Road Trips with the Grands!

School's out for summer! How about a road trip with your grandchildren?

Take it from this gramma, this is a great idea. I have thoroughly enjoyed these ventures. And consider making it with just ONE grandkid at a time. Great bonding time. I read where some grandparents had a custom of taking each grandchild on a trip when they reached the age of ten years. They thought that was the perfect age, as the child was old enough to even help with planning. It happened to work out for us to take our grandchildren when they turned five. My husband had a conference in Austin, and so we invited our 5-year-old grandson to join us. Then we did the same when our granddaughters each turned five.

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Our middle grandchild's trip to Austin/San Antonio. Have plenty for them to do in the car.

We did all the touristy things while in San Antonio: the Riverwalk, the Tower of the Americas, took in a play at the Magik Theater, the zoo, and rode the barge along the river. Here you can see she was wearing down a bit, but ever so much fun!

In Austin while Poppa was at his conference, we did the same as we did in San Antonio; we made like tourists and visited museums, the Japanese gardens, and went for swims in the hotel pool. All great happenings for little kids.

When our youngest granddaughter was five, she got a trip to a neighboring town just a few miles away. Doesn't matter to the youngsters--a road trip is a road trip no matter how near or far.

Only thirty miles from home, but we stayed in a hotel and took her to see "Frozen on Ice." We even bought gimmicky tourist souvenirs as you can see in our selfie--it adds to the whole road trip/tourist experience.

We took in the whole "Houston" experience. Here we are at an amusement park and she has on her souvenir hat. It was great fun!

Here she is at the aquarium restaurant with Poppa. I hope this short road trip with our youngest granddaughter really added to her memories. I know I had fun!

We took our youngest grandchild on a road trip to Lubbock. Now some of my readers may be asking--what is there to do in Lubbock? Oh contrare, there's a lot to do. Especially for a four year old. Here we are at Prairie Dog Town. See the little prairie dog over to the right?

Here he is at a Lubbock amusement park. When you go on a road trip, even if it's just to the next town, look for all they have to offer. You might be very surprised. This kid-size park was just perfect for our grand--he loved it!

Riding the chair lift with his grandpa! Nothing better! Fun for him, and WAY fun for us!

More ideas for a road trip:

When my oldest grandson was five, he was really into knights, and castles, and the Middle Ages. We gave him a road trip to Dallas and to the Medieval Times Theater. What a great trip even for us old folks. The pomp and pageantry is spectacular. This too was a great trip!

We even paid a little extra to get him knighted! Very fun!

We ate with tankards and trenchers and our fingers just as they did in Medieval Times while we watched the jousts. Such a great trip!

Show them your old stomping grounds on a road trip!

One spring we went to a wedding in the Lubbock area. We decided to make a road trip out of it for all three of our grands. We showed our grands the world of our childhood. We took them to Palo Duro Canyon, and to a great museum that was our favorite when young.

Cliff overlook at Palo Duro Canyon. We really made like tourists doing all the touristy things--we even took a jeep ride through the canyon. 

Great museum and very kid-friendly!

We were sure to show our grands the caves and trails that we hiked when we were young. 

Why do a road trip with your grandchildren? Or great grandchildren or perhaps nieces and nephews?

• Because it's FUN! That's the main reason for me--it's just plain fun. 
• You see our world with new eyes--through the eyes of your grandchildren. 
• It's a bonding time. You get to know each other better. And don't overlook the joy of traveling with grandchildren ONE AT A TIME. Everyone should have their grandparents' undivided attention at some point in their life. It's nice not to have to share your grandparents with your siblings once in a while.
• It's a chance to take your grandkids to places from your youth. Even if it's in the same town or area. Be tourists and really immerse yourself in the experience.
• Being a teacher, I can't leave out this one: it's educational. The trip to Palo Duro Canyon? They learned about conquistadors, buffalo wallows, water and wind erosion, early pioneers to the area.....and the list goes on. Our grandson's trip to Medieval Times Theater? You can imagine--he learned about trenchers and tankards, jousts, and knights, and many other things. You get the idea. 
• Greatest one of all? You're making MEMORIES.

But don't take my word for it. Here are some thoughts on the matter from travel advisors, excerpted from the website of American Grandparents Association, www.grandparents.com/food-and-leisure/travel/sshow-why-travel-with-grandchildren. It's a good article:

Phyllis Karas: "Why do I love to travel with my grandchildren? Why, who else would my husband and I most love to spend our free time with? Who else would see the world with such fresh and innocent eyes as these three beautiful little people? It doesn't matter where I am with my grandchildren, I treasure every second of our time together. And when we are traveling together, leaving our usual routines behind, it is heaven on earth."

Carol White: "Grandparents are the keepers of family culture and heritage that gets passed from one generation to the next. One of the keys to that is creating memories and imparting knowledge that can only be gained through the actual experience of travel. They will soon forget the items that we buy them, but taking them places and doing things with them, they will never forget."

A great museum in Canyon, Texas, and very kid-friendly. Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. They had a costume box, and here's my grandson as a turn-of-the-20th-century teen.

Granddaughter playing the part of a school marm. Don't neglect to check out the local museums on your road trip. Most have interactive exhibits that are perfect for young children.

Take in all the local attractions. Here's my grandson at Inner Space Caverns.

Checking out the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin. Great fun for a dinosaur fan.

Another great museum for a road trip to Dallas: Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Tons of hands-on activities.

Always check out local exhibits when on a road trip. We encountered this butterfly exhibit in Lubbock at Omnimax Theater and Science Spectrum there.

Just a simple day trip to Galveston and the Rainforest Pyramid.

Stay-cation in our own hometown--riding the trolley.

Another great interactive exhibit at the Perot Museum. Racing a prehistoric sea creature with his dad on a road trip there.

Please share your road trip ideas that you have done with your grandchildren. And I hope I've sparked some ideas for you to take a trip with the little guys in your family. A trip right in your own town or to the next town can be worlds of fun. A sweet friend in Amarillo took her grandson to the Panhandle-Plains Museum in Canyon a mere 15 miles away. Don't overlook how fun something like that can be. They enjoyed it so much, that they took another road trip--to the Charles Goodnight Historical Center. You really can't put a price-tag on something like that. Traveling and exploring with your grandkids is simply the BEST!