Getting Ready For Spring Break Travel

We take our son on long haul flights all the time. My suggestions are a plastic grocery bag (one for each way) to hold garbage that accumulates before the crew can get to you, sealed cups like sippie cups, Wipes, and activities for when you can't use electronics. We have really enjoyed the "My Big Book of Stickers" with activity pages, you have to search through the book for the applicable stickers.

I used to always take my laptop and a DVD player to keep him entertained but now we have an ipad and it's AMAZING. You can download movies, and games, it is much lighter weight and I don't worry about spilling in the keyboard! It really is a great new toy.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Ali
I've traveled NC to Bend and back numerous times.
The biggest headache - changing planes 3 times!

Play doh - the little party sized packs are the best. We made eggs and birds nests for hours with every kid on the plane.

Go to the dollar store and pick up little things that you can pull out just when their attention starts to waiver. Toss them when you land.
Have extras for the return trip.

More playdoh.

Luckily my daughter slept for most of the longer leg till she was about 5. Then I had to start carrying a portable DVD player since so many airplane movies are rated R.

We also liked disney books on tape. And the little tiny Pooh sets or princess sets.

Have fun - NC is beautiful right now with about 75 degrees and the trees starting to bloom.

Ali, you are so organised!! We did the trip from UK to US last year, I filled a back pack with goodies, some old, some new, some snacks but I wrapped everything up. My munchkin had the best time delving into the bag and tearing the paper off! (just remember to take something to catch the trash!)

And I forgot - since airlines really don't serve food anymore, make sure to have lots of snacks and pick up water in the terminal. I carried some sort of drink additive to the little one - like propel or something. Also a change of clothes in case of an accident.

I would suggest some cheese sticks, so you have protein snacks for the long journey. You can use those blue re-freezable ice blocks & the protein will keep their blood sugar more level which eliminates the cranky times.

My mom called our surprises gifts from The Traveling Angel. If we used our travel manners we got a surprise from the TA when we would come back from the bathroom. You could keep those in your bag.

The apple store sells a plug that has two sets of ear buds on one jack :)

I almost always give my 3 kiddos their own disposal cameras for our special trips....so fun! And at least one of them has all their pictures taken within the first 10 minutes of us giving it to them! :) Now that they are getting older, they will have small, inexpensive digital cameras.

Ali,
A kids camera for Simon....and maybe Anna too....to document their trip as well!

Oh, and a lot of patience!

Safe travels,
Terri

I have packed small cookie sheets in the kids backpacks. It keeps the small lego pieces from getting lost in the seat. Also good for keeping the play dough from getting everywhere. You can cut felt or foam to fit inside with shapes cut into cars or dolls. Magnets would also work.

Bring plenty of snacks. You never know when you might get stuck on the tarmac for extended periods.

I love LunchBots, and use them all the time! If they are going into a backpack, I recommend slipping a rubber band around them. I'm still finding crushed goldfish at the bottom of mine ... :)

My son is an airplane lover - so since he started being aware when we fly - he gets a new airplane at the gift shop during a layover. Over the years, he has a great collection of planes. He watches for the various models when we are on the tarmac.

Lollipops (there are some Yummy Earth ones that are organic + naturally colored) are handy for a variety of reasons :) Including when you need a treat too.

Games on the iPod/iPhone are great -- I normally will put a new one for the trip on - which is a big surprise.

Ask for the family bathroom -- I'm only wrangling one - but it's still helpful to find.

I'm in NC - the cherry blossoms are coming and the daffodils are making their way out too ! It's spring - so one day it's 80...the next it's 50 -- but it's all good! :)

We bought a splitter (for less in car arguments about who gets the ipod) at Amazon. It was about $6.00 or so...

we use this

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Rockstar-Multi-Headphone-Splitter/dp/B00475K64E/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298902061&sr=1-1

comes in handy if you need more than one splitter!

Ali -

You are super organized. I have found that our kids like to listen to Boomerang episodes. http://boomkids.com/ They listen to them over and over again even at home. We put them on the iPod for them to listen on the trip. We also have the Kindle application on the iPod which is great for my son. We get him a few new books and he is happy for hours. I have found a large variety of books for him at the Kindle store. We go with a mix of relatively current series and then old classics. The classics are super inexpensive which is also nice.

Good luck. I remember my first trip traveling with my two alone. It was a wonderful adventure. We used a car seat stroller combination similar to what you have for Anna.

I don't have children but used to travel a lot and picked up some ideas. I think you have most covered but two things I can think of. 1. Lots and lots of wipes. I am amazed at how little the airplanes get cleaned between flights and there are always reasons for them otherwise. 2. Some large ziplock bags. You never know when or what you will need them for. Have a great trip.

Pick up some new stuff for the trip home, too! I get bored and cranky on the return flight, and I'm way more than 2...

Oh, best of luck on the flight there and back. You can buy a simple and inexpensive headphone splitter to connect two sets of headphones to the jack instead of one.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-F8V234-WHT-APL-Headphone-Splitter/dp/B0000UV2AW

Ali,
My only advice is to plan for a three hour delay. What would you need if for any reason a connection was canceled or you were sitting on the plane for hours and not going anywhere? Extra diapers...wipes..water...and a blanket... I got to travel w/ two toddlers one year, solo, and this is what happened to me. They need to run, move around, etc. So as much moving about prior to getting on the plane is also my advice!

I recommend covers for the tray tables. They're plastic and peel n stick to solid surfaces. They're designed for eating out. It just gives the kids a "cleaner" surace to eat and play on. You can find them at most baby / kid stores.

Dum Dum lollipops help with the sucking for take off / landing as well.

The only caution with Legos is the tiny pieces falling on the floor.

I think you've got a great list. My boys are 7 and 9 now, so easier to fly with, but when they were toddlers, we kept plenty of snacks in the bag. I figured them snacking far more than usual was perfectly fine as long as it kept them behaved, and it usually did! Have a fun trip.