Labor Day.

One of the perks of living in Georgia is that all of my family is now in reasonable driving distant to us. Four or Five hours in the car and we can be on any of their door steps. Since Labor Day is a long weekend, we decided it was time for a little road trip. We traveled to Savannah, Georgia to visit my Mom and her husband, Raymond.

The kids and I left on Friday. We drove 2.5 hours and had a nice little picnic lunch at a rest stop in Dublin, Georgia.  After we stretched our legs and filled our bellies, we were back in the car. Another short 2 hours and we were there.
 
Lately, the car has become a new place of challenges for my little tots on the go. So, knowing that a 20 minute trip to the grocery store is a more survival trip than a little ride in the car, I was concerned how we’d do on a 5 hour car ride.The longest car trip they’ve taken is 3.5 hours. I started thinking about ways I could encourage and motivate Levi and Shelby as we traveled. This is what I came up with.

For Levi, I posted a sticker chart to the front dash. He could see it from his seat. When we started, I explained the “car rules” and that I’d be rewarding good car behavior. To get the ball rolling, I started with 20 minutes increments and than I moved it to 30 and 45 minutes for the rest of the trip. Once he had earned a couple stickers, he was hooked. On this day, each sticker earned him a gummy bear when we arrived in Savannah. It worked. Levi did excellent in the car and earned a total of 7 stickers by the time we arrived. He was very proud of himself.

As for Shelby, I kept a box full of books and little toys in the front seat. I’d hand her something “new” every so often. When this didn’t work, I pulled out the stickers. She is my little sticker girl. She LOVES playing with stickers. For the last hour and half of the trip, she just played with stickers. She enjoys sticking them on her feet, legs, and shirt. She is so content and happy. At times, just laughing. Oh, the simple things! All in all, the kids did great. Levi did end up napping, Shelby did not.

We had a great little visit. We spent most our time swimming and playing on the back deck. My kids are fish!

                                      
           
On Sunday, we took a afternoon stroll on River Street. We were hoping to see a container ship traveling the river, but no luck. Levi was a little disappointed, but he still enjoyed seeing the water and the little boats parked along the side.



Levi enjoyed playing in all of Gramps’ hats. Gramps was even kind enough to let Levi take home one of the hats. Its the first thing he puts on when he wakes up in the morning.

 
While we were there, Shelby turned 18 months. Seriously, when did SHE get so big!
 
Just for fun…The last time we visited Savannah, Levi was 22 months. Seriously, when did HE get so big!!!!

We had a great trip—relaxing, fun and easy. So glad we were able to make it. We made our return trip on Monday. The kids were tired from all the fun and took a big nap in the car.