Gifts From The Pirates in Orlando - How to entertain your children on a long haul flight...

For the past few weeks Mrs M had been really stressing out about the holiday (yes I said 'stressing out'). The main stress has been Opeie's behaviour on the plane. He's not a naughty child at all but over the past few weeks he has become a real moaner, possibly just out of frustration from not being able to fully explain his emotions. Clearly entertaining the boys was going to be something we really needed to organise pre-flight. It wasn't just the entertaining though, we wanted to make sure they were both as comfortable as possible. So what do you pack for a 9 hour flight?

Well the important thing is to avoid bulkyness and weight, you don't want to go overboard with the hand luggage which is a mistake we made last time we went away. So firstly we needed to find luggage for them suitable for taking on the plane (size weight etc). When it comes to children's baggage there really is no competition, Trunki make cases that measure perfectly for hand luggage and the designs and colour are enough to ignite any child's imagination. This was made even more clear to us when we stepped in to the V-Room at the airport and saw these cuties looking back at us

We let Opeie pick a case at home and surprise surprise with his "nobbly knees and turned out toes" he chose the Gruffalo (a great choice I thought). The Gruffalo Trunki is fantastic, I wish all our baggage looked the same (a business Idea I could maybe take up with Trunki as I'd love a Lorax inspired one haha). As a case the Trunki design is really spacious, with strapping inside to hold your items in place. There is a clasp either side of the case that can be locked with the special Trunki key, Making the boys feel quite important. I remember when I was younger feeling chuffed when I had something I could lock, I was obviously a very private child (or a secret agent in the making). Because of the solid frame of the case it can also be used as a seat, perfect for the inevitable long wait around the airport or a comfy spot to eat your roasted fox. My favourite part of this product (and Opeie's) is the wheels, the case comes with a strap that can be attached to the front so that the case can be pulled turning this sought after travel accessory Into something your child can actually travel on, genius! So it came as no surprise to see many children wizzing around on these at the airport. This was such a help getting Opeie about after check in and Opeie had the time of his life riding around on his beloved Gruffalo, Thanks Trunki!!

Baggage sorted, now how to fill it? Well you can't go wrong with a sketch book and pens it's how we did it when I was younger, but there are some great products on the market perfect for travel. One of our favourites is the Nintendo DS which over the years has served as a great way to keep Seth motivated to do his physio daily. The recent release of the Nintendo 2DS was something that Seth was really excited about so when Nintendo offered to send us one we were overjoyed. For younger children the design of this handheld console is perfect, it's much more robust and I wish these had been about when Seth had his first DS as he dropped it and broke the hinge. For Seth the appeal was being able to play the 3d games in 2d, I wasn't sure that I would like the unit being in on piece but I actually enjoyed playing it more than my DSi XL. The 2DS is compatible with all 3DS games and most of the DS games (I'm yet to find one that doesn't work). So far this has also been great for keeping Seth occupied during long car journeys around Orlando. So big thanks to Nintendo, a sure favourite with the boys.

We're big apple fans (then so are most people these days) and aside from our iPhones our iPad tends to go everywhere with us especially on long journeys so an obvious choice for in flight entertainment. They don't take up to much space and the variety of uses, games and apps is endless. Opeie was so excited about a new ipad mini and i had filled it with apps, videos and plenty of books, thanks Apple. There are some great products on the market compatible with apple devices. The leapfrog 'Learn to write with Mr Pencil' is a great source of entertainment and education for toddlers.  

Opeie is getting to that stage where his scribbles are starting to have a bit more shape and structure and I think that products like this that make writing a game are amazing for Opeie's development. As part of the blogging holiday we've had a new camera and Seth has also had one for his birthday last week (tkeep a look out for a new feature on GFTP coming very soon), thanks to another great Leap Frog product there's no need for the youngest member of our party to feel left out. The Leapfrog Creativity Camera protective case is a very clever way of turning your iPhone into a child friendly camera. Most importantly the home screen button is blocked so that it can only be used as a camera during play. I can't wait to see the pictures the boys take during our holiday.

Thanks to Trunki again, flight comfort was covered with Trunki Snoozihedz a great travel accessory that now weve used once will come with us on all long journeys. The blanket folds up nicely into the pillow case for great space saving and the pillow is infatable which was great for taking up minimal space inside the Gruffalo Trunki.

In flight snacks are a big issue with us especially with all the allergies and Intolerances that Opeie and Mrs M have. When we go on holiday we have to take a suitcase of food just incase we have issues finding certain products abroad. Rather than write about this you can find out more about what we pack over at Mrs M's blog Natural Vegan Eco Mom.

In the end the flight went smoothly, the boys were fully entertained during the entire ten and a half hours that we were on the plane and were comfortable and well fed so our careful preparation and the great products supplied by the fantastic companies all worked in unison to get us to our destination stress free.

If you are interested in finding out more about any of the products, all products mentioned will have a full review once we have returned.

Stay tuned for our next post which at this point is looking like 'Driving on the wrong side of the road and car hire'.