Baltic

We had the most amazing time here. Shame it's 274 miles from home. Practically a sock worth of travel knitting -  in between breaking up tussles in the back seat.

Some days I question the sanity of grandparents far away and a principled refusal to buy an in-car DVD.

Comments

[Pebbledash]

mmm...virtually the same mileage I have when driving up to the south east...and no-one else to drive so no chance of sock knitting! The Baltic looks amazing (I'd never heard of it..is it just me who's out of touch?).

[Thimbleanna]

Ah, but think of the memories of those back seat tussles! Every kid should have them, shouldn't they? ;-)

[Thimbleina]

That looks interesting. I agree on the not allowing the DVD player though, there must be other ways. When we go camping we pile pillows in between the two which helps when they can't see each other, we also have to stop to let the littlest run off steam as he can be like a caged animal in the car if he doesn't drop to sleep

[driftwood]

someone else told me about the baltic this week, now it's even higher on my must do list.

we went in a friends car with a dvd player once, they argued about what to watch and it made the travel sickness even worse.....

[Lisa]

What a wonderful building. The penguin sign is great!
I wouldn't go for the DVD player in a car either.
Lisa x

[Kristy]

Get the DVD player it will change your car journey life! We only allow one film per journey and save it for just the right moment.If you know what I mean ;)
We tend to do long car journeys 4hours plus and it can get pretty tense with 6 of us and the dog!
2 of my girls get very car sick reading or playing games so the DVD player is a god send.It's not a fancy 2 screen jobby just a bog standard portable one.
That place looks very interesting!

[Rebecca]

Oh I laughed at this, I also suffer from a principled refusal to buy an in-car DVD and we have grandparents in Ireland. I like to be able to smugly say things like "but we enjoy talking and playing games on our jouneys". I don't usually feel that way after the umpteenth toilet stop and "are we there yet?" chorus. Hmmm, Newcastle, that's a whole lot of I-Spy and thank heavens for audiobooks.

The Baltic is lovely, we went to a wedding there once, the photos were taken on the bridge across the river!

[monica]

we when bought my car (used one) it already had a video player... yes, old fashion cassettes... we've only used it for very long drives - over 2/3 hours - and it's worked miracles.

That is untill they argue on what film to watch/which earphones to use - even if they're all the same/ who sits where - the middle seat hasn't got the best view etc. etc. etc.

You can't win. No matter what you do. I think parenthood is all about damage limitation.

That place looks amazing, by the way.

[Emma]

The building is wonderful and the exhibitions look great. What did you see? I would have felt a bit queasy knitting in the car - a good use of travel time though.

[French Knots]

We have a dvd player that straps on the back of the seat, it really stops the bickering! They are only allowed to watch a film on the motorway part of a really long journey as they are both prone to car sickness but it helps make the trip less stressful for all of us.
My husband wants to drive to Spain next year for our hols - just the thought of it makes me want to stay at home!

[Angel Jem]

I love that part of the world... I think the North East is a very undervalued area, which is good for those who do go there.
DVD player? Nah, hold out as long as poss.... we don't have one, but we do do audio books.

[Georganna]

My kids used to fight like cats & dogs in the back seat until someone recommeded putting one in the front seat with the driving adult (if they're old enough) and one in back with the non driving adult. Worked like a charm. Also, ginger capsules work really well for car sickness -- for kids and adults. I can read or knit while driving if I take one or two before we leave -- something I could never do before ginger.

[Fancy Elastic]

Oh, I know, we deliberately moved miles away from all the grandparents... something we are questionning ourselves about now!

[The Coffee Lady]

if it makes you feel any better, an in car DVD works wonders, absolute wonders, until it makes Littlest carsick and she throws up.

Usually on the motorway.

[Liz]

We have a two screen DVD that straps onto the back of the headrest of the seat in front. I refused to buy one for quite a while and then we got one as a gift. We only use it on long drives (4 or 5+ hours.)The drive to grandma's and grandpa's is 10 hours and we don't break it out until we are at least 1/2 way and it does seem to help.

We also do audio books. We especially love storynory.com - just put them on your mp3 player and you are good to go. Plus - they are free.

[Gina]

When they first came out (DVD's in cars), I was like....as if.
We travel a lot, have to sometimes. Many hours in a car...yeah a DVD player is on my list.
Glad to hear you had a great time.

[Louise]

Well, looks like you've been having lots of fun since I last checked your blog over a week ago! Did you go and see the Darwin exhibition? Looks quite interesting.

[kristina]

Looks amazing! But I think the car journey to North Norfolk is about my limit. I've been thinking about trying an audio book, but not sure G and I could ever agree on one! K x

[kelly]

what a cool building!

[Michelle]

What an amazing looking gallery!

And back seat tussles are surely a childhood right of passage. My mum used to keep a block of chocolate in the car for long road trips, and threatened to throw it out the window if there were any arguments. The thought of losing that chocolate out the window sure stopped any arguments from us!

Thank you so much for your birthday wishes xx

[kirsten]

we have an in-car dvd. it's the only thing that stops my kids from puking.

good stuff. it should have a halo.

(I can comment!)

[Kari of Writing Up A Storm]

Dear Ali,

I absolutely love your measure of travel time: "a sock worth of travel knitting!" I've been using a clothespin on my blog to measure how tall or how small things are. For example, I'm featuring a scrapbook I made, so I stood a clothespin next to it to show that the bulk of its pages is just taller than a clothespin.

But I think your "sock worth of travel knitting" is simply priceless ~ thank you for the smiles!

xo Kari

[Victoria Leather]

Felt the same about in-car entertainment till we realised the kids could watch 13 hours of in-flight movies during our many Asia to UK flights if they wanted but never actually did.

Now we're back & do lots of car travel we've got a dual screen number which has fixed all car sickness (hurrah hurrah hurrah) & made travel with the kids a pleasure. There are still tussles as they are of course small people confined for hours, there is talking, there is singing & there is sleeping. But best of all, there are earphones so I don't have to listen to their Disney fix but can enjoy Radio 4 in peace!

Enjoy the rest of the hols - is it me or are they flying by....????