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Monday, May 24, 2010

Vacation in less than 2 weeks.

We will be heading to Hilton Head Island, SC on June the 5th. I am very nervous bc it will be an almost 10 hour drive with a toddler. Boppers has never been on that long of a car ride.

Also I am worried bc I am an overpacker and well we wont have alot of room for luggage in the van bc not only will us 3 be in there but another couple is going with us. So luggage is going to have to be a minimum. (thank goodness I have van though bc if not we would have to drive 2 cars)

My last worry is knowing what to pack.  We have never gone anywhere with boppers for more than 1 night. So how and the world am I going to be able to remember to pack everything he needs plus being short on luggage space. Do I bring lots of toys or wait and buy some there??

Oh me, I am a worrier. I think thats part of being a wife and mommy.

Alright fellow bloggy friends, do you have any tips for me?? What to pack, how to make the car ride better?? or do you know of some great things to do while in HHI or around that area??

Please help me so I wont have more gray hairs from this trip lol

8 comments:

  1. No real advice, but we used to live in Beaufort, SC. It's a beautiful area if you want to wander up that way (about 35-45 min from HHI).

    There is a Target, and outlet shopping in Bluffton. You have to go through Bluffton to get to Hilton Head, so you'll go right past both! There is a Starbucks in front of Target too!

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  2. Thanks for the tip. We will def be hitting up target bc we have to get groceries while we are there.

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  3. Boppers gets one bag for his clothes and his essential needs. Put tylenol and motrin, any common meds you might need in a side pocket. If you can jam his diapers and wipes into the bag, even better. (Kid summer clothes don't take up much room.) If you will have laundry facilities there, only take him four outfits. Trust me, you'd rather do laundry once during the week than haul all those clothes around and then have to catch up on laundry when you get home.

    One basket of toys. Pick some of his faves and a few he hasn't seen in awhile. Four or five books.

    Put a small potty in the van somewhere, maybe under his feet? That will make stops/public restroom issues easier. Or, for that matter, he's a guy, don't be ashamed to let him water a bush.

    If you want beach toys, floaties, etc, buy those there and plan on leaving most behind.

    Get you a DVD player or set up your laptop so it will play. Save it. Use it as your last resort when he starts meltdown. I know it might be torture for the other couple, but try some books on tape (they do easy kid books, too, check out iTunes for Curious George, Sandra Boynton, etc.) and play those in the van. Or maybe get him some headphones if he'll keep them on. Mine learned to listen to those. You're building listening skills and keeping him entertained. Bonus!

    Have lots of snacks in your car bag to dole out. I've started giving mine a treat after every stop or 100 miles or some other thing. I bought a thing of now and laters and they each get one color every 100 miles. Anything for him to look forward to. (but not too much sugar to make him crazy. Keep the snacks low-sugar, too.)

    One final tip, tell all the grown-ups to bring headphones and music. If Boppers has a freak-out, sometimes the only thing you can do is just keep driving. Andrew and I will sometimes swap off with "Okay, you get the headphones for half an hour while I field the questions/nagging." But if you've only got one kid, and he's yelling, everybody plug your ears with something happy. We download a lot of comediennes and stuff that makes us laugh. I also bought a splitter so Andrew and I can each have a set of headphones but listen to the same thing. It's like a mini-date, with screaming in the background. It helps us cope and keep our moods light so that the children can stay calmer, too.

    Hope this helps!

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  4. Okay, so I got so long-winded over here that I turned this comment into a blog post over at my blog. It's mostly the same, but I put in some helpful links to iTunes stuff you might want to check out. :-)
    http://www.vitafamiliae.com/?p=3052

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  5. Remember you can always hit a Target should you forget something. This is something that always gives me peace of mind while packing. Good luck.

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  6. I think LoraLynn summed it up quite nicely! Good luck on your trip - no matter what happens, it will definitely be memorable being his first long car ride!

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  7. First off, have a great trip!

    We did the 16 hour trip to Disney. 8 hours one day and 8 the next day. I packed one diaper bag full of diapers, wipes, extra clothing, snacks and medicine. Another small bag of toys and books. I picked up a lot of stuff from Target's $1 spot and $ stores. I would dole it out to him as he got fussy. Also I brought a portable DVD player with some DVDs from the library he hasn't seen. I also bought a Munchkin cooler to fill with juice. You could also bring a small regular cooler.

    We stopped at rest areas so he could run around and stretch his legs. Also maybe bring some empty plastic bags for trash and anything else (we had an unfortunate puke accident and needed to bag up his clothing!)

    Don't forget sippy cups!

    We brought toys with us, but you could always buy beach toys there.

    Good luck and have fun!! Don't forget your camera!!

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  8. All you guys rock! Thanks so much for the advice!

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