Ok, so we went to OBX for a week. We did not know how the girls were going to do with a 12 hour car ride and the beach in general. Here are some tips on taking toddlers on a vacation.
1) Packing- Oh My Goodness!! Let me just say there is so much stuff you have to take for multiples... 2 pack and plays, two bumbos (or feeding seats depending on what you have), pretty much two of everything, and then try to fit it all in an SUV. The worst was packing their clothes- they have more clothes than me, most are from family and especially their titi (Auntie Rachel). They have so many cute clothes I didn't know what to pack, so I just threw all their dresses they have in the suitcase. The girls and I shared one suitcase to have more room in the car. They ended up with 3/4 of the suitcase and I only had 1/3 of it. Thats not even all- double stroller, beach toys, pool floaties, husband's bag, beach chairs and umbrella, cooler, bottles, cups, snacks, sheets, towels, etc...
2) Toys- I had a rubbermaid and packed a lot of their toys so that they had something very familiar at a not so familiar house. They did so well with the house because we tried to make it as comfortable for them as we could. We had blankets from home, baby einstein movies, and their toys.
3) toys for the back seat- I packed to bags of small toys for the backseat, so if they were unhappy in their car seat, I would hand them a toy. They would play with it for a couple minutes and then get bored, and I would switch it out. this was a big plus and I highly recommend it. I also went the dollar store and target in the dollar section and bought cheap little toys, so that it was something new and they played with it a little longer than the toys they play with often at home.
4) portable DVD player- So my children absolutely hate watching t.v. I am not complaining about this except when all I would like is 5 minutes to get something small done around the house, they will not watch anything, except 5 minutes, maybe, of baby einstein but that is asking a lot! So we decided lets test out a dual screen portable dvd player for the car. It was a big SUCCESS!! We only played it once on the way down (we drove through the night), and twice on the way back (we drove during the day). They loved it, especially Mickey Mouse clubhouse dvd! So we decided when we got home we would see if they would watch it in the house, the outcome UNSUCCESSFUL! o well thats ok, I would rather get nothing done than have my children sit in front of the tv all day.
5) special lovies- We made sure to bring the girls special blankets, lovies, and Zoey's duck bink (Harly sucks her thumb). we knew they would have a hard time the first night in a bedroom they did not know, so we wanted to make sure they had everything with them that they would have in their cribs at home. They screamed for about 5 minutes, then Uncle Schmoe went in to comfort them for a minute. They cried for anouther 5 minutes and then fell asleep. We made sure to put the pack and plays right now to each other. When we went in to check on them they were both up against the side of the pack and plays so their heads were almost touching! It was so cute and made mommy get teary eyed. I love that they have this special bond with one another! Highly recommend bringing a monitor with you so you can go to other areas of the house and still know that you can get them if they need you by listening to the monitor.
This is kind of a long post and I am still not done with the tips...Tomorrow I will give more tips regarding the beach and when one child does not like it and the other does.
See you then, Good night
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