You’ll have to excuse my relative silence this past week. I had a busy weekend.

You see, a long time ago in the 70s my dad was a successful professional athlete. Don’t get too excited. I can’t tell you his name because my grandma is convinced that internet stalkers are alive and well. Plus, my dad’s success as an athlete is only impressive to a niche market of men aged 55 and older. Nobody else really cares (sorry, Dad!)

Anyhoo, he was so successful that he was awarded a street sign in his hometown, a mere 3 hours from where I live. So he and my mom flew in to spend the weekend with my family and then we all piled in a minivan and drove 6 hours round trip to see the street sign.

I learned a few things during the car ride with me, my husband, my two kids, and my mom and dad. Here’s my wisdom:

1. Make sure the DVD player is charged.

2. Make sure you have enough snacks for hungry kids AND hungry grandparents.

3. Definitely get the minivan model with as many climate control zones as possible.

4. Be prepared that not everyone will love their seat assignment and you will have to switch hourly. This makes the minivan with the captain’s chairs a MUST.

5. Make peace with the fact that someone will probably read aloud every road sign for 3 hours {Grandma!}, someone will yell and scream at his DSi game {Will!}, and men will tune out the world and talk sports forever {Chad and Grandpa!}

6. Have your 5-year-old sit next to a grandparent. This almost guarantees you a mini-vacation. I got to stare into space and rest my brain while Grandma got to listen to the singing dinosaurs on the DVD player and hear jokes that only a kindergartener could love. I feel so refreshed!

Have you gone on a road trip recently? What stories or tips can you share?

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net