This is the story of our 1st family road trip as a family of four…

With our daughter being born in April, my wife has been on maternity leave for a couple of months now; home with both kids.

I know it’s been such a change of pace for her, as her important job at Vanderbilt University along with her nearly 2 hour round trip daily commute are in major contrast to the culture she’s been used to for so long.

Therefore, it was no surprise when my wife expressed to me she would like for our family to take on a family road trip from our home near Nashville, Tennessee to Destin, Florida. Granted, I was all for it- we took our son there for his 5^th birthday last November, while we drove the Lexus GX 460.

However, after a few days, my wife and I realized that perhaps a 7 hour drive with a 2 month-old and a 5 and a half year-old might be a bit on the ambitious side.

So we remembered back to 2 years ago when we visited Atlanta to see the Wizard Con, while driving the Toyota Prius.

We recalled how vegan/vegetarian-friendly that city was and how much there was to do there, and how we didn’t get a chance to see the Georgia Aquarium or the Delta Flight Museum like we had hope to.

Not to mention, a 4 and a half hour drive is a lot less intimidated than a 7 hour one.

So, let this new blog page today serve as a sort of interactive table of contents for all the chapters of our family’s recent road trip to Atlanta.

In 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited: 3rd Row Seat and Child Car Seat Placement, I explain that much of our motivation to drive the 2016 Toyota Highlander was to see what it was like to drive with 2 kids and a 3^rd row seat. I also made 2 videos to better demonstrate the layout and storage space.

Next in Gluten-Free Vegan Road Trip to Atlanta, Georgia (in a 2016 Toyota Highlander), I explain how we managed to dine out, as a family in which the dad is a gluten-free vegan, the mom is a gluten-free vegetarian, the boy is a vegetarian, and the girl is a baby who needs her bottle.

After that, I talk about the first official stop in Atlanta, in Dear Jack: Our Trip to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia.

And the next day, I talk about our other major stop Dear Jack: Our Trip to the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.

I close my series by sharing how my kids got to meet their great-grandparents on this trip as well, as we stopped through both Fort Payne, Alabama and Flintstone, Georgia (near Chattanooga, Tennessee) in Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Road Trip).

Here’s the coolest part about our trip: Our kids truly did well the entire time!

Thanks to the Highlander’s DVD player and headphones, our son was able to watch The Lion King, Aladdin, and 3 of the 5 disc set of my Pink Panther cartoon collection.

Meanwhile, our infant daughter sleep while I drove.

That meant my wife and I actually got to talk and hang out! Imagine that.

I now invite you to check out the 5 chapters of 2016 Toyota Highlander: Atlanta Road Trip (Our 1^st Family Road Trip as a Family of 4):

2016 Toyota Highlander Limited: 3rd Row Seat and Child Car Seat Placement

Gluten-Free Vegan Road Trip to Atlanta, Georgia (in a 2016 Toyota Highlander)

Dear Jack: Our Trip to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Jack: Our Trip to the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Holly: Meeting Your Great-Grandparents (2016 Toyota Highlander Road Trip)

Just simply click on each individual title to read the individual chapter. Thanks for visiting my blog today!

I am Nick Shell with Family Friendly Daddy Blog.