Big Kids in the Car

We don't have a DVD player in the car, and we don't intend to get one.  And outside of the little rattles that used to tie onto the girls' carseats, we don't allow toys in the car, either.

On trips of any distance, we keep ourselves entertained by singing and playing little "quiz" games.

We have a number of kiddie CDs we all enjoy, and I have a handful of "real" music CDs that are appropriate for the girls.  (We hadn't listened to the Beatles in a while, and I was scrolling through the CD changer when the girls and I went to Alabama a couple of weeks ago.  "THE BEATLES!!!" Baby A exclaimed.  "Let's listen to the Beatles!!!  That makes me think of going to Chicago!"  Hahaha!)

In the way of "quiz" games, for the longest time, the girls loved to count the syllables in a word, or a phrase, or a sentence.  Now they're READING, so we look at signs, which is all sorts of fun.  And there's plenty of math to be done, too...calculating how many miles until a particular place, using the mile markers, for example.

Yesterday, as we drove to north Alabama (about 175 miles) to meet our family for a long lunch, we talked a lot about money.  "If you have $.75 and I give you two dimes and three pennies, how much do you have?"  It kept us all entertained for much of the trip.

While our singing has reached new heights, and our word- and math- games go to new levels as the girls get older, there are a couple new things in our in-car repertoire...and they make me all sorts of giddy.

As the girls and I drove home from Alabama a couple of weeks ago, I was in *real* need for some coffee.  We went through a Starbucks drive-thru, and the girls asked for hot chocolate.  I'm fine with them having the occasional hot chocolate now and again...but we've never done that in the car.

With all sorts of admonitions in place, I ordered a tall hot chocolate (not too hot), and asked that it be split between two cups.  How ADORABLE was it for me to look in my rearview mirror and see the girls sipping their Starbucks!!!

And this weekend, the girls asked if they could take a book to read in the car.  I told them they could take a paperback book (as a hardback scares me a little bit with its corners and potential to be a projectile).  How ADORABLE was it to see them READING in the backseat??!!!

(Pardon the blurriness of my iPhone picture!)

Even if I'm often in disbelief, I'm so proud of my baby girls and what BIG KIDS they're becoming!