Join MomsMinivan.com at PBS Parents.org

Last summer I had the pleasure of appearing as a featured "expert" at the PBS Parents website to talk about keeping kids entertained on the road. This week I have been invited back!

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

Multimedia message - Bonnaroo Bound!

Moms' weekend getaway with friends. In the car line for Bonnaroo! 40 license plates so far!

Travel Gear Shopping Coupon March 16, 17

Shop and Save for road trip gear!

On St. Patricks day the coupon code: 3STPAT09 will save Family Travel Gear customers 15% on every product except the CARES (Child avaiation restraint) harness. The coupon code can be used on both March 16 and 17, 2009.

They have great stuff to help make traveling with kids easier, and MomsMinivan.com gives them two thumbs up on service and quality! Shop at Family Travel Gear!

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!

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!

Blogger Mom Road Trip!

My blogging BFF's Devra and Aviva are taking it on the road! They are part of a cross-country Mom Road Trip for mom bloggers on their way to the BlogHer convention in San Fransciso this month! Five fabulous bloggers and several thousand miles to cover in a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid SUV with all the wireless internet and gadgets they can carry, starting July 12th.

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!

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

Join Mom's Minivan on Facebook!

MomsMinivan.com now has it's own page on Facebook! Connect with me and with other MomsMinivan fans by visiting the MomsMinivan Facebook page and clicking "become a fan!". Post a note to my wall, send a message, or just share the site with your friends. Spread the word and join the Moms Minivan fans!

On the Radio in Akron, OH

If you are in the Akron area, listen for me on The Morning Show on 1590 WAKR next Monday morning. I'll be doing a short phone in interview at 6:50 am - yawn! Fortunately I will already be awake (blearily scarfing down coffee and Lucky Charms) while the kids are getting ready for school. I'll get a chance to talk about fun things to do when traveling with your kids. The busy holiday travel season is almost here!

Cootie Catcher

I have updated the article on How to "How to Make a Cootie Catcher"! Most kids really enjoy making these from scratch; however, I've had a few requests for a pre-fab version, so I have answered the call. My own children are often the test subjects for new material at the website, and I'm happy to report that they were very pleased with my printable cootie catcher creation.

They especially liked that I offer two versions. One is all inclusive and complete. The other version has the "fortunes" areas left blank so you can fill in your own fortunes. Please enjoy these PDF files which are now part of the cootie catcher article, and also posted on the Printable Car Games page with all the other printable goodies.

Printable cootie catcher (pdf file) (complete with fortunes)
Blank cootie catcher (pdf file) (write your own fortunes)
images ©2007 MomsMinivan.com

Another Minivan for Mom

A couple of years ago I reached out to my readers to help me fix the air conditioning in my aging minivan. Earlier this summer I finally fixed the entire van by replacing it with a long overdue and much needed newer van. (Read about the history of all my minivans here.) It's a slightly used 2006 Grand Caravan "Special Edition". And it's special indeed - loaded with goodies like a sun roof, leather seats, and a built in GPS navigational system. A real Mom's minivan.

My three kids wasted no time at all helping me "Mom My Ride" (see video below) during our first road trip in the new van - a 9 hour drive to NC for a week at the beach in July. We filled it with dog hair (on the way to the kennel), crumbs, sunscreen, wet towels, leaky coolers, and lots and lots of sand during our stay at the beach.

My ride definitely says, "Don't even think about it, I've got kids". Although, I prefer to think of it as saying, "Happy family on board!" or "Another successful road trip completed!"

"Mom My Ride"

Welcome and First Post

Well, it's about time I got on the blog bandwagon. I actually had a personal blog that I kept for about year which chronicled my family's evacuation and return home after Hurricane Katrina. It was wildly popular for the first couple of months after the disaster, but it seemed to run a natural course and I ended it when we moved out of the New Orleans area. It's on to greener pastures and minivan road trip adventures for us!

My friends Devra and Aviva enjoy writing to their blog at Parentopia and have been subtly kicking my butt to get blogging again so I can attend Blogher conventions and other adventures with them. Even without their encouragement, I'm long over due for my return to the blogosphere, so here I am.

The plan for the MomsMinivan Blog is for news and updates about my website Momsminivan.com, new car games to play, and possibly some of our family's travel adventures. Thanks for reading along...