03 April 2010

destination provence

Soon.
Very soon.
We are headed on a road trip -- destination Provence.
Can you feel the excited energy through your monitor?
One teeny, tiny, ensy, little concern -- Young One.

While our usual group of travel buddies are all folks with young children, the group that we will rendevous with this time are either all childless or  haven't had little people around for years.  Eight adults -- one almost six-year-old Young One.  Not smart. I know. Probably even stupid.  These folks will be absolutely delightful with her, but she will quickly bore of them and wish there was another almost six year old along for the adventure.

The good news is that we are staying in a gîte with a huge yard;  the other good news is that we don't have to spend every waking second with the group.  Flexibility is on our side.  The best news is that it's Provence in the spring, and well. .  . what was the problem?

So, tell me:  If you were packing the car for a week in Provence, in the area of Avignon . . . what would you put in it to help out with this potentail issue?

I've got the portable DVD player, a scooter, a ball, a camera for her exclusive use, books, a few new art supply surprises, and even an experiment or two lined up.

What would you bring?

5 comments:

  1. When we went to Naples a few weeks ago I brought Katherine a big dinosaur coloring book with a cardboard back (which make it easy to use in the car). There were coloring sheets, of course, and three pages of repositionable stickers too. She worked in that book for hours. Seriously. We were in the car for 11 hours (or so) and she was absorbed in that book almost the whole time. I'd packed a DVD player a few new DVDs, but we only watched two short shows. It was amazing!

    For the hotel days, I just brought a few of her favorite toys: costumes, dolls, art supplies...you know, that sort of thing. We made dinosaur caves (are you beginning to see a theme here?) out of blankets and spent a lot of time roaring and stomping around our room. It was fun!

    If you guys have pretty weather and a big backyard though, you'll be fine. What more could any kid want, right? Have fun!

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  2. HA! too funny! we are headed to provence on monday--in the area of avignon. staying in a gite! :)

    anyway, sounds like you're packing pretty much what we are. books, drawing/coloring stuff, DVDs, kid cameras, and a few toys (mostly trains/cars).

    fingers are crossed for good weather. i have not looked at a weather report. please don't tell me it's going to rain the whole time!!!

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  3. thought of something else--iphone games for kids! there are a lot of great ones out there!

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  4. um, alcohol. That's what I'd pack, in case the wine didn't take effect quick enough. Oh, wait, did you mean for her or you?

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  5. it is too bad we will mostly miss each other! we are staying near where you are, though the name of the village slips my mind. it's super tiny, i think. the gite is backed right up to a vineyard!

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