(from the archives. Originally posted 9.5.2012)
It really seems like much, much longer ago than two weeks that my family and I were on an eight-day beach vacation, but that is the truth! The first week of school was hard to jump right into, but we made it through!
As we were vacationing, I was making a mental blog post of several things I would advocate in order to have a great beach vacation- with kids, anyway. I know that the first time we took our kiddos to the beach- we only had two at the time- was a big learning curve. Not so much of the hours-on-end of reading and listening to the waves like it was pre-kids! (and the few trips we’ve had minus the kids since then.)
1.) Decide what kind of location you want
My sunset I got to enjoy alone.
We were in Dauphin Island, Alabama for this trip, as well as mine and hubby’s trip in April to celebrate our 10th anniversary. This island is the epitome of “laid-back” and that’s exactly what we wanted. At the busiest time we went to the beach (and granted, Alabama students were already back in school) there were maybe 40 other people there. And that was a lot. One night I went to watch the sunset (alone!) and I was literally alone. Not one other person.
If you are looking for more of a touristy beach, I would suggest Destin, Florida or Gulf Shores, Alabama on the Gulf Coast.
2.) Buy any floats or beach toys you want before you get to the beach.
Since summer was almost over, we were able to pick up some floats for $1.50 at Wal-Mart on the way. To rent an almost-identical float at the beach, it was $5 a day! And if our floats busted, we didn’t have to worry about it because they were ours.
Since you may be swimming more than once a day, and there is not much worse than putting on a wet bathing suit (especially one filled with sand!), try to pack at least 2 swimsuits per person. This gives the other one time to dry between swim sessions.
Since I am pregnant and didn’t want to shell out $50 for a maternity swimsuit for my last 3 months of pregnancy, I was the only one in the family that had only one swim suit. Can I just say again, it is gross to put on a wet, sandy bathing suit!
These kids go through lots of laundry!
Because of a very generous friend, we were able to stay in a whole house for the week, which included a washer and dryer. That was a life saver! Every single day I threw in our sandy swim suits and towels so we were able to start at least relatively sand-less each day. And, I was able to have almost all of our regular laundry done before we packed up to go home, which meant I only had one load to do at the end of our trip!
5.) Change your expectations
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I love going to the beach with a book and just reading and looking at the water. With kids, it’s a non-stop making-sure-no-one-is-in-danger kinda trip. We had the kids wear life jackets if they got anywhere close to the water, but I still was very nervous so at least one of us was always in the water with them. And it was great!
Just remember that if you’ve had a beach trip pre-kids, it will be very different and a lot more work, but still very fun in a different kind of way.
Do you have any tips for a great beach vacation? I may include them in a future post!
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About Kelli Hays
If you have to get in the car @ the beach, it’s great to have some old milk jugs filled with water in the car to use to wash off feet before getting in. That way @ least SOME of the sand can stay there and not end up in the car.
If you have to get in the car @ the beach, it’s great to have some old milk jugs filled with water in the car to use to wash off feet before getting in. That way @ least SOME of the sand can stay there and not end up in the car.