You all may remember back in December we made this huge move from San Francisco to Kansas City. Well It’s taken me WAAAY too long, but I finally got our VLog put together. I also thought I would share some of my tips to help make such a huge move go more smoothly for kids.
We took the approach of moving across country as a good opportunity to take the girls on a road trip. We wanted to take them to see fun things in a few cities. But, we also thought it would be better so we weren’t stuck in the car for hours and hours.
Where We Went
Monterey Bay, California
My Mom came in town to help us finish everything up, do a final clean and to go with me and the girls while James drove the U-Haul to Kansas City.
Our first stop was Monterey. We took the girls to Charlie Brown Park, went to Cannery Row to some fun shop, see the sunset and ate dinner. The next morning we took the girls to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Such a great stop for kids.
Just a few miles away we had lunch in the cutest little town, Carmel By The Sea. And drove the 17 Mile drive along Pebble Beach before we got on the road again. We stopped in Cambria for dinner and to stay the night before heading to Anaheim.
Disneyland/California Adventure Parks
The girls love Disneyland, plus I really wanted to see it during Christmas time. Which was amazing! I love all of the holiday decorations and lights, the parade and of course the park was completely decked out!
Disneyland is such a great time. I will say, it is definitely better to split it up into two days. We usually do, but did the park hopper pass this time because we knew we’d only be there for a day. But, honestly, its really too much for the kids!
Mesa, Arizona
This was our next stop. We had a fairly long day of driving, but found a park for the girls to play at as soon as we got there. It had a lot of neat things for the kids and it was close to our hotel.
I worked with Visit Mesa who setup a couple of really neat dinner places for us.
The first night we ate at Organ Stop Pizza. This was the coolest place. Very unique and the girls had a ball. The pizza was good, but what really makes this place fun is the live music from the organ. They have someone playing every night. And, they take requests so most of the songs they play is music you love to hear.
The next day I took the girls to The Children’s Museum of Phoenix. Such a fun place filled with activities for the girls. We decorated sugar cookies, rode bikes, played with blocks and so many other things.
To end the second day we went to Jake’s Unlimited. This place was a kids dream. It had games, a few carnival rides, bowling and a pizza/pasta bar. Be sure to watch the Vlog video up top to really get a good feel for this place. It was SOO much fun.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
I really wanted to stop here so we could take the girls up the Sandia Tramway. I went on it in High School when I was being recruited by UNM and thought it was so cool. Unfortunately it was too windy the day we were there and it was closed.
Instead we took the girls to the Explora Museum, Bio Park Zoo and the Bio Park Botanic Gardens for the Christmas Lights display. Here is the post and vlog for this trip to really see our full day!
Finishing the Drive
After Albuquerque we originally planned to stop in Dallas for a day or two, but we were all just so exhausted we decided to skip that and make to our new house to start getting settled.
We had a ton of fun checking out and exploring different cities along the way. The girls really enjoyed having time out of the car, plus it was better for us too. We all get a little stir crazy when couped up in a car too long. So having activities to look forward to definitely helped!
Here a few tips and tricks I did to make this entire week a little easier, smoother and fun for the girls.
Tips for Long Cross Country Trips
- Activity Bag – I had a big bag that had two of those clothe storage bin in them. One for each girl. I filled their boxes with crayons, activity pads, coloring books, stickers, etc…You can grab most of these from Target’s Dollar Spot or Dollar General.
- Daily Present – now this can be really small. It just gives your kids something to look forward to when getting in the car on the road. Since it was around Christmas time, I found these small pre-wrapped toys at Target. Inside was just a small window cling toy, but the girls loved seeing which one they got every morning. You could also hold back a new activity/coloring book for each day so they have something new to work on.
- Movies – this is the biggest life saver! We packed a ton of movies for them to watch. Now our car doesn’t have the built-in DVD player, nor do we have an IPad. But, I do have a portable DVD player that I’ve had forever and it works great.
- Plan some fun stops – This just gives you something to look forward to and you get to stretch your legs, let the kids burn off some energy and refresh before getting on the road again.
- Stay positive – this is a must. You will all be tired, but having a great attitude will help your kids. You know they’ll be tired of being in the car. So try to play games and have fun.
This is how we made this whole move and long trip a little easier for our girls. I have a few other road trip and traveling with kids (and here) guides here too you can check out.
I’d love to hear some of your tips and tricks for traveling with kids, leave them in the comments below!
Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!
I can only imagine what a big undertaking this was. Going on road trips for the pure joy of a road adventure is different than the emotional implications that a move has, not to mention a the prepacking that needed to be done.
Love the ideas and the stops you guys did and so child centered. I think that a key when travltrave with children. Well done mama.