Traveling with Kids: Get Ready, Get Set, Go!

As Memorial Day and the traditional beginning of the summer travel season nears I thought this would be a good time to begin to start thinking about summer travel survival. Come on - you know what what I mean;)

When Comfort and Joy were tiny we relied on the fact that they'd sleep all the time, but now that we have 2 toddlers we are much more careful about what time of the day we leave for a trip and where we'll stop for meals and breaks.

We found out last year that Chick-fil-A has a trip planner on their website that lists whether there is a playground at the facility. Plug in your start and ending destination and it'll tell you all the Chick-fil-A's on your route!! Go to restaurant locator/ plan a trip. We also like stopping at Chick-fil-A because the kid's meals offer fruit and milk at no extra charge, there are table toppers and the staff are always available to offer an extra hand! Oh, and books are in the kids meals instead of toys and that's a bonus for us.

Another great idea was one that I just heard from my mom - who arrived today! They drove straight through from Texas to Virginia and said the best rest stop they'd ever seen was in Arkansas. Not only was there fresh coffee and the regular amenities but there was chilled apple sauce, Gerber Graduates juice and Gerber Graudates meals for kids as well. There may have been other kid related items but it was nearly closing time when they got there and mom felt bad that they'd had the woman brew a fresh pot of coffee.

Here are just a couple of great, kid and family friendly ideas that make traveling a little bit easier. Sure, most of us pack our own food and snacks for our trips but we all know that at some point you have to get out of the car and stretch your legs. We also know that things happen. Snacks get left behind or eaten by a ravenous toddler in a major growth spurt. And then again, sometimes we just need a few minutes not in the confines of a moving vehicle with our darling ones. For those times we welcome these Cool Ideas! If' you've seen other Cool Kid Travel Tips I'd love to hear about them.