Last week we thought it would be an awesome idea to travel 780 miles to Manhattan, KS with a two year old! Although we were headed for my brother-in-law’s graduation from K-State (shout out to Tony for completing his MBA in business and graduating Magna Kum laude!) and we were excited to celebrate Tony, I was sincerely nervous about driving that far with a toddler! I kept reminding myself that we had traveled all the way to Germany in December, spending a 9 hour flight with a toddler awake for 8 of the hours. I sincerely believed I was smiling in this photo taken as we were approaching the gate in Frankfurt…
I also held on to the comfort that unlike the plane, we could pull over, get out and walk around if someone got a little too stir crazy! I meticulously planned out our route there as we were actually going all the way to Lennexa, KS to stay with my dear friend Vanessa, I planned for stops in North Platte to visit Ft. Cody… Not the most exciting tourist attraction but it had a bathroom and a few things to entertain the tiny human, and Omaha.
Don’t worry we did not try to put this buffalo in our car… 
Daddy teaching someone how to howl like a coyote.
This little show was cool, it was animated and had narration with it. Kynzie kept oohing and ahhhing.
Of course we wanted to ride the horsey.
The next stop was in Omaha, thank God for bounce houses! This place was awesome and if/ when we are back in Omaha we will certainly visit them again!
Now, to the part about how we still ate healthy, and probably saved a ton of money! *I was going to be super ambitious and estimate what we would have spent had we stopped every time we had a meal, drink, or snack…. But we didn’t eat out so we for sure saved money!* I found the key to this process was prep, truthfully any healthy eating habits take prep until they are second nature habit. I kept the grocery budget within our normal budget for 2 weeks ($150) and planned for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.
Because this blog is about being real, I bought some of the snacks… Ain’t nobody have time to Pinterest and make all the things! But I did Pinterest a few homemade snack ideas to try out, not enough to be overwhelmed though…. I suggest pinning what you think is cool then narrowing it down to a couple of things! On another note if anyone would like to gift me a dehydrator I would be so excited! Missing from the store bought photos is guac, hummus, celery, sandwich makings, Apple juice, milk, almond milk and waters. For a super funny time, have your hubby portion out your snacks using the “suggested serving size”, you will hear plenty of remarks like “about 24 pieces?! Why would I count out 24 pieces?! why don’t you just say about a quarter cup?!” Seriously I couldn’t help but giggle! Okay on to the fun part… What I made!
Banana chips! I followed this recipe Here, I would suggest dehydrating them a little longer than what is stated in this recipe because they seemed a little chewy still… Although AMAZINGLY delicious! 
Homemade fruit chews! I actually just followed the recipe on the gelatin box and used two types of fruit juice. Pom cherry was tart so I added a little honey to sweeten it up a little. The bolhouse Farms Tropical Goodness was delicious but definitely sweet enough on its own so it did not need anymore sweet. These guys do require being kept COLD, a cooler with ice packs was barely enough. When a bag was left in the consol from North Platte to Omaha it turned back to juice and now it is a bag shaped, mixed juice, giant fruit snack!
Homemade fruit leathers were a little challenging, I followed this recipe Here. This seemed tricky because my pan was curved so the compote pooled in the center, I ended up with edges that were fruit chips and middle that was barely dehydrated. We ended up accidentally leaving the Tupperware holding these by accident but it was an awesome whoopsies because the crunchy parts had absorbed some of the moisture making them almost perfect fruit leathers! This recipe was super easy to follow and make, seriously… Frozen berries, how much easier can you get?! 
I apparently forgot to document them but I also made apple chips… Holy crap they were good! I followed this recipe Here. It doesn’t make a ton, but we shared them easily between the three of us.
Of course we also brought along our Arbonne necessities, protein, fizz sticks, shaker cups, almond milk (do not buy the travel size, they are way more expensive per ounce, buy the regular 64oz and use mason jars to travel) and berries to add! A genius idea I had, blend your berries and store them in a water bottle. You can pour them into your shake, on the go, and still have pizazz in your protein without a blender!
I also spent about $17 at the dollar store on new toys to keep the tiny human entertained and excited, and small tupperware containers to portion guac and hummus! I’m not sure why, but the pictures uploaded in the opposite order, so here is our trip in reverse!
How we sleep:
Google maps really took us down this road while cutting through Kansas on our way back.
Crossed feet… So cute! 
K-State Gardens
Manhattan Zoo! 
Cupcakes after swimming, YUM!
Graduation, the guy standing in the middle is Tony! Also, tiny human slept through the ENTIRE ceremony! 
I suffered with a cold while traveling and this oil healed my cracked, dry, sore, roudolph nose every night and I would wake up feeling like I had never touched a Kleenex to my nose! AH-MAZING, also great for your whole face, ha! 
Because 9 hours in a car…
My car diffuser crapped out, but never fear I had my full size one and happen to have an outlet adapter… Thieves for the WIN! 
Kansas State sign picture (I was in the far left lane…)
Sleeping tiny human was the reason for the drive by picture of Missouri.
Iowa state sign… 1. Sleeping tiny human 2. Sign is located over the 5 lane interstate… 
Sandwich and celery sticks with guac for dipping! 
Hummus, green peppers, and PB&honey. She ate every last bite of the peppers and hummus! 
cool shades bro!
Healthy With Melanie 