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[quote=Anonymous]We've taken our twins regularly to see both my parents and my MIL.  You are lamenting that they aren't wrapping up your week with them in a pretty package with a bow.  But, you're the parent.  Act like it.  Get on the computer and do a little research.  I have managed to find age-appropriate things to do near my MIL for every visit.  I usually compile a list longer than we need and every day my children and I talk about what to do.  Sometimes we coordinate with family who want to come along, but the kids and I usually make the plans.

Look for any of the following nearby:
Playgrounds, especially big ones with fancy structures
Zoos
Aquariums
Children's museums
McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A's with indoor playrooms (good for when the weather is too hot, too cold, rainy, etc)
Trains, subways, light rails (if we don't use the public transit to get to some attraction, we often schedule one day just to ride the trains around and come back, my 5 yo twins have loved this for at least 3 years)
Fruit picking farms
Local attractions like a water park or even a fountain.  We went to dinner once where there was a fountain and the kids had a blast playing in the fountain after dinner.
Beach

It's amazing what you can find with Google nowadays.  I usually start with "City, State kid friendly attractions" and go from there.  A couple of nights and I usually have more ideas than we need.

As for toys, we've done the ideas already mentioned:
The kids each get a kid-sized roller bag and they stock up what they want to entertain them.  They each pack their animals and legos/duplos if they want them.  They pack particular toy cars they want.  I make sure that the roller bags that they have are ones that will fit under the seat in front of them, so that they don't need overhead space for the bag.

I also pack craft supplies (markers, crayons, stickers) in my bag.  Then a stack of paper from your parents printer or even stop by a dollar store and pick up some construction paper and he should be okay.  Also, the best kids distraction, especially on planes, is masking tape.  I go to Michael's and pick up 4-5 colors of masking tape and give pieces to the kids on the plane.  They can stick to the tray tables, to the window, seats.  We look for pictures in the SkyMall magazine and tear them out and make collages or they tape them up on the windows and tray tables.  I make origami with the pages and they tape them up.  They will take paper scraps from the magazine and tape them to make planes/cars/toys.  When done, I take a bag and toss it all in for the flight attendants last pass for trash.  If I don't have a bag, I take an air sickness bag to clean it all up.  When we get to destinations, my kids can do the same things there including at my MIL's house.  Masking tape and painter's tape clean up easily and don't leave residue, so it's all pretty child safe.

We have rented boxes of toys, back when we still needed to rent cribs or strollers.  Now we don't bother because the rental places mostly stock toys for toddlers and not for preschoolers.

We have purchased several things on Amazon to ship to my parents house before we get there.  And then we go to UPS and ship a box home.

We have stopped by Walmart or the dollar store on the way from the airport to my parents house and they get to pick out a bunch of inexpensive things to play with that week.  Then much of that can be tossed when we leave.[/quote]

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