with school almost out, its time to be planning vacations.  for us, this year, we are not able to go on one :( BUT i have this cool tip....its like one of those aha moments that are in the simple magazine....i saw this in a magazine and thought it was a great idea.  traveling with a large crew brings its own challenges.  we have a 15 passenger van and that means 4 bench seats.  we usually keep the 4th one out, if at all possible--to keep all the 'needed in the car' things--but it still means some of the kids have to have the {much hated} middle seat.  we don't have those cute little cup holders or even seats that can hold those over the back fun little things.

this is what we do!  each person has their own and they go down both side of the van.  the {poor miserable} middle seat person has to reach {OMG} to reach theirs, but it can hold dvds, hand held games, drinks, books, candy,  ipods, phones, crayons, phones, etc....

i got them in the bathroom/shower department at walmart.  i keep them in our coat closet when not in use.  the kids know when the stacks start for our trip that they are to bring those out, wash them up and put them in the pile.

i have lots of other things we have discovered and tried for large families traveling.....lots of fun traditions that make them all say 'remember when we did.....'  and 'you know how we always do.....'

I LOVE IT!