Planning Ahead

With our 18 day coast to coast adventure only two weeks away I've been doing some shopping in attempts to make the trip with a 5 year old, 3 year old, 1 year old, and two 80lb. dogs as pleasant as possible. I was thinking I should contact One Step Ahead since I dropped a chunk of change there to see if they would be interested in having me do some consumer testing in exchange for their products...free of course. Maybe I could even appeal to their patriotism and elaborate for them on the military family relocating thousands of miles in order to continue in our service and commitment to defend and protect the very freedoms they enjoy and take for granted on a daily basis. The same freedoms that enable me to submit myself to the pain and misery of spending 18 days traveling uninhibited across this great nation of ours with my entire family in a space approximately 12 feet by 6 feet.

I'm hoping that a few of these products my help pass the time. We upgraded to the two screen DVD players for more options. I picked up two snack and play trays that I'm sceptical about but willing to gamble. I saw them on a news broadcast and am hopeful that they work. Essentially they are a soft tray that buckles around the child's waist and has some mesh pockets on the side to hold cranes and goodies. They have a raised edge that prevents things from rolling off. I envisioned them being able to color and eat on them. The flowered "7" pillow (random thought...remember the Seinfeld episode where George thought "7" would be the perfect name for a kid?) straps on Baileigh's seat belt and wraps around the back of her head to make it more comfortable for her when watching movies or snoozing. This is a complaint of hers since she now sits in just the base booster seat. I also ordered an over the seat organizer that can hold some of their coloring books, DVD's, CD's, diapers, two bottle holders etc. And for myself, a small garbage can designed specifically for my SUV in order to keep my organizational sanity in our tight confines.

I'll keep ya posted on their effectiveness.