10 roadtrip essentials!

Today we are heading out for our Thanksgiving road trip to visit my sister! It’s about an 8 hour drive to Reno which will be a good warmup for our big 18 hour trip to Wisconsin next month for Christmas! I am always on the hunt for ways to make road trips more fun (more bearable for me because, real talk, I don’t enjoy them. I GET SO ANTSY! AND also! Unless you’re driving, it’s like a cardio workout grabbing every little thing the kids need. Shotgun = the short straw.)

Anyway, here’s what we’re bringing and BONUS! lots of these items have sweet deals this week! Would love to hear what other musts you guys love before our big trip in December, hit me up.

1. KIDS KINDLE! This is a new product Amazon just launched and I love that it is pre-stocked with thousands of titles like Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and more! One less thing to do for mom. Regularly $110 — $80 this week + $5 Kindle Credit!
2. PURO HEADPHONES! I love this brand because they’re made for kids and have built in protection so the volume never gets too loud for their sensitive ears. I make sure every kid has their own pair. Again, one less thing to monitor slash worry about while they’re in the back seat. These are $10 off right now and only $20! Love the monochrome look, they have lots of colors!
3. BACKPACKS! “EMILY20” for 20% off! I always let the kids pack whatever they want in their backpacks and then leave the actual suitcase/clothing/necessity packing to me. I don’t try to control it I just heavily warn that they should pack whatever they need to not get bored. We love State Bags, they give backpacks to American students in need with every purchase! You can see my favorite picks here and get 20% off with EMILY 20.
4. ACTIVITY BOOKS! We do specific blocks of time for screens and then screen-free travel so I like to have activity books on hand for them. Here are several we love! — Mad Libs // GO! My Adventure Journal // Brain Quest Flip Books // Rainbow Scratch Paper // Laugh out Loud Jokes for Kids // Kids Awesome Activity Book
5. SEATBELT PILLOW! Of course we want the kids to be as comfortable as possible and also safe, so this seatbelt pillow does the trick. Entices them to stay properly buckled, is $7 and has great ratings!
6. COOLER! Love that this isn’t TOO huge, easy to transport with the straps and has the YETI stamp of quality. Packing snacks is a must and keeps us from stopping at inopportune times.
7. CAR VACUUM! 4000 4 star ratings on this baby and only $30! (Save $4 with their coupon!) Comes with all sorts of attachments all connected to your cigarette lighter. Get all the nooks and crannies and grab spills as they come! The kdis love it, too! Put ’em to work.
8. GO GIRL! Being pregnant and the only girl in the car means a lot of potential bathroom breaks. I can’t just pee in a bottle like the rest of my crew, but this thing is amazing. It’s just a funnel to help you pee wherever your boys might be able to. I HATE stopping when everyone is content or sleeping and refuse to be the reason a napping child wakes up, or we lose time.
9. CAR TRASH! Roadtrips do a number on our cars so we do our best to keep things under control. This trash sits over a seat back, holds quite a bit of garbage, liquid too (3 gallons!) Hinged shut to keep the odors at bay and easy to clean!
10. QUAD SUNGLASS CASE! This *is* my favorite product of the year so its going to be showing up in a lot of posts. A must for any travel but even better when you have lots of family members to keep track of. My kids are old enough to see the value in wearing sunglasses, but they’re not that great at keeping them out of harm’s way, this helps!