Getting Ready for Our Trip

Boogs and I are excited about our upcoming camping trip with D and her four boys. This will be the third summer in a row that we have packed the boys in the car and taken off on a trip while our husbands stayed home to work. Our previous camping trips were to Colorado Bend State Park in Texas, Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas, and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. This year we are planning a longer trip to Pikes Peak in Colorado, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

We made a few fun things for the trip. D and I talked about taking a washers game, but neither of us owned one. We decided to get the boys together to make one. D stopped by the hardware store to buy some astro-turf and have wood cut to size.

The boys each took turns helping put the boxes together. Unfortunately, the wood kept splitting when we used the power drill and screws.

 So, the boys had to use a plain old hammer and nails to finish the project.

 Our washer set was a success! We played several rounds of washers before the heat sent us inside.

The washer kept getting lost in the grass. I ended up painting them bright yellow with a glitter finish.

Boogs and I painted one box and the J-Boys took the other box home to paint. We have the perfect spot in the cargo carrier to transport our new game on our trip.

Next up on our project list was a Flat Stanley-type craft. We each made a mini-me figure to take on the trip. We used the directions from Frugal Fun For Boys Pipecleaner Ninjas. I made one first so I could show the boys how easy it was to make. We are planning on posing our mini-me figures everywhere on our trip. The boys thought it sounded like a fun idea. Here is my mini-me drawing a little art project.

Everyone got to choose three colored pipecleaners. I did not have enough pony beads for the craft so we substituted pearler beads for them. These are fairly easy to make.

The boys got to choose what kind of bead they wanted for their heads. A square bead let you have space for four different expressions.

 

I took pictures of everyone and then hot-glued their face on their mini-me figure. We had fun posing them around a pipecleaner campfire.  I can't wait to take them on our trip. 

 

Posing with their minis. I love that Boogs' is holding his mini doing a ninja kick.

The third project I worked on this week, is a travel journal. I found some plain notebooks in the $1 bin at Michael's. I used some camping clip art to decorate each cover. Everyone got to chose the cover they wanted and surprisingly they all wanted different ones.

On the inside, I put a title for each major stop on our trip.

The tabs on the sides are spaced out so each stop has a few pages for journal writing. D and I figured these might keep them busy for a while during our long stretches of driving. But, that could just be wishful thinking.

One more week to go. I should start thinking about my packing list. We already know what is NOT going to be on the list - electronics. D and I have never taken dvd players, hand-held games, phone games, or iPads for the boys to use on our trips. These trips are the perfect opportunity to be unplugged for a couple of weeks. I am happy to say that when we started planning this year's trip, one of the boys offered up a couple of rules: "Number one rule is to have fun. The number two rule is no electronics because this is our time to bond." Yes! That came from an 11-year-old. We have brain-washed them well.

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