Summertime is upon us, and that means family vacations. Whether heading to a beach, the mountains, or an historic landmark, many trips will share one thing in common. If there are children in the family, there is the inevitable question, "Are we there yet?" That begins about a half hour after you leave home and continues until you arrive at your destination. Young children are often seen with tablets or other electronic devices to keep them occupied.

How did families survive car trips before electronic devices came along a few decades ago? Ask your parents or grandparents. They played family games in the car, especially those long rides when patience was thin. See if these games sound familiar; they came from conversations I've had with friends.

The automobile itself was the center of many games. "Padiddles" is played by looking for all the cars that are missing one headlight. The first to spot one yells out, "Padiddle," and gets one point. You can set a time limit for this game.

"Punch Buggy" asks everyone to find items in the car that start with letters of the alphabet in order from "A" to "Z." It's fun to take turns and work together to make it through the whole alphabet.

"License Plates" can lead to some unexpected geography lessons. Have the children check out the various states they see on license plates. Keep a list and work toward all 50 states. If you have multi-aged children, they can take on different responsibilities in the games. Have them take turns writing down the states throughout the trip and then add the abbreviation next to each one. Bring along a paper map of the United States. When they have found at least twenty states, bring out the map and have them circle the ones they have found with a red pen. Then they know which ones they have left to find. Keep the map in the car over multiple trips to look for the difficult states. Put on the map the dates when you start and complete all fifty states.

My family loved to play "Cow Poker" in rural areas. One person counts all the cows in the fields on the left side of the car, while another counts the cows on the right side to see who found the most in a specific time period. Another favorite was "I spy with my little eye something beginning with a certain color or letter." Everyone guesses until a winner is correct. Staring contests are fun: two children see who can stare the longest without blinking. This is a quick one. Don't forget "family sing-alongs" and stories about how the parents grew up. Try a few of these games on this summer's family car trips. If they don't entertain your children, you can always pull their electronic games out  from under the seat.