Driving to Florida with kids.....

So DH are planning on driving down to Florida with the kids to visit the mass amounts of family we have there. First we were going to fly but we opted to save our tickets for another trip.

For those of you who have done it, what are some tips.....

Did you drive straight through?
If not, where did you stop?

I'm excited - we have a ton of family that neither of us have seen in years. It'll be nice to catch up!!! Some cousins my DH hasn't seen in almost 20 years!!!!! The kids have some cousins running around as well. I can't wait :)

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

We did it last summer. DVDs were huge in keeping them quiet. I had a bag of toys, books, and coloring books they hadn't seen before to keep them occupied in the car. We used these travel trays from One Step Ahead which helped keep crayons and matchbox cars from falling on the floor. They were also great for snacks in the car.

My ILs live in the Palm Beach area, so we stopped near the North Carolina/South Carolina border, which is roughly halfway between us and them.

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

Thanks Cathy :)

We have friends in Carolina so we may stop there and stay the night....

Santa brought lots of toys so we're good

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

You are brave my love

Chris and I drove alone before we were married and we vowed never again

But its an adventure

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

You can always stop and stay by me

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

Depends on what time you are planning on leaving. If you are leaving at 3 or 4 in the morning, then I would drive straight through. You will get there around dinner time.

DVD player
Snacks
Hand-held games
coloring books

Have a GREAT time!
I absolutely LOVE road trips and have taken quite a few LONG ones with my children (ages 6, 4, and 2)

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

We have done it 2x with Bry!
He was 14 months and then again at 26 months.

DVDs, books, toys, crayons, paper. All worked! Your kids are older, so, it may be a bit easier.

Stop as often as you can. We stop at all the Welcome centers, walk around, stretch, and then hit the road again.

We stopped for the night in Santee, SC. They have some hotels and restaurants all on the same road.

We leave around 1AM, just transfered Bry from bed to car seat. He was the last to go in the car.

It's an adventure, but, not so bad.

Re: Driving to Florida with kids.....

We've done in numerous times. Leave LI around 3 on a weekday to beat the traffic in the city. Stop at the last rest stop in NJ. Bring a portable DVD player and any handheld games with you. Our kids usually fall asleep after dinner and we drive thru the night taking turns. By 8:30 in the morning, we are usually crossing over into Florida. We wait for the kids to wake up and then we stop for breakfast. This is the only part of the drive that gets a little frustrating for us, as the kids are cranky wakers and have also been in the car for so many hours. We drive to Disney, so after we stop we still have a good 3 hours left and they whine for about half of it. But in general, they are very good and sleep most of the way.