10 Ways To Get Ready For The Water This Summer

Are you ready for the water?  Beach, pool, lake or stream.  You’ll want to be somewhere cooler!  Make sure you pack stuff for all ages and make it easy to carry everything from the car to the beach and back.  Wagons with huge wheels are great.  Tote bags with mesh bottoms.  Kids sometimes like to use boogie boards to put bags on and drag across the sand.  Do what works for your family.  But make sure you can get it all without making two trips.

 

Sand & Water Toys

Make sure you have entertainment for your kids’ ages.  Little kids- sand toys.  Older elementary school- Boobie boards, balls to throw around, kits to make sand sculptures.  Older kids can enjoy the same but might also like a football or volleyball (if the beach has nets), a surfboard, or a bluetooth speaker to listen to music and a good book to read.

If you toddlers-preschoolers they’ll love these toys by Playmobil.  Both are great for the beach or a sandbox at home.  The first is a Ice Cream Shop Sand Bucket with a sand shifter, pretend ice cream cones, an ice cream scooper and two figurines.  The Water Tank Truck can be filled with water and dumped out in the sand, rolled around or on the ramps and has big wheels to roll easily.

 

Must Have Food & Drinks

Bring food you can open and eat.  An ice chest is a great idea to keep food cold.  I don’t want food that I have to worry about getting sand on small servings is best.  That way if the wind blows sand on it you aren’t wasting all of it.  Finger foods are the best.  Pack your fridge with frozen water bottles.  Bring a LOT of water.  Not all beaches have clean drinking water and if they do it might not be as clean as you’d like to drink out of it.  I try to bring 2-3 bottles per person and I use reusable bottles.  Metal is best since plastic is bad for the environment and if plastic gets hot in the car it isn’t healthy.  I just discovered Pathwater.  They are aluminum bottles, with filtered water in them that area also reusable.  They come in two sizes.  I elected for the 25oz size since we drink water on the go a lot.

 

I love all these snacks from Crazy Richard’s.  So much here for at home and on-the-go.  Wholly Rollies PB&J balls (they taste just like peanut butter, are high in protein and low-carb.  They have other ingredients too but most a peanut butter taste).  Crazy Richard’s also has 100% peanut butter in crunchy and smooth and peanut powder (great way to add protein to smoothies, oatmeal and other foods). The Oh Snap! Pickling Company has an assortment of pickled veggies in small bags that are easy to open and snack when you are hungry.  Including: Dilly Bites, Cool Beans (green beans), Hoppin’ Jalapenos, Carrot Cuties and Hottie (whole hot n’ spicy pickle).  They all only have 1-2 carbs too.   The boxes are Protein Toppers that can actually be added to a variety of foods.  For me I think they’d be best added to yogurt for an added crunch and extra protein.

If you are having a campfire on the beach or in a nearby campground you much check out this totally new product.  I just heard of it and my kids have been begging me to let them try it (I’m waiting for our next camping trip).  Stuffed Puffs are 2/3 of the ingredients for S’mores!  They are marshmallows with chocolate already on the inside.  Just add graham crackers.

 

 

Towels, mats, chairs, change of clothing

 

There are lots of big things, like what you are sitting on, what you are wearing after and totes that are good for sand to fall through.  Don’t forget to bring money!  You might need it at a snack shack or somewhere that doesn’t take credit cards.

Sunscreen is very very important!  I’ve been burned way too many times (as a kid and adult).  Not only is it not fun but it increase the risk of skin cancer.  Kids don’t understand the importance of sunscreen and need to be taught until they are older.  General rule of thumb is apply it lavishly and frequently.  You are not off the hook if you put sunscreen on at 9am and then are at the beach until the sun sets hours later.  It is good to apply it every 80 minutes if in water, after towel drying and every two hours if outside. The worst times to be in the sun are 11am-2pm.  I found a sunscreen that is really cheap (because they don’t advertise) and has natural ingredients.  No-Ad Sun Care (name literally meaning no advertising) comes in lotion, cream, roll-ons, sunscreen sticks and sprays and sunscreen for adults, babies and sport with SPF ranging from 30–50.  I love that they are non-greasy and absorb quickly.  The baby one is also tear-free.  No-Ad Sun Care have UVA and UVB protection.

Floaties For Little Kids

If you’ll be in a pond, lake or pool than you’ll love these toys, floaties and more for little kids in Little Mermaid & Toy Story themes.  Made by SwimWays.  They have rafts, chairs and other pool toys too.

• Mermaid Ariel Kickboard.  Kids can hang onto and kick across the pool.  A bit small so it says age 5+ but I think younger would work better.  Not to be as a babysitting devise for a ki.
• Mermaid Tail Swim Fins.  For swimmers age 5+.  Kids will need to know how to swim first and there is a little learning to these- so keep an eye on them or be in the pool with them while they are learning to use them.  It is is too hard to use with feet together than they can also be separated to swim with feet apart.
• Princess Glitter Dive Wands.  Toss them in and dive to the bottom of the pool to retrieve them.  The glitter inside catches the sunlight nicely too.
• 6 piece princess dive set.  Including a net to catch the 5 pieces before they sink.  The want looks like Ariel’s tiara too.
• Disney Princess Dive Characters. Catch Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian as they sink to the bottom.  They can also be played with on land.
• Disney Princess swim goggles.  Cute goggles with Ariel on them.  Latex-free and adjustable.  Ages 3+.

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These are all the buzz with the new Toy Story 4 that just came out in theaters!

• Jesse Swim Vest.  Swim Step 2 My First Paddle Learning vest. made for kids 2-4 as a pre-swimmer, for floating.
• Toy Story dive characters.  Set includes; Woody, Buzz and Bo Peep.  They are soft and flexible pieces that can be used outside the water too.
• Woody Swim Vest.  Swim Step 2 My First Paddle Learning vest. made for kids 2-4 as a pre-swimmer, for floating.

 

Always bring an extra outfit! For one, I hate going home in a wet bathing suit or sitting on a damp towel while driving.  But there is the ‘let’s stop to get food’ type of stops that I don’t want to do in my damp clothing.  Most beaches have public restrooms and outdoor showers so I like to rinse off the sand, change 100% and then put baby powder on everyone’s legs and feet before getting in the car (to remove all the extra sand).  I just got my latest monthly subscription box from Nadine West (amazing clothing all year around) and there was three pairs of awesome shorts in it, as well as tops, pants and jewerly.  I really love these boxes.  They are my ‘monthly new outfits without having to go to a clothing store’ boxes.  There is so much!!  I’ll be posting the outfits (on me) on my IG and FB as the week goes on.

Here is the first one.  I love the sleeves on the top.  It is a perfect length and I love the compliments on the jewerly (that my daughter is begging me to give her).  I don’t always have time in the morning for makeup but I think a little mascara, lipstick and some jewerly makes me look more professional for work.

 

Treat yourself when you get home

Hair masks are fantastic for after the beach.  When you come home and your hair has been in the air, sun and ocean water all day it is often dry and tangly.  My hair sometimes get sunscreen on it too when I put sunscreen on my face and body.  I love these hair masks by Not Your Mother’s Naturals.  They are all natural and add hydration to hair and scalp and help repair damaged hair.  They smell amazing and are easy to use.  Just apply to wet, clean hair and leave on for 5-10 minutes than rinse.  They can be used 2-3 times a week.  Perfect for hot summer months when we are at the pool or beach a few times a week.

Merle Norman has a lot of different skincare products.  It is good to make sure you wear sunscreen when you are out and some women want one that works well with makeup.  This is the first one that I’ve found that is SPF 50.  It applies as a lotion and since it is ultra light it works great under makeup.  It can be used on the body too.  The Skintelligent Moisturizer is a great after-sun treatment.  It can be used to clean and tone skin.  Great to add to a bedtime routine, especially if you have been in the sun all day.

 

If you got sunburnt you can use an after-sun spray or aloe vera to help with the burn.  You want to make it where it was a fun trip and one you’ll want to make a few days or a week later.  When you get home, as you unpack, do it near the washing machine and dryer.  That way you can start a load of laundry immediately.  Have the kids help.  Beach toys can be rinsed with the hose and packed in a beach bag for the next trip so you can grab and go.