Family Vacation Prep

Next week we are going on a super fun family vacation!  We will be traveling 800 miles to our first ever family reunion for my side of the family.  That's my parents, my siblings, and our kids. 

But before we go to the family reunion, we are taking the kids to Sea World. 

Some necessities for going on vacation with 6 and a half kids under 8 1/2?  Zoloft.  And lots of it.  Just kidding!

I started my list:

Water.


Playpens.


diapers.

Music, not just this kind.


Games.

Magna Doodles.

Audio Books to listen to.

Pre-rationed snacks in ziploc bags.

I referred to this awesome post, about driving with kids, from Kristen at We are THAT Family.  I've referred to her post multiple times during my preparation.

Yesterday, after we went bowling for Bun's birthday, we went to the library to look for books on CD and tape for Danny and me to listen to on the trip to help us stay awake.  Then we decided that it might be fun for the kids to listen to books also.

I asked a library employee where I could locate the children's audio books.  I was directed to a section labeled "Playaways." 

He said, "You can check the battery right here to make sure it's working and just plug it in to any headset."

I was like, "Oh, okay."  Hmm... I'll just ask Danny what these new-fangled contraptions are and what kind of music player they go in.  He's pretty up-to-date on that sort of thing.

The library employee continued to explain how handy these "Playaways" are for travel on planes and car trips, etc. 

So, I finally just said, "What do these plug into again?"

He said, "Any earphones or headset should plug right into it.  You just press 'play' to play or pause, this button forwards to the next track, you can speed up the book to play it fast..." he continued.

Then I forgot to use my library voice.

"Danny!  Check this out!  All you have to do is plug in headphones and listen!  Isn't that amazing?!  We should checkout a bunch!"

We checked out ten books on playaways and this one of gross and silly songs.  They sell these new-fangled thingamajigs on Amazon and probably other places too.  But check your library-- that's the frugal thing to do!

 The employee told me that these things are often sent with troops going overseas.  They are also great for when you're jogging and that they're virtually indestructible so you can hand them over to your kids to use.

That's good.  Because I bought four new kid-head-size headphones for the trip.  I expect peaceful driving.