Last month, Toyota let me borrow the super awesome
and while I was able to take it out for an awesome girls night; I didn’t get to take it on any of our family fun outings.
Unfortunately, Arizona is known for cracking windshields with rocks on the road and the windshield cracked on the Toyota on day 2 of my experience.
I will tell you, I was quite upset, but
was nice enough to swap the Avalon for a 2015 Lexus 200t for us to experience and make the most of family fun outings!
Our little family tends to be quite spontaneous. No joke, on New Year’s this year, we decided late morning (like 11am) that we were going to load up and drive the nearly 3 hours up north to find snow so the kids could play. And we did.
Even though we didn’t get home until rather late and we only played in the snow for about 20 minutes because we weren’t prepared with mittens, hats, snow pants, etc. We know how to make the most of family fun outings (even if they are spontaneous!)
Making the Most of Family Fun Outings
Be spontaneous. Or be prepared.
If you are a spontaneous person, awesome. Load everyone up, jump in the car, head on out. If you are a planner, awesome. Pick a day, a place, load up the car, and go! No matter which one you are, you can still make the most of family outings!
Tunes.
I don’t know about you, but I cannot drive without some good tunes. Fortunately for us, the Lexus not only had the radio, but SiriusXM satellite radio so we were never without tunage.
Munchies.
If you aren’t venturing far, munchies are not necessarily a must. Our family outing to the snow on New Years Day? Snacks were a must. Our venture to Vertuccio Farms last month, we didn’t need snacks. It’s just knowing how far you will be on the road and what your kids are like (or you!) Worst comes to worst, thank goodness for gas stations!
Entertainment.
I don’t know about any other kids, but my kids tend to need entertainment. Especially the 2 year old. We recently found travel bingo cards that the kids love to take with us. I also found that the sun roof in the Lexus made for great entertainment. For all of us!
Positive attitude.
No one needs a party pooper when you are trying to have fun! A positive attitude on one person can make all the difference!
Have fun!
Last but not least – have fun. If things don’t go exactly as planned – it’s okay! Take those lemons and make lemonade! Enjoy yourself and most of all, enjoy your time with family!
In the few days we got to enjoy the Lexus, we went to a fish fry with my in-laws one night and we went to Vertuccio Farms for the fall festival and corn maze. While the fish fry was a lot of fun, having a hubby with a hay allergy definitely required a little coaxing and “lemonade” at Vertuccio Farms.
One of the downfalls that we realized fairly quickly with the Lexus was that the back seat did not accommodate a toddler car seat and a booster seat plus a third child very well. There was a lot of complaining and fighting over space, but we made lemons into lemonade!
The sun roof was a fabulous distraction for the kids. Especially at night when they could see the stars.
The SiriusXM radio was another great distraction. We were able to find the Kidz Bop station and all three kids enjoyed it!
We didn’t travel far from home as both of our family fun events were near home, but I could tell; the gas mileage was okay. I know the Toyota Avalon got great gas mileage, but the Lexus NX 200t was definitely half of the Toyota. The Lexus gets, on average, 25 miles per gallon. Not great, but definitely not the worst I have seen!
I wish we could have taken a longer road trip with the Lexus and used the GPS system a little bit more. I think that was one of my favorite features of both the Toyota and the Lexus. There is nothing worse than your phone lagging or falling somewhere and you get lost anyway. With the GPS system in the Lexus, it displayed on the screen in the dash as well as on my instrument panel.
The “mouse pad” for the screen options was difficult to learn, but I figured out how to work everything I needed right from the steering wheel so I didn’t have to take my attention off the road.
Oh! And my biggest excitement about the whole thing!? I was able to park by backing in thanks to the rear camera!
The Lexus NX 200t was a bonus for our family fun and I look forward to having many more family fun outings with my little family!
What is your favorite thing to do for family fun night?