Live in the D: Summer Travel with Kids Tips

 As you may have seen Instagram and/or read on my blog, I recently returned from a beach family vacation, which included my parents.  Because I love to travel therefore creating a need to make sure my kids love to travel, we will be embarking on a road trip to New Jersey to visit family.

I have used or will be using these travel tips in my near future and feel excited to share them with you and talk about them on Live in the D.

Here's the clip from the show.

Ziploc bags for everything

Because we flew to Myrtle Beach, our toiletries obviously needed to be in a quart-sized bag.  However I think the gallon-sized bags are the unsung hero of travel organization.  They prevent random action figures from going MIA in a time of need and help to keep snacks from exploding in the backpack.

Letter Activities on the Plane/Car Ride

I love a break from the school grind that summer offers; however, I do become really nervous that the kids (more specifically, Thomas) will forget how to hold a pencil.

I created a letter book in a spiral notebook that was small enough to fit in my purse.  On one page, I wrote the uppercase and lowercase of each letter and left the other side blank.

When we had time, I would ask him to think of a word that starts with the letter on the page.  I would write it lightly in pencil, and he would trace it in crayon.  I can’t say that he loved it since writing is not his favorite, but I can say it was a short activity that could be done on the fly without a lot of prep.

For Marie, I had her do a letter poem.  She wrote out our location M Y R T L E B E A C H.  She then added a word for each letter.  Writing is Marie’s thing so she enjoyed this activity.

Baby Powder on Beach

Did you know baby powder could remove sand?  Not like sort of remove sand, like when you use the foot shower thing at the beach.  I mean totally takes the sand off of your skin and leaves it silky smooth.  I do not know why this is not printed on the container. I had a friend share this trick with me when Marie was a baby, and it has been a lifesaver ever since.

If you do not like baby powder, I am sure cornstarch would work well, too.

Manners Boot camp

While on vacation, it became obvious that I tolerate really bad table manners at home (some days out of laziness, other days because I am saving my energy for the bed time saga).  This does not translate very well out in the world of restaurant dining or sharing a table with other people, like my parents. 

Because we will be houseguests on our next adventure, I made a laminated chart to keep at the table.  Depending on their choices, they can either get a smiley face sticker in the Excellent, Doing OK, or Needs Work columns.

If they have more smiley faces in the Excellent or Doing OK columns, they can have a little reward (choose what we eat for dinner, a special dessert, etc.)

If this is too complicated, cut out stars (or even scraps of paper will do) and put them in a jar each time they make good choices.  When you feel that they have earned enough, give them a reward.

Road Trip Bingo

I do not know what it is about road trip bingo, but I’m intrigued.  Maybe it’s because it would force the kids to look out the window and away from any and all screens.  I found this on the Reading with Kids website.

We are going to use bingo daubers, and the winner chooses what playlist or CD they want to listen to.

Laminating an Atlas

This idea was inspired by a blog post by It’s Always Autumn.  She suggested laminating a map, but instead, I bought an atlas and had the pages carefully removed. I put them in a small presentation binder with laminated page protectors and BOOM we have our own personal atlas with a highlighted route to our end destination.

This may also serve as my hardcopy of directions the in the event that Map Quest stops working.

Vacation Photo Art

How many times do you take photos and they just sit there in your phone or camera?

I took photos (and started to let the kids take some before an unfortunate sand incident).

I then edited my photos on my phone (Snapseed is my favorite)!  I ordered my prints from Prinstagram (a Social Print Studio app -  I cannot express how much I love this company)!  I used the 4x4 squares for the project, but love the Mini Squares, too.

I went to Michael’s Craft Store and bought a 2 pack of 9x12 canvas and some Modge Podge.  (I have been looking for a project to use this ever since Angela from Jumping with My Fingers Crossed handed these magnets at one of her gatherings).

Marie chose the photos she wanted to use, glued the photos on to the canvas with Modge Podge and then brushed it over the photos to seal them to the canvas.

Voila! Perfect real life art pretty much created by online apps.

Have you hit the road yet this summer?  What are your favorite travel tips with kids? 

Listen to Your Mother: A Look Back in Photos

It hardly seems like Metro Detroit’s first Listen to Your Mother was only a week ago. 

I have so many feelings that I am still processing and still wrapping my mind around the magnitude of this experience.  I mean, it’s not everyday you go up in front of a live audience to talk about one of the most difficult moments of your life.

So even though I’m still working through some emotional stuff, I wanted to share something about this experience.

Here are some of images from that day that the photographer, Jarrad Henderson took. You know, when you take a photo and it doesn't match up to the feeling you experienced in that moment?  This was totally not the case.  Jarred is an amazing photographer, and I felt he really captured the essence of the experience.  Thank you, Jarred, for your beautiful images. 

Metro Detroit’s Listen to Your Mother show happened here at St. Andrew’s Hall.  Eminem has performed here.  So have the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would have performed on the same stage as awesome talent like that!

And can you believe that there was a line to get in?!  My family was second in line here.  They don’t mess around when it comes to making sure they get good seats.

Here is where we got to hang out before the show.  What a great space!

One of the best things that have come out of the show is this sense of belonging, of being on the team.  Bonds have been formed.  I am fortunate to have met not only amazingly talented women, but also genuinely kind people.

This photo cracks me up.  Yes, I was concerned about my eye makeup.  In retrospect, I am not sure why since I was teary eyed for most of the day.

I was totally surprised by this beautiful necklace that producers gave us each created by Sara Russell of Sara Russell Designs.  I was just happy to be there. And now I have this awesome piece of jewelry to always remind me of that day.

An inspiring champagne toast right before going on stage.  Here are the producers, Angela Youngblood, Jessica Watson, and Angela Amman, along with Reshounn Foster and Ber-Henda Williams. 

And here we are with Dr. Earlexia Norwood from one of our sponsors, Henry Ford Health System.  

Here I am on stage.  Me on stage.  That is crazy!

I am glad I could not see my family because I would not have been able to be in the moment.  So I am grateful that Jarrad took this photo of my husband, my dad, and my mom watching the show.

Ta-da!  We did it!

Holy $hit!  Can you see all of those people there!  Even the balcony was packed! 

Aww, look at that good-looking group!  Here are some of my family members that were there to support me.  It meant so much to me to have friends and family there.

And to these lovely ladies, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Thank you for thinking I was good enough to be on the team.  Thank you for helping me see myself in a different light.  Thank you for creating a positive environment to share our souls. Thank you.

 If you like Jarrad's amazing photos (and honestly, how could you not like them?!), be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.  Also be sure to learn more about his project Beyond This Place which examines the Black Greek Letter Organizations and how they have helped shape American culture.