Travel Tip Tuesday #4: Travel Binders for Kids

If your kids are anything like mine, they want to remain attached to their electronics on a road trip. Ultimately, 2 problems eventually come into play after hours spent staring at their screens:

1. Using your phone as a hotspot is eating your data like one of those ticket eating machines at Chuck E Cheese

2. Your kids 👀 begin to rot from staring at their screen and even they grow tired of using them. 

So, what is a mom to do with hours left in the trip?! Pull our your customized travel binders. 😍

 Travel binders are a great idea if you are traveling by car, plane, train or boat. Any kind of travel that requires your kids to sit still for a boring extended period of time and they are on a much needed electronic break. 

If you are unsure what they are, here is a picture of a binder from Creative Connections for Kids. 

  

I made travel binders last year for my kids and they were a huge hit. I set ours up the same way using the case that would clip into the rings of the binder. The nice thing about the travel binders is that you can tailor them for your individual child’s age or interests. 

Creating them is a breeze! I promise. I am not a crafter. I actually don’t like it all all, so I wouldn’t consider this a crafty project. It’s super simple this is what you need:

1. Three ring binder for each child

2. Pencil case or bag that can clip inside the rings

3. Those plastic page protectors for 3 ring binders

4. Dry erase markers/cloth to wipe off pages

5. Pages you have printed and slipped into the page protectors. 

Here are a few samples from the binders we still had hanging around:

 
At the time, my daughter was almost 9 and my boys were 6 so they had some of the same pages and some different ones. They could all play along with things like scavenger hunt pages, tic tac toe, word searches and road trip bingo. My daughter was old enough to follow along on maps of the trip, so hers held a few maps. 

If you have older kids, try creating pop culture trivia sheets, or “guess the song” with just a few words from the lyrics. All kids love hangman-make a hangman sheet! You are really only limited by your imagination! Plus, there are literally DOZENS of sites that have the sheets you can download. I’ll list a few at the end. 

I also picked up a few things at the Dollar Tree (my fav store! 😍) and Five Below and stuck them in there. 

Tailor them for your individual kids and you’ll have a car full of happy people!

☀️Heather

Living Well Mom She has over 150 downloadable forms and tons of great ideas!

Glue Sticks Blog This blog is an excellent source for travel binders! You must check this one out! 

Where to go Wednesday:The Finger Lakes and the Senaca Lake Wine Trail, Upstate NY

If you are from Upstate New York (some people are surprised to find out there is a WHOLE GIANT STATE outside of New York City. 🙄) you are familiar with The Finger Lakes and the Finger Lakes Wine Trails-including the Seneca Lake Trail. Before I get into good stuff about the wine, it seems like I need to share a few facts about the Finger Lakes and it’s largest lakes:

1. 11 lakes make up The Finger Lakes

2. Skaneateles Lake is a trendy little town where famous people and former presidents have been known to visit. (At least that is what the Finger Lakes website tells me. I cannot vouch for ever having seen even the back of someone’s head)

3. Cayuga Lake is not only home to tons of amazing wineries, but is also the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College (so if you have kids who want to tour either of these colleges, be sure to hit the wine trail to try and erase the dollar signs from your vision 🤑🤑)

4. Seneca Lake is the largest lake and has the largest amount of wineries in the area. Not only is Seneca known for it’s amazing wine trail, but Watkins Glen and the Watkins Glen International Race track sit at the southern end of the lake.

 

Finger Lakes in Upstate NY

The activities are endless in The Finger Lakes region. Boating, camping, fishing, summer home/cottages..the list is endless!

Ok. On to the fun stuff…the wine trails! 🍷🍷

I will confess, it has been a handful of years since I have been wine trailing. 😟 However, I can tell you that as a result of my many years spent happily on those trails, I went from someone who hated wine, to someone who needed the sweetest you could get to now preferring a glass a bit on the dryer side. I tell everyone who says “I can’t drink wine. I don’t like it” that they must hit the wineries and discover what they like-because there is one out there for everyone.

Heather, how does the wine trail work?  I’m guessing you’re wondering this and here is the answer:

Anyway you want it to.

Seriously. You can hire a limo to take you and your 8, 10, 12 closest friends to drive you from winery to winery so you can sample all the grape goodness (then stay in a hotel in Watkins Glen maybe?! No drinking and driving 😠) You can also drive from winery to winery (do I need to tell you (in clearer terms) to please drink responsibly and have a DD??). Many places have outdoor seating or decks so you can admire the stunning view after you’re done tasting. Maybe pick up some cheese or snacks and just…sit and stare.

Some wineries might charge you a nominal few dollar fee to sample, and some do not. You basically stand around the counter while a super knowledgeable wine person explains the grapes used to make the various wines, what to pair the wines with, etc. You will very quickly learn what you like and what you do not. You will also discover that a Reisling from Hazlit can taste different than a Reisling from Red Newt. That having been said, I feel like you can never go wrong with a Reisling ☺️ (just my 2 cents) I learned that no matter where I am, I can order a glass of Reisling and be happy!

 

Seneca Lake Wine Trail map

If you have someone who insists they only drink beer, never fear! I’ve got you covered. 😬 There is also a Beer Trail!

 

 

Lamoreaux Landing Wineries and Finger Lakes Scenery

I could fill this entire post with nothing but amazing images from the area, but I’ll stop myself. It really is an area you should experience for yourself. It doesn’t matter if it is winter (the wineries look so beautiful decorated for Christmas ❤️), spring, summer or fall. There is never a bad time to visit!

☀️ Heather

Here are a few sites to get you started:

Seneca Lake Wine Trail

Finger Lakes Things To Do

Watkins Glen Chamber of Commerce

Skaneateles Chamber of Commerce

p.s. All of these images belong to someone else originally, but who knows who.

Travel Tip Tuesday #3: If you travel with kids on road trips you will thank me for this tip.

I want to write that again….if you travel with kids on road trips, you will thank me for this tip. I am positive of that. If you don’t find it helpful, then I will find myself questioning everything my life has been about. 😂

We have 3 kids and when we travel, we travel. By that, I mean we’re a bit insane (according to our friends 🙄). We drive straight through from Upstae NY to South Florida without stopping. (Well, we stop to use the bathroom 😬) We spend up to 22 hours in the car  this often has us eating in the car. I’m certain I do not have to tell you that 3 kids eating in the car can very quickly make the inside of your vehicle look like the local land fill. Not to be forgotten in this scenario is spilled drinks while they are all screwing around (all the while insisting that they aren’t 😒). During hour 4 this scenario is manageable. During hour 14 (and every hour after that), this scenario has me considering stuffing myself into our car top carrier where it is quiet!

I came across these little basket things at The Dollar Tree (I just ❤️❤️❤️ that store!) a couple of years ago and picked them up. We’ve been using them for various things ever since! 

Feast your 👀 on this:

 

the “K” is for one of my kids. each of their baskets has their initial on it

 
There are so many great things about this basket. 

1. Can you see how it fits over our armrest on the captain’s seat?

2. It has a spot for a cup. It will hold plastic cups from our house or cups from most any restaurant 

3. The frog (sorry… My pictures reflect my life!) is sitting in an area that will hold a sub, hamburger, pretty much any kind of food. 

4. The little section next to the cup will hold fries, chips, apple slices, you name it. 

5. They come in different colors so there is no question about which basket belongs to which little person (we still did an initial because a certain mommy couldn’t seem to remember 😳)

The baskets also stack for easy storage. I’m all about easy, clean storage! 

BONUS TRAVEL TIP:

These also work great to hold crayons or other items to keep your kids busy on the road!

BONUS NON TRAVEL TIP:

These would also be great if you have a sick kid (or husband 😉) at home. You could set them up with this cup of ice or ginger ale, crackers, busy items, etc. 

I’m pretty sure they are out in the stores now. Do not walk-run to your local Dollar Tree and grab some! 

☀️Heather

Do you collect items when you travel?

I have always been a bit jealous of people who collected things. I always remember wishing I was a collector of something.  (I should have been a bit clearer with my wish. Enter “be careful what you wish for”. As a mom I feel like I now collect dirty laundry 😒). I tried stickers when I was a kid and that was as far as I ever got. I seemed to lose interest pretty quickly (admittedly, I feel the same way about the dirty laundry 🙄)

Over the years my husband and I would pick up items on our various travels. I believe I have a shoe box of shot glasses from various trips packed away somewhere from our pre-kid jaunts. We didn’t make it a point to collect them and have some large collection of shot glasses-getting them just seemed necessary  natural in our late 20’s. 😇

I love that my (almost) 10 year old daughter took it upon herself to start collecting something (my inner 9 year old who couldn’t manage to collect anything is a bit miffed about this 😖). We got her a giant Belle snow/water globe before a trip to Disney a few years ago and that was it. She then had to have them for every holiday and from places we traveled. Much like our stickers, it’s fun for her (and for us) to find them.

 

a portion of her collection

 

A couple of years ago we ended up getting one of those hard shell luggage carriers for the top of our van (see my previous post on that carrier 😖) and BAM! We became collectors of travel stickers for it (the 7 year old in me loves this! 👧🏼). Everywhere we go, we find ourselves trying to ferret out the neatest stickers to slap up on it! It is something that we enjoy doing and it often can take us off the beaten patch to locate a small shop or store that actually sells them-and that has become part of the fun!

We only use the carrier a couple of times a year, but we search for the stickers all year long.  There is something so great about pulling the carrier out and talking about where we got the stickers, how we found the place we got them, and remembering our various trips.

I know someone who collects Christmas tree ornaments and another who collects to magnets. In the end, it doesn’t matter what you collect-the fun in collecting is the memories your collections bring back to you!

Do you collect anything travel specific?

☀️Heather

Travel Tip Tuesday # 2: Duct Tape

Yepper. You read that right. Duct tape. You should NEVER travel without it. That’s right, I said it. NEVER. Don’t ever do it.  💪🏼

I’ll start by telling you our personal Frogger story about and the moment I realized why it’s a must have and we’ll move on from there. 😬

If you follow my Facebook page (insert shameless plug: Five Sandals Travel), you might already know what story I am going to tell you, but humor me and follow along. 

Picture it: G5 was all packed up and on our way to Florida for Spring Break. We have one of those hard shell turtle type carriers for the roof. My husband always puts bungee cords over it even though it latches. It was SUPER WINDY, but we were happily traveling down the highway (this happiness credit can pretty much be given to Dodge for having a plug in the van, Roku for working in the van, Netflix and Verizon for my hotspot 😍😍). I happened to be driving and looked out my mirror and thought “that sucks, someone just lost a big, blue bag.” A few seconds later I looked up and said (well, I cannot say what I actually said 😳 so I’ll translate it) “that was a softball glove and a softball!-OUR SOFTBALL AND GLOVE!” 

Ultimately, our latch was a bit loose on the carrier p, and it was so windy, that the latch actually BLEW OFF the carrier!!! Thank GOODNESS my husband also bungeed the carrier closed (points for G1)  However, it was flapping open a bit and stuff was being sucked out!! 

We had just bought that stinking $80 softball glove for my daughter, so we went back to look for it! There was my husband, crossing 3 lanes of traffic to get the glove (kids, do NOT try that 💪🏼) -and we got it! We ended up stopping at a gas station because I broke Traveling Tip # 2 and did not have duct tape. 😖 I will never make that mistake again. 

That lovely, silver roll of duct tape held the carrier shut for the 1,000 remaining miles of our trip. ❤️

 

Duct tape will fix anything, and if it won’t-you’re not using enough!

 
In addition to keeping my carrier closed at 75 mph for 1,000 miles, there are a gazillion other uses for duct tape when traveling. Let’s list a few:

1. Band aids.  No kidding! In a pinch, you could wrap a Dunkin Donuts napkin (I know you have a giant stash of those and straws in your glove compartment-we all do) around a finger or over a cut and secure it with duct tape. 

2. Fix any hole.  Slap a piece over a hole in a back pack, suitcase, jacket-pretty much anything. 

3. Fix a hem.  You’re heading out to dinner and realize the hem on your skirt or pants is hanging. Cut a small piece of tape and tape it back up.  Wa-lah! 

4. Make your luggage unique.  Use one of those fancy rolls of duct tape and fold it in half and put it through the handle of your suitcase, or put a piece across the front. 

5. Hide your loot. Use duct tape to hide your money, passport, keys, etc. under furniture or under a cabinet in a hotel room.

6. Receipt holder.  I use this for random things at home and took it on vacation with us. I picked up a coupon holder at the Dollar Tree and grabbed a roll of matching duct tape. I prettied up the coupon holder and I then used it to keep track of receipts for gas, food, activities-basically anything we swiped our cards for. It worked beautifully to keep us organized! 

$2 receipt/ money holder

So, see, I wasn’t kidding! You really need duct tape for traveling. It’s uses are only limited by your imagination (and desperation level 😂) 

If you’ve used it while traveling, comment and let us know what you’ve used duct tape for!

☀️Heather 

Stand Up Paddle Boarding-Get your family out there!

Stand up paddle boarding is currently number one on my bucket this for this summer and I thought that maybe it should be on yours, too. 😬

What is stand up paddle boarding and what makes it different from just plain ol’ paddle boarding, you ask? (Or maybe you didn’t ask, or even know there WAS a difference) 

Paddle boarding is done while you remain KNEELING on the board and use your arms to propel yourself. 

Stand up Paddle Boarding is done while you are STANDING on the board and you use a paddle to move yourself through the water. 

One would think that because I have a tendency to keep my toes firmly planted on the Lazy Line, I’d be more interested in traditional paddle boarding so I wouldn’t have to stand up (😂). However, for some reason I’m definitely drawn to the idea of standing up!

I think the great thing about stand up paddle boarding is that ANYONE CAN DO IT-children and dogs are doing it. No. Really-just look!

  
The fact that this is an activity that you can do is a family is something I love about SUP (I decided that writing this allowed me to use the acronym 😉). I’m always looking for something that G5 can do together. I’m ALL about making memories-those are the best part of any trip! 

The other thing that makes this a great family activity is that you can do any place there is water. SUP is not limited to the ocean. If you can kayak somewhere, odds are you can SUP there: lakes, rivers, the ocean, in the city our off the beaten path.

  

I also just discovered that SUP Yoga is a thing. Yep. You read that right. Yoga on your stand up paddle board. It’s actually offered in a lot of locations (even where I live in Upstate NY 😱)

  

I cannot provide links to all places that offer SUP (the laundry will not do itself (I know. I’ve waited before ☹️)), but here are some places to check out if your family is in the area!

Binghamton, NY: Southern Tier Stand Up Paddle 

Tampa, FL: Tampa Bay SUP

Myrtle Beach, SC: Express Water Sports

New Hampshire: Stand Up Paddle Board New Hampshire

South Florida: South Florida Paddle

San Diego, CA: Isle Surf & SUP

If you have experience trying SUP, I’d love to hear about it! Once I’m Ble to try it, I’ll be sure to let you know how it went!

So, get out there and try something new with your family. Even if you never do it again, trying something together as a family is what it is all about. ☺️

☀️Heather 

P.S.  None of these images are mine and could very well be copywriten by SOMEONE, I just have zero idea who!

Travel Tip Tuesday #1:Canvas Bags

I am a HUGE lover of tips, tricks, hacks..basically anything that will make my life easier. Or less messy. Ok. Mostly less messy. Either way, the travel tip I’m sharing today falls into both of those categories (it’s like getting 3 🍒🍒🍒 on the Travel Tip slot machine).

As I said previously, we do a TON of traveling by car (actually, by van) and I am constantly looking for a way to keep the kids things organized and off the floor. I also want their items to be easily accessible to THEM. I emphasis “them” because I do not want to be crawling around looking for headphones, pens, gum, action figures..well, you get the point.

Now, I’m sure I did not invent this idea and I’m not taking any kind of credit for being the first person to do it (if I am, let me know. Maybe I’ll market them and charge far too much money for something people can make themselves 😂) I just don’t know anyone who has done it, so I’m hoping it will be a new idea to you!

And once you look at the picture, it will be obvious that I am not a person who spends a lot of time crafting 😳. For me, it was more about getting my hands on something quickly that would do the job.

I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted for a bag and I was short on time, so I ended up with CVS canvas reusable shopping bags. I turned them inside out and wrote each of my kids’ names on their bag. You could certainly let your kids go to town and decorate their own!

The bags will hang around the headrest of the seat in front of them. The kids are able to keep their Kindles, headphones, books or any other items they need for traveling in there. They will even slips their shoes in if we’re traveling a super long distance so they aren’t fumbling for them on the floor.

These bags have really been life savers on our road trips and I hope they will be for you, too!

☀️Heather