Fun
Road Trip Tips – Easy Games to Pass Time in the Car
Karlie having fun and being goofy on the road trip.
On the road again….! After a full day of work, horse camp, packing the van, and more fun we set off on another road trip adventure with the whole family. The kids are excited and we have several days worth of fun on the road planned. We get to go to a few places we’ve never been before so that is always fun for the family!
Road Trip Game ideas (here are a few that we played on this particular trip):
- Road Trip Bingo – you can buy a road trip bingo board or create your own if you know some of the items you will be seeing such including road signs, building, national monuments, animals, etc….
- I Spy – you don’t need anything to bring for this game. You just have someone say “I Spy With My Little Eye” and the rest of the family has to guess what object they see whether in the car or outside of the vehicle.
- License Plate Game – how many of the 50 states can you see while on the road trip, if I remember correctly we got 37 US states and even some Canada ones too! It was the closest we have ever come to getting 50 states!
- 20 Questions – this does not require any prep or packing either. Have one person think of a plant, animal, or thing and the rest of the family gets a total of 20 questions to determine what object they were thinking about. The person answering the question can only answer “yes” or “no” and nothing else.
- Animal Game – the first person to spy an animal or pen of animals (a herd counts as 1 point) gets one point. If there are different types of animals in the same pen or location (such as horses, cows, donkey, etc…) they can get additional points for each type of animal if they call them out first. Wild animals or unique farm animals (other than birds) such as deer, coyotes, emus, llamas, etc…. get a bonus 5 points for each type they see. Our rule is at least one other person in the car must see the animal as well.
- Car Game – everyone picks a different color of car and gets a point for every car they see with their color. This game works best in a quieter traffic or two lane highway since in a big city the score keeper will have a harder time keeping up and it becomes a series of yelling “I see a red, white, blue, green…..one!”
- Historical Marker Game – the first person to see something of historical significance gets a point.
- ABC Game – this one is great for areas with a lot of road signs or billboards. You start with the letter “A” and find a written word that starts with that letter than move onto “B” and so forth.
- Car Color Bingo – we picked the car color “yellow” and the first person to spy a yellow vehicle would call out “Bingo yellow Penske truck or Bingo yellow convertible, etc…” and they would get one point per vehicle they spotted. Another person had to see the vehicle to count and the majority of the vehicle had to be yellow in order to count.
These were a handful of the ones we played on our road trip. Hope you enjoy some of them if you are going on a road trip too! It is a great way to pass the time and have fun. We all want road trips with the whole family to be fun and pleasant for everyone!
We stopped for dinner at a Chic-Fil-A along the way and let the kids run around in the play area for a few minutes while we waiting for the food. It was a great way to let them stretch their legs and have fun. It helps break up the time just sitting idle in the vehicle too.
Our family enjoys road trips! It is a fun way to spend extra time since we are all packed into the van together. While in the car we have plenty to talk about, games to play, snacks, videos to watch, audiobooks to listen, and even summer workbooks to complete, stories to tell, memories to laugh about, books to read, and more so the time goes by quickly! Yes, we are one of “those” families that make their kids do summer workbooks to keep them up to speed during summer vacation, although we don’t necessarily make them do it everyday (road trips are a great time to get a few pages of some workbooks done). Even though we have a DVD player in our van the kids are not allowed to watch it very often. It is our rule that unless the trip is 5 or more hours the DVD never gets opened. Since we had a 40 plus hours of driving ahead of us the kids were excited to watch a few DVDs on this trip! What do you do to make road trips fun for your family and break up those long hours in the vehicle with the kids?
Welcome Ranch Horse Camp
What a great week of fun and learning at Welcome Ranch! Thanks Ms. Lisa!
The girls were able to do a week of Horse Camp this summer at Welcome Ranch! They always enjoyed getting there a few minutes early to say “hi” to all the farm animals on Ms. Lisa’s farm before camp started. Both girls love horses and animals so camp is always an activity they look forward to during the summer.
Brina on the move around the ring!
Ready to ride? Karlie all smiles while Brina holds one of the cats at the ranch!
Karlie all decked out waiting for her turn to ride. Ms. Lisa always has some special surprise or something different to do each day in addition to taking care of the horses and riding lessons.
Brina leading the horse back to the barn!
Finger painting their names and designs onto Reno, who was being a good sport standing still with all the kids around him!
I didn’t get a picture of all their finger painted drawings, but I did get a shot of their names!
Happy Cow Dairy Farm
Ewww…… What’s that SMELL?!
We were able to join some friends for some fun at the Happy Cow Farm. It was fun to explore the farm together! It was really quiet while we were there with no official tours being offered that afternoon, but the employees told us that we could watch them as they take the cows into milk.
We watched the cows on the farm, ate some delicious Happy Cow ice cream, and watched them milk the cows. As were watching them milk the cows the workers invited us to come into the barn while they were milking the cows AND gave the kids a taste of fresh milk straight from the cow’s udder! Karlie was the first one brave enough to try it. Her first words were – “That was HOT MILK!” They had a blast learning about dairy cows. The workers were truly amazing with the kids and very patient when answering their questions.
Brina and Karlie at the Happy Cow Dairy Farm!
Wow, that’s some FRESH MILK dribbling down Karlie’s chin!
Brina hanging out with the cows as they wait to be milked!
Karlie enjoyed hearing all the cows names and stories about them from the workers.
We wore someone out! Everyone had a lot of fun!
Welcoming the Kids Home from Camp
Brina and Karlie are back from a weekend at church camp!
We were excited that the girls had the opportunity to go to church camp. They had a blast and learned a lot during their weekend away! Thankful for a great learning experience with friends from church. Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures from their actual time at camp even though they took cameras. They said they were too busy having fun and going to all the activities to remember taking pictures. So the pictures of their camp experience consistent of these “welcome home” pictures. We surprised them with walking balloon animals. When we asked them what one activity they wanted to do together as a family they picked go swimming in the pool! It was great having them back home again!
We had a little surprise for the girls when they arrived back in the van!
Brina was so excited about her walking ladybug surprise.
The girls one request for a special activity the day they got back was for all of us to swim in the pool. Brina loves lounging on the seesaw.
Playing on the water seesaw!
Brina Bee having fun in the pool!
Splashing around in the pool.
Karlie walking her dog balloon!
Fun at the Park with Friends
Climbing on rocks at Herdklotz Park with friends
We met some sweet friends at the park for a picnic and to play! The only time that I could get all four kids to sit still long enough for a picture was after they climbed up on this rock. It was the big rock, but they all managed to get up onto it. Thankful for a great time with friends.
Derby decided to join me on the dash in front on the way to and from the park today. He was on the lookout for a fun adventure! It’s not everyday a horse rides on my dash. The girls thought it was hilarious having him help in the van!
Lego Mania at Roper Mountain Science Center Robotics Camp
Lego Mania Event
The girls attended Advanced Lego Robotics Camp at Roper Mountain Science Center this summer! They always love the events at Roper Mountain. The camp was packed full of learning and fun. They got to make a variety of robotic items throughout the week. Halfway through the week the kids put on a Lego Mania activity for the parents. They created a carnival with moving rides, water parks, and more fun creations!
Karlie created the only dual robotic Ferris Wheels.
Pausing for a brief moment by Brina’s Ferris Wheel – hers went faster!
Karlie made an interactive Time Machine Restaurant! That would be neat!
Brina’s Water Fun adventure, complete with a seesaw on the water!
Karlie made an “Oh No!” Waterpark – complete with slides, tubes, and more fun!
Pottery Creations at Hearts of Clay
Karlie and Brina having fun at Hearts of Clay
For the girls birthday they received a Hearts of Clay gift certificate so we did a “Girls Night Out” this summer. We had a blast figuring out what they wanted to create, making the moldings, painting, chitchat, and having fun together. It was neat watching them come up with and create their treasures. One of the best parts was when the store worker told them that at the end of the session they can dump any of their remaining paint from their pallets onto the floor, they girls thought that was awesome! They asked the worker several times to make sure she wasn’t just kidding….how often do kids get permission to spill paint onto the floor.
They both made plates – Brina made the flower one and Karlie the square one
Karlie made a miniature goat and named it Oreo!
Painting their pottery creations!
Brina having a grand time!
All smiles!
Karlie’s rocket, planet, and space plate!
Brina’s flower plate
With the extra clay leftover from their plates they made a black lab, Oreo the goat, a heart, cat, giraffe, and an egg!
At the end of their session they let the girls dump their remaining paint onto the carpeted floor! They thought that was awesome!!! Karlie’s ready to dump hers now!
Karlie emptying her pallet of paint onto the floor!
Brina putting her paint onto the floor! So exciting!
Need to get all the paint onto the floor…..can’t forget to clean the brush off onto the floor too!
It was a great evening out at Hearts of Clay! Thankful for a nice evening with the girls.
Launching Rockets at Legacy Park
Setting up the rocket! 3….2….1…. Blast Off!
We met Jake at Legacy Park over his lunch hour to shoot off rockets. The girls had a blast setting up, shooting it off, and chasing it down. We shot off the rocket several times, on the last shooting it got stuck in the tree! We had a grand time even though the rocket didn’t make it back home again!
She found it!
Karlie turning to look at the cheering squad. There was a daycare at the park while we were shooting off the rocket! A whole group of kids were sitting on the steps cheering every time we shot off the rocket. I think the had as much fun as we did. Jake is trying to untangle the parachute so we can do the next round.
The girls are helping Daddy set it up for another round.
Ready for blast off!
Putting the rocket and parachute back together for another launch!
Setting it back up!
Karlie on the run for it! If you look closely in the upper right corner of the picture (in the blue sky) you can see the parachute and rocket coming down.
Brina helping prep for one more launch.
Brina ready to push the button for launch!
Ready for take off….just need to push the button!
Opps! The rocket got caught in the tree! You can see the yellow in the upper middle of the picture. The little “Fat Jak” rocket provided entertainment for quite awhile! Thanks Daddy for meeting us at the park on your lunch break!
Celebrating Dad!
Yes, I know I am a little late in posting about Father’s Day, but I promise we did celebrate it! In fact we are packing in so much fun this summer it is going by too quickly. For Father’s Day the girls made Jake breakfast in bed! They were so sweet!
The girls put together a scrumptious Father’s Day breakfast! Complete with cashews, homemade Egg McMuffin, blueberry yogurt, granny smith apples, cottage cheese, and a twizzler heart with Jelly Beans inside. I don’t know if the lighting was off or what but none of my breakfast in bed pictures turned out! 🙁 So moving on to the main meal of the day….another special treat for Dad!
Daddy and his girls after church!
Special Strawberry Fruit Punch for our drinks!
Happy Father’s Day Jake! Wishing you an amazing, relaxing, and super fun day! Thank you for being such an awesome Dad to our girls! You’re the BEST!!! We decided to enjoy our meal on the deck under the canopy. We’ve been loving our meal times outside lately!
Dinner – cube steak covered in cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms in a hoagie roll, green beans, and salad!
Daddy opening his cards and gifts!
Watching MiP run around, fascinating!
A robot on the counter.
MiP carrying some legos!
Skipper even joined us up on the deck for the Father’s Day festivities. She is not allowed to beg and has to sit or lay quietly during meal time. She did well. At some point during the dinner Brina went searching for her napkin…..this is where it was found (under Skipper’s head)! Guess she needed a pillow / drool napkin during dinner!
Hop, Skip, Jump, Play, Swing, and Braid
All the kids had various ways to go up and down the road before they could open their treasure box – including running, skipping, hopping on one foot, hopping on two feet, etc….
After breakfast every morning while the cousins were here the five kids got to open up an envelope with clues leading to that days treasure chest. Before opening the treasure chest for the day they were required to complete the tasks or solve the puzzles before locating the treasure chest. It was something fun that they looked forward to doing every morning. All the kids participating and had a blast completing the tasks assigned each morning. Every morning it was something different (sometimes it was a puzzle, scavenger hunt, physical activity, or something else).
They are almost to the finish line! Keep going! They all made it and received their goodies for the day.
Sweet girls drying off and doing some chalk drawings after a swim in the pool
Noah and Skipper! Skipper loved having all the kids running around and playing outside all week!
Aunt Mirm showing the girls a neat game!
Brina loves little kids! She was so sweet pushing her two little cousins in the swings. Too cute!
Aunt Mirm wanted to try a new type of hairdo and Karlie was her test subject…..needless to say Karlie was patient, but not overly impressed with the styling. She was a good sport about it though!
Brina undid her braids that Aunt Mirm had done. She loved having her snazzy crinkled hair that day!
Brina wanted me to take a picture of the back of her hair too!
