Travel Games...Without Pieces

photo courtesy of kevinzim

'Tis the season for traveling!  In fact, the last couple of days I've logged quite a bit of Windshield Time with my awesome husband and cute-as-a-button kids.  

Before we started driving a 15 passenger van, we found more often than not our precious little ones had managed to drag the entire contents of their rooms into the minivan.  Not cool when you have children packed in like sardines with no elbow room in a van that is piled to the ceiling with junk, beloved toys.

When the 15 passenger came home I knew something had to change or else we'd end up with not just the contents of their rooms in the van, but the contents of the rest of the house in the van.  I just couldn't hack the clutter.  So, I made a rule...

No more than 2 items per child in the van at any given time.

That equals 10 items...plenty to keep 'em busy, right?

To be honest, there are still times when they need something to do.  So, in the spirit of eradicating boredom, our family invented a myriad of travel games ...all without pieces!  (I do so love games without pieces!)

My kids and I spent some windshield time the other day brainstorming all our games, so here is the list:

• ABC - Find all the letters of the alphabet along the road.  This is a cooperative game where all the players search out billboards, license plates, restaurants, street signs, etc in the hopes of finding every single letter (no skipping or giving up allowed!) before reaching their destination.

• I Spy - Good old-fashioned game of "I Spy with my little eye something...orange."  Other players guess until someone discovers the answer.

• Last Letter-First Letter - Start the game with any word.  The last letter of that word is then used to begin the next word from the next player.  So, if CAT is the word, the next player has to start a word with "T".  If TURTLE is the word, then the next player has to begin their word with "E" and so and so forth.

• Color/Shape Hunt - Pick a color or a shape (or both!) and work together to find as many things along the road that shape and/or color.

• 20 Questions - One player thinks of an object and the rest of the players ask Yes or No questions until someone guesses the object correctly.

• Spell a Word - Similar to ABC, except you pick a word and then try to find the letters in that word in order.

• Penny Hawks - This game started in an act of desperation (too many voices in too small of a space!) and has become one of the kids' favorite games (probably because they get paid!)  The older kids get a penny (up to ten cents) for each hawk they spot.  The little kids just get a penny per bird of any kind.  You can choose any bird or landmark...make it hard if you're not in the mood to pay out!

• Rhyming Game - Mom or Dad pick a word and everyone takes turns coming up with a word that rhymes.  I say Mom and Dad pick out the word because inevitably if left up to a child to choose, he or she will want to have everyone rhyme with something like "hippopotamus".

• Spelling Bee - Just what it says it is.  Pick a word...have them spell it.  Great way for you homeschoolers to work in a little car-schooling!

•  Stories with Holes (also known as Lateral Thinking Puzzles) - A favorite of mine!  But beware, these are tough!  We have several books of these that we sometimes take along on trips, but I also have a few memorized as well.  One person gives the scenario and everyone else asks Yes or No questions until someone solves these sometimes outrageous brain-teasers.  Riddles can also be a good way to pass the time.  If you get good enough, you can make up your own.
  

Now, gather up your family, jump in the car, and play some games this busy travel season!

If you'd like to know what I pack for our family day trips, just click on the link!  And perhaps you are interested in how those of us sportin' 15 passenger vans organize the thing...read how Peace Creek mama does it.  Take the stress out of traveling this holiday season and enjoy the memories!

The Back of My Van Tells a Story

I can't say this idea was original, but I can say it makes my heart smile.

This past May at the MOMYS Retreat we noticed some friends with a similar arrangement on the back of their van and knew someday we wanted to tell our story on the back of our own van.

We purchased the window decals from Quiverfull.com (scroll down to find them) and I put them on our back window yesterday morning.

I've been missing Emmy lately. It's nice to see a reminder of her in my rear view mirror and know that others are catching a glimpse of her story as well.

Mama's New Ride

Before Emily was born in 2007, we knew we'd eventually have to invest in a larger van, but when she died in 2008, we set that thought aside. It just hurt too much to think about the fact that we no longer *needed* a larger van.

Even when I was pregnant with Micah, we avoided the conversation despite the fact our 11 year old was the same size as his mama! A lot of those feelings were due to fear. I feared that if we talked of a larger van, we would NEVER have the need for one.

However, when Micah was born we happened to mention how cramped we were in our current van during our newspaper interview (Micah was the New Year's baby, so he was front page news!) We hadn't expected the reporter to print that little tidbit of info, but she did and we ended up coming home from the hospital to a couple of phone messages from a dearlership wanting to sell us one...one that was out of our price range.

It was then I decided to start praying specifics.

Now, specifics can be scary. You often wonder if you are being too picky or if God really will answer your EXACT prayers. Despite these concerns, I chose to trust that God could deliver.

Here's what I prayed:

15 passenger van
low mileage
low price
Chevy Express or a newer Ford (because of stabilization issues)
NOT WHITE

Let me tell you, that last request is pretty major because for some reason white seems to be the color of EVERY 15 passenger van. But I had a reason for wanting (not necessarily NEEDING) a non-white van.

Every vehicle we have bought since marrying 13 years ago has been WHITE...2 Bonnevilles, a Blazer, an International pickup, and an Oldsmobile van...all WHITE. I seriously needed a change of scenery. And since EVERYONE has a white 15 passenger van, my rebellious unique spirit wanted something different. I figured God could make it happen.

As time wore on and the amount of van selection seemed underwhelming, I wondered if I needed to change my prayer. Maybe my expectations were too high. It seemed like every van we looked at was either the right price with high mileage or white with low mileage and a high price or any other combination except the one I was praying for. Maybe God thought I was asking too much. Even though I continued to pray specifics, I began to look seriously at other options just in case the Lord wasn't wanting us to have exactly what I was praying.

Yet, nothing showed up.

Oh sure, we looked...some. Impulse buyer my husband is not. ;o) But everything we looked at was a royal disappointment. We even bid at an auction on one, but it went way too high.

As I kept squishing children into the van, I kept reminding them (and myself) they would have fond memories of all this togetherness. They kept reminding me that "togetherness" is wasted on the young. But who can blame them? I'm not sure I would last days, let alone years, of sitting wedged between 2 car seats filled with the flailing arms and legs of toddlers. Talk about sensory overload!

And then something happened that only God can do...

After watching three more vans fall through, I was worn out. My friend Sarah came for a visit and after hearing my lament over vans, she did a quick search of GSA auctions in the area. Her husband owns a small used car dealership so she knew the ins and outs of finding good deals on vehicles. In fact, they had been looking for a van for us for years without much luck (since we were kind of picky!)

Well, it just so happened there were one van up for auction in Omaha, Nebraska that fit our needs/wants. Now, Omaha isn't exactly in my backyard, but it just so happened my husband had some business to do up that way so we decided it was worth it to put in a bid. Sarah thought she could log in via internet and bid for us during the sale the next day. That's where we left it.

The day of the auction her daughter had a doctor's appointment at 7:30 am. No problem getting back to her computer by 2pm, right? WRONG. Sarah slid into home at 1:45pm, logged into the auction 5 vehicles before the van (these auctions go quick!), called me to confirm we still wanted to do this, and called back about 2 minutes later to tell me the van was ours! WHOA! (There's more to this story, but suffice it to say, this could only be a God-thing!)

So, without further ado, I introduce you to Mama's New Ride...