Road Trip Games For Kids

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #Tips4Trips #CollectiveBias

As a dad, I have certain things I am in charge of such as all our tech (tablets, cell phones, video games), any science or art project and keeping the kids entertained in the car. These duties were pushed upon me and honestly, I don't really mind. Recently, we took a family road trip and with four kids in the car for hours, I knew I had to be prepared with fun road trip games to keep them entertained. I spent hours researching games, testing them out with the kids and these were our 5 favorite road trip games!

When we go on a road trip or any kind of travel, the kids know that they need to pack a bag. They are responsible for that bag during the whole trip. In this bag, they can pack whatever they feel they need to keep them entertained. Usually they will pack their tablets (and chargers), a book, stuffed animals and some toys. Even with tablets and toys, they still get bored and will begin arguing and whining, that's where road trip games come in!

5 Road Trip Games for Kids

1. "I Spy" I'm starting with a classic. I think we have all played "I Spy" at one point or another in our lives and kids love it. I started it off by spotting an item and reciting the line "I spy with my little eye something ______" and the first kid that figured out what it was would be next to spy!

2. "Go Fish" This is my kids' favorite card game. We play with Jumbo playing cards. Seven cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are put in  a pile known as the "ocean" that is shared between the players. Each player removes all pairs from their deck and then take turns asking each other for cards such as "Adrian, do you have any three's?" If Adrian had a 3 he gives it to the player that asked, if not he says "go fish" and the player that asked him has to pick up a card from the ocean. The point of the game is get rid of all your cards in pairs!

3. Tic Tac Toe All you need for tic tac toe is a paper and pencils/pens/markers. You draw the tic tac toe board (a pound sign or hashtag!) and one player plays as X and the other as O. The point of the game is to get three in a row or tic tac toe!

4. Would You Rather? I like games that get my kids thinking and Would You Rather is a great one! This one gets the whole family playing too. All you do is ask someone "Would you rather?" and then two choices they need to pick from. For example: "Gian, would you rather eat escargot or not play with your tablet for 2 days?" Once he answers, then he asks someone else in the car. This game gets lots of laughing, joking and lots of creativity from the kids!

5. Telephone One child whispers a story to someone else in the car. That person then whispers what they heard to another child in the car and so on until everyone hears the story. The last person to hear the story repeats it out loud so everyone can hear. Some of the story will get mixed up along the way and the resulting story will usually get alot of laughs from everyone!!

I had lots of games planned but these were the top 5. Some of the games on my list they didn't want to even try, so at one of the rest stops, I pulled out my trusty cell phone and searched for some more games which is where I got the idea for "Would You Rather?" Technology saves the day again!!

I'm so thrilled I am able to take my kids on vacations. Growing up, my family wasn't able to do so. I make sure to save my pennies all year long so we can take at least two vacations a year. One of the ways I save is by using Walmart Family Mobile with its unlimited talk, text and data service plans as my phone carrier. I have an Alcatel One Touch Pop Astro which is 4G LTE compatible, lightweight and very affordable. Walmart Family Mobile service is $29.88/month (for the first line) and the unlimited talk, text and data plan includes up to 1G of 4G LTE data!

I purchased my phone and starter kit at my local Walmart. The Walmart Family Mobile displays are in the entertainment sections of stores!

Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/frw8 or your local Walmart for current pricing!

I've shared our favorite road trip games and would love to have some more in reserve. What are your family's favorite road trip games?

A Day In The Life of a Dad

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PowerfulProtein #CollectiveBias  

Being a dad, especially a working dad of three, is no easy task. I need to be 100% at everything: work, the gym and with the kids, so I don't miss out on a thing. I like being busy but I also want to be present. A lot of people ask me "How do you do it?" My response: "I just do." Since I get asked this so often, I decided I would document a typical day in my life and share it with you.

My days start off early, at 5:15 a.m. I wake up, get dressed for the gym and have a prep meal (usually a rice cake with almond butter and honey since i wake up starving!) or a pre-workout shake and eat/drink on my way to the gym, arriving at the gym at 5:45 a.m. ready to workout! I do Crossfit, so everyday is a different WOD (workout of the day.)

Normally, I do the workout of the day, which is about 20 minutes and some strength-training, like clean and jerks or snatches, since I also compete in Crossfit competitions various times a year. By the end of my training, I bust out my signature move:

After I scrape myself up from the floor, I rush back home. I try to be back home by 7:40 a.m. the latest. Ida is great at getting the kids up, dressed and downstairs ready for breakfast by the time I get home. We are on summer break now from school but we still need to be up and early since Ida and I both work outside the home. We have breakfast and are out the door by 8:10 a.m.

I get to work by 8:30 a.m.  I am an architect and usually work from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., unless there is a major project deadline and I have to stay late.

Ida works until 4:30 p.m., so she will pick up the kids from summer day camp and them pick me up at work. From there we head home and get started on dinner. Thankfully, the kids are old enough to shower on their own so they will do that while we work on dinner. During the school year, it's a lot more hectic since there is homework to do and sports practices to be at but summer is a little more relaxed and we can spend more time together as a family. After dinner, I will usually play a board game or some video games with the kids. This is our bonding time. We will usually play until about 8 p.m. when I send them up to their room, they get in bed and read. 

Once the kids are in bed, I go out for a jog. I jog for conditioning training and to clear my head. I will jog for about 30 minutes, come back home, do some yoga to get in a good stretch and then of course, eat! I am once again starving but I do not dare ask Ida to make me more food. I only know how to make fried eggs and that can get a bit tiring after a while so I went to the store and stocked up on the new STOUFFER'S® Fit Kitchen meals. 

I need a meal with lots of protein and once I saw that these meals have at least 25 grams of protein each, I knew they would be perfect for me. I could just take one of the freezer, pop it in the microwave and in less than 10 minutes, I have a delicious flavorful protein packed meal!

My favorite is the Cilantro Lime Chicken. It's white meat chicken with black bean and corn mix, seasoned brown rice with a verde tomatillo sauce. 

I usually eat my STOUFFER'S® Fit Kitchen meals while chatting with Ida about our days. This is our together time. We are very busy during the day at work and with the kids so really this is the only time where it is just us. After I eat, I will take a shower, go to bed (around 10 p.m.) and am back up at 5:15 a.m. the next day to start all over again!

STOUFFER'S® Fit Kitchen meals are available in  the freezer section at your local Walmart. 

Be sure to check out STOUFFER'S® on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest for more info!

I've shared a typical day in my life as a dad now tell me about your day! 

4th of July Blended Family Style

4th of July is a big holiday in our home. My honey loves it and loves spending it as a family. We have the same tradition every year of going to the beach for the day and then the Biltmore Hotel at night to watch the fireworks. It is an amazing fireworks show and I am glad we go. Her big hting about the 4th is we spend it all together as a family. With my custody schedule, we didn't have Amberly and Gian this weekend so we sad about her tradition being ruined. I knew how important this is for her (since Thanksgiving and Christmas are always crazy on a shared custody schedule) so I had to do something. I spoke with my ex and she agreed to bring the kids to the Biltmore to watch the show. Sometimes the universe is really amazing!

I wasn't born in this country but I did immigrate here when I was 8 years old so I was raised here and am a naturalized citizen. I love the United States and am very grateful for all the opportunities and freedom I have been provided in this amazing country. I'm glad my children were born here and are proud to be Americans!