A few weeks ago we loaded up the car for our first multi-day road trip in several years, and the first since we have had the minivan and three children! I was a little nervous about how the boys would do with such a long drive, but I'm pleased that our planning worked out pretty well - a big bag of snacks to be deployed at strategic times, books to read, maps to check out (or just to fold and unfold multiple times), movies to watch, and occasional stops at those saviors of families with children-who-really-need-an-outlet: McDonalds and Chick-fil-A's with playgrounds. One of our stops involved letting the kids run around on a grassy strip next to the restaurant, but the playgrounds were pretty great.
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| Destination: Chicago |
On the way there and the way back, Mike suggested doing a long day the first day so we'd have shorter drives on the second day, and that plan worked great. We also were able to stay at a hotel during the week that had a kitchen with fridge, sink, dishwasher and table - so we could pack the kids' lunches for our days out and keep good snacks on hand - and a closed-off bedroom so the kids could sleep on the sofa bed / couch / pack-and-play in one room and we could have our own light and TV in the other room. It worked out wonderfully.
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| Hanging out at the hotel |
Malcolm loved the Chicago hotel, although we had to stop him from being worried a few times when he said, "We don't live in our house anymore."
One of our fun outings was going to the Lincoln Park Zoo downtown and meeting Uncle Ryan for lunch.
But most of the trip, of course, involved visiting with family. More on all that to come in part 2!
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