Tuesday, October 23, 2007

iTunes Heads Up
We are headed to Idaho in a 3 1/2 weeks for Thanksgiving. It's a long trip for us - anywhere from 13 to 15 hours depending on how many stops we have to make along the way. We are going to head out the first night and stay in St. George. Then we'll make the rest of the trek the next day. It's easier to split it up like that. Last year our trip home was a complete nightmare. I had forgotten about all of the college kids that would be heading back to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego... plus all of the smaller colleges. We were at a complete standstill for quite sometime last year. It was torture. We have a couple of DVD players, but after awhile it makes Little Bug sick to watch. So, I've been downloading books and burning them on CD's. iTunes has a pretty great selection of kids books. They have all of the Magic Tree House books right now. The first book, "Dinosaurs Before Dark" is free to download! And the others are $1.95 each. It's a perfect way to pass the time. Last time we listened to "Charlie and the Glass Elevator" which is the sequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". We have all of the Chronicles of Narnia on disc and also "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" books.
These trips are always a little crazy, but I'm hoping new books and music will keep everyone entertained. What do you do to keep your kids busy in the car on long trips? Do you have any favorite book titles that your kids love? What about music? What kind of music do you like to throw in when you're on a long trip? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't know they had ebooks for kids. I'll have to check that out! Thanks!

Nancy Face said...

We've enjoyed soundtracks from Disney movies...always fun for kids and parents alike, and easy to sing along with!

I have an award for you!

Dedee said...

I can't remember how old your kid(s) are, but we pack books, coloring books and crayons, activities. Also, download some raffi and disney tunes. They Might be Giants has a whole kids series that are completely strange but my kids love them.

Good luck. I've done the 16-18 hour drives before and it is crazy.

Yvonne said...

I'm with nancy face, I love to play the Disney CD's. (Of course, the kids used to love anything as long as I didn't sing!!!)

I also loved magna doodles for the kids on trips!!!

Heather said...

ooo.... the 10 hour drive is long enough for me. We love cd books and movies too!

... said...

we used to do ebooks, too, in addition to their own individual mp3 players. we also had a small tv we used to prop up between the seats and they would watch videos. and both my kids could read while driving (where as, i can't) so that helped a lot.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Portable DVD player. That's all I've got to say.

Tammy and Parker said...

Benadryl? :)

So, get any good Good Mail lately?

Tonya said...

I didn't have a clue they had books on itunes. I'll have to check that out.

We haven't taken a big long road trip with the boy yet but if we do I'll keep all these tips in mind.

Carrot Jello said...

Trout Fishing In America is a fun group.

We bring a dvd player, and nintendo. ;)

Holly (2 Kids and Tired) said...

I wish we could do any kind of book in the car. J can read a bit, but reading in the car makes E sick, and he likes following along rather than just listening to books on cd. And he's our big reader. Although, we may try again in the future.

We do the DVD player and they each get a backpack. Whatever fits in the backpack is what they can bring toy-wise. J has a leap pad which has a plug for headphones.

I wish we were heading the same direction!