Meanwhile, I hope your summer travels are filled with joy and adventure!

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All material copyright ©MomsMinivan.com]]> http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2010/07/look-for-momsminivan-in-parade.html/feed 0 http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2010/05/join-me-at-pbs-parents.html http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2010/05/join-me-at-pbs-parents.html#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 12:49:37 +0000 Road Trip Mom http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/?p=390 Once again I have been invited back as a  “parent expert” at the PBS Parents website to answer questions and facilitate reader discussions! I’ll be taking questions for the next three weeks on their website.

We are discussing summer travel, ways to save money on the road with your kids , and creative ways to keep your family entertained in the car without emptying your wallet.  …Challenges worth facing!

Please click over and leave a comment on their site, or join in the Q & A discussion!

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All material copyright ©MomsMinivan.com]]> http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2010/05/join-me-at-pbs-parents.html/feed 0 http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2009/07/ultimate-printable-car-games.html http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2009/07/ultimate-printable-car-games.html#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:20:00 +0000 Road Trip Mom http://www.momsminivan.com/blog2/2009/07/ultimate-printable-car-games/ Someone finally put all the fun printable car activities into one big fat ginormous printable book. It’s the Ultimate Road Trip Games book, that you can download and print. I love it!

It’s over 140 pages of stuff to do in the car. Print just the pages you want, and as many as you need for all your kids, and print more for your next trip.

A few activities are similar to the printable car games that I have available on MomsMinivan, but they have taken them to a whole new level, and included many many more, in an easy printable format.

We’re excited about the “secret mission” game. This one sounds just right for my school age children, and we can’t wait to play it on our next trip. None of the activities require any extra materials other than a pencil and the printed sheets. Use it over and over for every trip you take.

Overall, I think it’s terrific! It’s definitely worth the purchase price, and I feel really good about recommending it to my readers. You can find it on their website at Ultimate Road Trip Games!

Meanwhile, make sure you stock up on printer ink! Here’s a place I love to get mine – use the coupon I found for a discount! 15% Off Compatible Inkjet Cartridges – use Coupon TAK658W
(Expires 09.30.09)

Happy travels!

We are discussing ways to save money when traveling with your kids on the road, and creative ways to keep the kids entertained in the car without emptying your wallet.

Please click over and join in the Q & A discussion!

update: link has been updated to reflect archived story

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All material copyright ©MomsMinivan.com]]> http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2009/06/join-momsminivan-com-at-pbs-parents-org.html/feed 0 http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2009/01/survey-says.html http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2009/01/survey-says.html#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:51:00 +0000 Road Trip Mom http://www.momsminivan.com/blog2/2009/01/survey-says/ I need a little help from my readers. I’m sure you have noticed that I run ads on my site to support it and help me keep it going. My ad company needs demographics on my readers so they can make sales pitches to the wonderful sponsors that buy my ad space. In short, I need more data!

Please do me a big favor and take this totally anonymous survey about MomsMinivan and it’s users.

The survey does not ask for any personal info such as an email or your name or anything. Just generic stuff like how old you are, how big your household is, etc. They will not sell you anything, I promise!

http://www.momsminivan.com/survey.html

I couldn’t keep this site going without my readers. You’re the best. Thank you!

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All material copyright ©MomsMinivan.com]]> http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2009/01/survey-says.html/feed 0 http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2008/08/tv-opp-for-august-vacationers.html http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2008/08/tv-opp-for-august-vacationers.html#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:37:00 +0000 Road Trip Mom http://www.momsminivan.com/blog2/2008/08/tv-opp-for-august-vacationers/ Are you planning a road trip or vacation during the last week or two in August? A producer from Nickelodeon’s Nick News contacted me because they are looking for families who would be willing to be filmed for a segment about kids taking family vacations going camping, visiting national parks, etc. Kids narrate the piece and would have to be between 11 and 15 years old.

Send me an email if you’re interested and I’ll forward it on.

On a personal note — My kids started back to school yesterday, so our summer road trips are over for now! Bummer!

Sounds like they’ll have plenty to do to keep busy. Still, the Road Trip Mom part of me couldn’t help but worry that they’ll get bored eventually and start hitting each other in the back seat. I mean, seriously, road trip bingo games and Slug Bug can only amuse a blogger for so long.

So, being a concerned friend, and hoping I can be there in spirit if not in person, I sent them a copy of my personal favorite road trip amusement item: All-American Car-i-Oke.

This is way better than ordinary music. It’s full participation music! It has a CD with the music, and all the lyrics in the spiral bound book. It also includes several smaller lyrics booklets – one for the back seat, the way-back seat, and another for anyone who doesn’t like to share (I’m wondering which booklets Devra and Aviva are going to use!).

I bought a copy of this for my kids a few years ago. We never tire of it, and use it at least once every trip. We have the most fun with the backseat drumming, and the “make up your own Blues” song. In fact, it helped evolve a rule in our car — No whining allowed unless you’re singing the Blues!

At least two of the moms on this road trip are trained singers, so I predict good times as they hit the highway. Listen carefully if you’re on the road this July — you might just hear a group of moms roaring through the Rockies singing “Proud Mary” or “When the Saints Go Marching In” over the sound of fingers flying across their keyboards. Blogher here they come!

Update: Here are Sarah and Devra on the road playing their Carioke!

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All material copyright ©MomsMinivan.com]]> http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2008/07/blogger-mom-road-trip.html/feed 4 http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2008/06/see-me-at-pbs-org.html http://www.momsminivan.com/blog/2008/06/see-me-at-pbs-org.html#comments Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:09:00 +0000 Road Trip Mom http://www.momsminivan.com/blog2/2008/06/see-me-at-pbs-org/ PBS has always been special to me. I could not get enough of Sesame Street as a child. Grover always was and still is my favorite character of any PBS show. He was a world traveler with a can-do attitude and was never afraid to try something new, even if it didn’t always work out the way he thought it would. I can see myself in him at every turn of my life. As a mom, I see the special place PBS has forged in my own children’s hearts.

I am very excited to be a featured “expert” at the PBS Parents website for the next couple of weeks. I’m heading up the topic of ways to keep children happy and parents sane during the busy travel season. Please come over and join in the Q & A discussion!

update: links updated to reflect archived story

“I just wanted to thank you for your great ideas! We went on a roadtrip through Utah/Arizona in October – seeing 4 national parks and “4 corners” along the way. I prepared many things for the kids to do, but the biggest hits were:

• Counting cows game – my kids still say “your cows are dead” whenever they see a cemetery, and finding a man with a peg leg has become a big family joke.
• Fortunately, Unfortunately – they could do this all day.
• Pipe cleaners! My kids made strange hanging contraptions all over the backseat of the car. They want more, more, more!!
• Battleship – The kids love it, we even sent copies of it to a friend in Iraq to share with his soldier friends.

Thanks again – I love your site!!”

I’m so glad I could help! I wish you many happy travels! Readers, if you’re looking for the list of where she got these activities, head over to the article with my big list of kids car games.

Check out the YouTube video that her studio posted about Katie and the bloggers she met! Here’s still shot from the video so you can find Devra in the group. Go bloggers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEXOLbNhiQc

BTW, this now makes me only 4 degrees from Kevin Bacon.

*I am very good friends with Devra.
*Devra met Katie Couric in NY with the bloggers.
*Katie Couric was in “The More You Know” (1989) with Courtney Cox
*Courteney Cox was on The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards(2007) with Kevin Bacon