I can't remember the last time my family took a legitimate road trip. Growing up, my family went on road trips a lot. We had family scattered across the country, and I can remember making two-week trips out to my grandparent's farm in Missouri from New Jersey for family visits. This was, of course, long before cell phones, social media, tablets, and DVD players. While I can't fully remember what my sister and I did for entertainment in the car for 20 hours, I remember laughing a lot, singing silly songs, and not having to wear seatbelts. How time has changed!

In one week (and a few days), my family and I will embark on a journey out west- well, mid-west. My mom's family still lives in Missouri, and I can't even remember the last time I saw any of them. I haven't made a trip out there since my grandfather passed away in 2008. My kids are excited to meet 'cousins' (my cousins' kids), and even meet some of their great aunts and uncles they have yet to meet! My husband has only met my mom's sister and husband, so he'll get to meet the rest of her family for the first time, too.

From Missouri, we'll head on to Oklahoma, where my sister lives with her husband, and we'll get to visit with her awesome mother-in-law, too. They don't live far from Tulsa, so we won't be without things to do while we're there.

It's a sixteen-hour drive from where we are in NC to my sister's house, and honey, that's a lot of time in the car with three kiddos. Oh! Did I mention that we're taking this epic road trip as a family of seven!? That's right! My mom and dad are making this journey with us- or we're making it with them... whichever. It shall be... interesting... fun... long! Our last family road trip like this was when B was just under two years old! Let's just say, we're all older, our joints are stiffer, and we are crankier, and I now have three whiney kids instead of just one.

My husband has stars in his eyes over this trip. He lives for road trips! He'll split time driving with my mom, and I'll be hunkered down in the middle bench, trying to entertain our toddler and keep the other two kids from arguing the whole way there.

In order to have a semi-smooth trip, I'm going to schedule out our hours spent in the car for the kids so they don't become too bored. I'll have designated hours for activities, reading, playing on the Nintendo Switch, watching a movie, and snack breaks. I am making each kiddo their own road trip binder with various activity pages, such as this free printable Road Trip Scavenger Hunt. I'll be downloading and printing a bunch of these types of activity pages (find more here), and placing them in a binder. I'll also put the pages in protective plastic sleeves and include dry-erase markers, so the kids can use these on the way there, and on the way back!

For snacks, I don't want to bring a huge bag with tons of snacks- it makes such a mess and takes up a ton of space in the car. Each kiddo will have their own snackle box. I made similar boxes for the kids for Valentine's Day. This will give them a variety of snacks to choose from, and I can make sure they have a mix of fun stuff, as well as healthy snack options.

It's going to be an adventure! I think we're all excited about this trip. I'm looking forward to making memories, and to seeing my beloved family!

When was your last road trip? Where did you go? 

Let me know in the comments or over on MBP social media!