own kids.  I've included the links to the sites where I found these.  We usually just print off some fun things and put it in a folder with some fun markers, but you could also use a clipboard if you would rather.

First off, my vacation journal always included a little summary of the day.  I usually filled this out in our hotel while winding down for the night.  This may be where I developed a love for blogging.  While all the other kids were enjoying their pencil-free summer break, my mom was giving me essay topics.  :)



You could personalize it any way you want.  If you knew you were going to Disney World, for example, you might ask about their favorite ride, show, or character they saw that day.

Another key piece to a vacation journal, is a map.  My mom always printed off the route we would be taking for me to follow along.  You could even highlight the places you expect to stop, too.  We are headed to Branson later this summer, so this is one I might include in one for my kids.



You can also include a few fun things you are planning to do on vacation.  For example, below is a map of Silver Dollar City for Kendall to look at and get excited about and decide what areas of the park interest her the most.


Next, time for some games!

 (Free printable available at 3boysandadog.com)


 (Free printable available at 3boysandadog.com)


 (Free printable available at 3boysandadog.com)


(Click here for free printable)

You can cater your vacation journal however you want depending on your kid's ages, abilities and interests.  Now, here is the biggest tip for a vacation journal...DO NOT GIVE IT TO YOUR KID UNTIL YOU ARE IN THE CAR AND HAVE HEARD YOUR FIRST, "I'M BORED!"  Do not, I repeat, do not give it to them before you leave for the road trip.  This is your secret weapon for the moment when they have watched all the DVD's and are not getting a Wifi signal.  When they have reached the moment of, "She's touching my seat."  When all the good snacks have already been eaten.  You know the moment...about twenty minutes into the trip.  

Are you planning a road trip this summer?  What do you do to keep your kids busy in the car?

Emily

I'm linking up with Beth for Tuesday Talk and Shelly & Katy for Spiel the Beans.  




30 comments:

  1. Great post! Thank you for the links! I will use these next month.

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  2. What an awesome idea to pass on to your kids! And us! Love it!

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reading.

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  3. This is a great idea. The games seem so fun, I might even print them for myself! I cracked up over using it as your secret weapon. We usually leave around naptime so Mase will hopefully sleep for about an hour. New movies or ones he hasn't seen in awhile help us alot. Our secret weapon is to blow up a balloon crack the back windows and let the balloon lose. It flies around the back of the car and Mason cracks up laugh. Last time it worked for 30+ minutes.

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    1. I think I might print some off for me, too! I love the balloon idea! So fun!
      I've bought a few of those little cheap DVD's at Walmart lately to surprise them with while we're on the road.

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  4. Love this idea! My friend Holly is the best about creating little journals for the kids to have on road trips. When we went to Fort Worth the girls had itineraries and she created a list of photo challenges for them to achieve. So fun! I know alot of people hate road trips but I kind of dig them. Thanks so much for linking up with us!

    Shelly||The Queen in Between

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    1. I love road trips and seeing different parts of the country. Creating photo challenges is a great idea! I may have to do that for Kendall. Now that she's sixteen her interests have changed a little. Thanks for sharing that idea.

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  5. We definitely needed the games for our recent road trip!

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    1. Did you drive all the way to New Jersey? That's quite a trek!

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  6. Great ideas, Emily. I wish I had made vacation journals when my kids were young! Enjoy your week.

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    1. I love reading about your adventures now, Katie. I'm sure your family made some great memories when your girls were younger, too.

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  7. I LOVE these ideas! Great ideas to keep the kids occupied and the whole family involved and excited about the destination!

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    1. I think I may make one for my four year old this year for the first time. I'll have to help him, but it's time to start the tradition with him, too. :)

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  8. Great ideas!!! I LOVE the journal idea. I will for sure be doing that next week. Our first big family vacation was to Branson and we had a lot of fun. Now that the girls are older we should go back for sure. Have a great day!

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    1. I'm excited about Branson. We took Kendall ten years ago and loved it! Silver Dollar City just added a new Fireman themed area that Jess is so excited about. He loves all things fireman related!

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  9. I have always kept a travel journal not just of our family but if the trips just the two of us. Love reading the memories. These little fun touches you've added and printables are just perfect

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    1. I use to scrapbook, but I've gotten lazy on that. A vacation journal is a great way to remember all the fun moments of the trip. Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  10. vacation journals?! That is genius! Pinning some of this stuff for sure!!

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  11. Your scavenger hunt is adorable! Such a great idea! And YES to waiting until they're bored. We traveled all over with our kids and played every kind of car game known to mankind and they learned to be great travelers! I also journal about vacation - we just returned from the beach and I'm getting ready to log our activities!

    Thanks for sharing these great printables with us on Tuesday Talk!

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    1. Thank you! I am thankful my kids are good travelers, too. We haven't ventured out on a plane with the little kids yet, but they are definitely road warriors!

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  12. I ADORE this and I am so glad I am seeing this 3 months before our trip. I am totally going to make my girls one of these journals. Silver Dollar City is one of our favorites too :).

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    1. Thanks, Beth! Feel free to pass along all your Silver Dollar City favorites and tips to me. We are so excited to go back. It's been 10 years since our last visit.

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  13. We discovered printables for our last big road trip and they were so much fun! Love the idea of a kids' travel journal. We have a family one, but this could be a great way for them to have quiet time at night. Thanks for linking up with us!

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    1. Thanks for hosting this linkup. It was fun! Vacation journals are a great way to get everyone calm at night. It's funny because the first part of vacation everyone is all about the journal, but by the end of vacation everyone is way too exhausted to work on it!

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  14. Oh wow! I am going to need these soon!

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  15. What a fun idea! I tried having my boys keep a journal of their own on our vacations but found that we never really had enough down time for them to fill them out each day. (Mostly because they hemmed and hawed over what to draw and write) This might work better and be a cute keepsake for us all at the end of our week.

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    1. They would definitely be a fun keepsake to look back in years later. You could even just have them do the journal part the last day of vacation to wrap it all up. That way it stays fresh.

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