10 Games Kids Can Play On A Road Trip

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With the Summer season upon us, and the start of traditional traveling months to begin, I thought I would bring you some hope. After all, road trips are fun. Well, they can be. As soon as "Are we there yet?" and "Can we stop? I have to go to the bathroom." is asked for the one millionth time, you're F I N I S H E D. I've learned over the years the best way to cure the whiney children is to play a game, or three.

Good news! I have TEN great games your kids can play while you're cruisin' down the highway.

1. Telephone - You remember this one! It doesn't matter what generation you were born in, you played Telephone at one point in your life. Your child whispers a story or a sequence of words to someone else in the car. The person he whispered it to then whispers the same story, as close to what he heard as possible. Then, on to the next person. By the time the story gets to the last person it's rarely the original thought and it brings laughter.

2. Twenty Questions - One person secretly thinks of either an object, place or animal. The other people in the car take turns asking yes-or-no questions, like "Is it red?" or "Have we ever been there before?" After the players have asked twenty questions, each player gets a chance to guess at what it could be.

3. The Alphabet Game - One person chooses the righthand side of the road, and someone else choose the lefthand side. The players take turns finding letters in the alphabet, either on street signs or license plates. The idea is to point out all the letters of the alphabet in order, from A to Z. The first person to Z wins.

4. The Theme Song Game - One person hums the tune to a favorite TV show, and everyone tries to name the show as fast as possible. The first person to guess correctly hums the next song.
Mom and Dad, you could play this game with songs from years past. What about the first song you ever danced to? Or, "your song" from when you were dating? This game could be fun for ALL!

5. Restaurant Race - Each player chooses a restaurant, such as Burger King, McDonalds, Panera Bread, etc. Players earn points by spotting their restaurant off the road, on a billboard, on exit markers, on Food/Fuel signs, or by hearing it mentioned on the radio. Impose a time limit -- say, 20 minutes -- and then add up the points.

6. Memory Test - The first person says "A is for ___" filling in the blank with any word beginning with the letter A, such as "apple." The second person comes up with a word for the letter B, such as "baseball," but must also repeat the A word: "A is for apple, B is for baseball." Continue through the alphabet, each person taking several turns and reciting more and more letters and words. By the time you reach the letter Z, that player will recite the entire alphabet and its corresponding words. However, if you're playing with younger kids you may want to choose an earlier letter than Z to be the final one.

7. "I'm Going on a Picnic" Game - Super similar to the Memory Test, but you say, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring apples." The next person would say something like, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring apples and bananas." Next person would say, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring apples, bananas, and cupcakes." You get the idea. You'd go back and forth until you are bringing something to the picnic from every letter of the alphabet.

8. Secret Place Race - You'll need an old school map for this one. But, that could be lots of fun. (You can often find a map at rest stops or visitor stations.) One person looks at a road map and finds a small town, river, or trail. That person tells everyone in the car the place he has chosen. A second player has 60 seconds to look at the map and try to find the secret place.

9. The Animal Game - One person names an animal, then each person in order has to name another animal (no repeating!) that starts with the last letter of the previous animal named. There are no winners or losers in this game. With older children, try the game with TV shows, or geographical categories, such as cities or countries.

10. The State License Plate Game - This game we play on every road trip! Until recently, I thought I made this game up. :) At the start of your journey, grab a pencil and a piece of paper. As you're traveling down the road, pay close attention the license plates of passers by. Every plate has a different state. Write down each one, until you've found all 50 states. Can you find them all? There's a wonderful game board made by Melissa & Doug for this game. (Find it by clicking HERE) Apparently I wasn't as creative in making this game up as I thought.

Here are a few more games that I found for you on Amazon.
50 Road Trip Games
Travel Scavenger Hunt for Kids
Spot It! On The Road
Mad Libs on the Road
Backseat Bingo Playing Cards

Now, as you prepare for your next road trip, you don't have to dread the hours of "Are we there yet?"

What are your favorite games to play, when you travel? Tell me in the comments!

Safe travels!

when large families unite.

We had house guests a couple of weeks ago. Lots of house guests.

When my best friend, Tera, said her family would be going to Disney World in August and would then like to stop by our house for a few days on their way back home, I was SO excited! I just saw her in June when I went to Disney On The Road in Maryland but, that was such a short trip. It wasn't nearly enough time to catch up and visit.

They pulled up to our house in their RV, aka "House on Wheels" and piled out...all seven of them. Good thing we all like each other because we were packed like sardines in our house. {Eight of the nine kids slept in one bedroom. We have an enormous bunk bed situation that Hubs and his dad built in our boys' room so they all slept comfortably and not on top of one another.}


We're both pregnant again at the same time. She's 25 weeks and I'm 38 weeks in this picture.  We've been pregnant at the same time with all of our babies except for one, her youngest. But, cool thing about Conor is he was born on MY birthday! Tell me this friendship isn't a God send.


See this cutie, best boy ever! 

While they were here;

• Tera and I stayed up late chatting, like girls do.
• We went to church and they were able to see old friends.
• Her family treated my kids and I {Hubs had to work} to lunch at Rena's Pizza after church. You would think nine kids and three adults would be a nightmare in a restaurant...it went great! The kids were all so well behaved.
• After lunch they {again} treated us to a movie, Disney's Planes. {excellent movie!}

• Tera went to a doctors appointment with me. Afterwards, we went for lunch at Chili's. We had such a great time {sans kids}...we laughed harder in those couple of hours than we did all week!
• Our kids played hard. The oldest kids knew each other when they were little. So they just picked right up where they left off. The little ones didn't know each other before this visit. It was like they had been best friends all along.
• Hubs took a day off and he made his world famous ribs on the grill. Tera's husband made his Man Beans. 
• I went to the hospital in false labor. Y'all, it seriously stinks to feel like "this is it" only to have your hopes and dreams crushed by a nurse who says, "Sorry, Sweetie. It must've been the storm. We've had two other girls come in with false labor symptoms."  Really? I was a little embarrassed that I thought it was real...and that I delayed my friends from getting on the road in the time frame they wanted. {they were going to leave the morning I went to the hospital but, of course, stayed in case I was truly having the baby.}

W family, thank you so much for coming to visit us and for all you did while you were here. You are amazing friends! 

Create a Summer Bucket List {free printable}

This week on Blissfully Domestic I'm sharing how to create a summer bucket list for you and your family {with a little help from Lindsey of Pen and Paint.}. This is a super easy craft that the entire family can help with!  I'd love for you to go have a look-see.


{click over to Blissfully Domestic for the link to download and print your own Summer Bucket List printable}

summer list 2011.

before i begin i'm gonna totally brag and tell you that as i type this i am getting a pedicure.
yay for mommy time!!!
*********************************
a few years ago i saw on meg's blog that she makes a summer list.
i always have fun things that i'd like to do but often forget about them as quickly as i find them.
naturally, i knew this list would be perfect for me!



we have already marked a few off of our list.

i can't wait to really get into it!
ice cream in a bag and making edible playdough are a couple i'm most looking forward to.

this is the one i'm MOST looking forward to.

making CUPCAKES!!!

*************************************
do you make a summer list?
what kind of activities do you include?

while he was home, part five.

dollywood.
i can't believe i don't have more pictures than this of our time there.
i had big plans going into the park.
i wanted a picture of the fresh onions and peppers on the grill getting ready for the oh-so-good philly cheese steak sammy.
i wanted pictures of the real life nail makers.
and glass blowers.
and dolly memorabilia.

plans change.
fun begins.
and you forget about taking pictures at all.

but, i did get these!!


of course, i couldn't resist pulling my camera out for a picture of this hunk.

while he was home, part four.

gatlinburg, tn.

doing a little window shopping at the local shops.
jonah in front of the fountain.
all sauced up, the store. they had samples...with mayo mix...in the 100 degree heat...all together now, YUCK!
they did have a cute photo op set up outside.
the taffy makin' man.
jake and jonah.
yummy, chocolate goodness that my hubs wouldn't stop with me to dream of.
have you ever been able to stop one of these balls?
mmmmm....funnel cake.

while he was home, part three.

ever been to the ripley's aquarium?
you should go!
and if you're military you MUST go!

hubs really wanted to take the kids.
we had never been and didn't know what it cost to get in.
as we were walking up to the ticket counter i could see the admission prices and was doing the math in my head.
adults (12 years and older) – $21.99
children (ages 6-11) – $10.99
children (ages 2-5) – $4.99

me: "Babe, it's going to cost close to $70 for all of us to get in there."

can you sense the panic in my voice???

hubs: "well, let's just go see."

we get up to the ticket counter and ask if they offer a military discount.
(everyone should! that's my opinion on that.)
imagine our complete and utter shock when she said that each person over five would have to pay $3.99.
$3.99???
we'll take four of those, please!
(the littles were free!!!)
*singing in my best high voice* HALLEJUAH!!

i wasn't expecting much from the aquarium.
a tourist trap was the first thought to cross my mind.
we were in gatlinburg, tn, afterall.

it wasn't at all tourist-y.
it was amazing.

fishes, fishes, and more fishes.
penguins.
horseshoe crabs.
sharks.
eels.
seahorses.
oh, and fishes.

i took so many pictures.
mind you, i really need to learn to use this camera in manual mode...
some of them are blurry.
some are lacking in showing the true brilliance of the sea creature.
it might help if i learned how to photo edit.
(hubs said i can take some college photography classes when he finishes college. how fun will that be??? i can't wait!! hopefully, i'll have my nikon d5000 by then. *hint, hint to whoever's listening out there.*)















ya gotta love a daddy that'll get down and play with his kiddos!














petting the horseshoe crabs.
did you know you can pick those things up?
yuck!






the bubba gump shrimp guy...
i guess the best place to advertise would be the aquarium.


jake took the flip camera that hubs brought home from one of his care packages.
he video'd everything.
after his first video he ran off and exclaimed "yes! 54 seconds of pure awesomeness!!!"




the ripley's aquarium was awesome!
if you live anyway near gatlinburg or are planning a trip this is so worth your time and money!!!
(no, i didn't get paid to tell you all about them. i wish!)

while he was home, part two.

hubs took us on a mini-vacay to the mountains.
he put us up in a three bedroom condo.
and we needed all three of those rooms, y'all.
gone are the days of cramming our family of six into a hotel room.

we had a living room, a kitchen, a jacuzzi tub (ooh la la), and did i mention three bedrooms???

we had our 3-night, 4-day mini vacay all planned out. except for the dinner show at dixie stampede.
when i called to make the reservation they didn't have the night we had planned for so we opted for the last evening we were there. we figured we could just drive late that evening home.
but, then my brilliant husband thought we could just call the condo's front desk and see if we could extend our stay one night.
i called.
i asked if we could stay an extra night.
do you know what she told me???
she said "it looks like your unit is available for that night and we have a special going where when you purchase 3-nights you get the 4th free. so there won't be any additional charges."
shut up!
really???
yes, please!!
what a blessing, huh??

since we had an extra day we decided to spend it by the pool.
the weather was nice.
the water was warm.
the kids were totally willing!
















back off girls, he's mine!

i'm back.

i'm back sooner than i thought i would be.
the kids are fed.
the baby is napping.
the boys are cleaning their rooms...at least that's what they've been told to do.
hubs is doing his college work.
the laundry is still not finished.
but, i'm here.
documenting our life.
for you.
and for me.
it drives me nuts when my blog goes untouched for more than a few days.
thanks for stickin' with me.

one reason i've been away is because of this...

while we were in florida jake austin (or maybe it was just timing) did something to destroy the hard drive.
it was working fine one minute and the next it was frozen.
so, a little bit of hard-earned money later and i'm back in business.
literally.
i re-opened my etsy shop to only include my pre-made items for now.
on august 26th i'll start re-introducing some custom items.

the day i got my computer back i immediately ran and grabbed the camera.

which has a few issues of its own.
but, i have learned to compensate and am still able to take decent photos.
i digress.
(or maybe i should keep pointing out the inabilities in this sony until that lovely nikon d5000 is in my hands.)
i plugged the card reader into my newly restored computer only to find that my memory card is corrupted.

how does this happen?
i mean, really?
if you know how one can corrupt a memory card that she has been using for years...
tell me.
please.
every photo i've taken over the last four weeks is gone!
yep, first day of school, our mini vacay to pigeon forge and gatlinburg, the ripley's aquarium, the kids and daddy, me and hubs...gone.

there is a smidge of hope.
for the low, low cost of $39.95, those 400+ photos can be mine again.
i'd say that's worth it!!
so, as soon as i have an extra $39.95 you'll get to see those precious memories.

ok, all of that is a bit depressing, right?
i have fun news.
are you ready for this?
let me start by saying that i am not an animal lover.
i don't not like them.
i'd prefer them live at someone else's house is all.
i've had no desire to own a pet...not since the hamster i had many, many moons ago.
well, while we were having lunch at the apple barn in pigeon forge, hubs promised jett a bird.
what?!?!
i fought all the way to the pet store.
as soon as i saw all those cute little birdies i was the one who had to have a bird!
jett had lost interest in the birds and moved on to the guinea pigs.
no, we didn't get a guinea pig.
we got alfredo.

he's so pretty.
now, if i can get him to want to come out of the cage and stay on my finger.
as soon as i get him out he takes off.
good thing i'm a good bird catcher!

a must see movie.

for the young.


and the young at heart.


you'll laugh.


and cry.


you must go and see toy story 3.