Packing for the Beach - With Kids

As the summer weather starts to peak out from the endless winter that we have experienced here in southern Alberta, the kids are chomping at the bit to get out to the water. Water parks do not open in Calgary before May long so there are a couple weeks where there is intense heat and no reprieve!

Luckily for us we have friends that live in Lake Communities. For those not from around here, a lake community is a suburb that is built up around a man made lake. It usually costs between $200 - $500 a year in community fees (on top of your property taxes) to get to access these lakes. Only residents who are in good standing get to use these lakes. The residents are also allowed to invite guests - but the number of guests depends on the community.

Today we were lucky enough to have a friend invite us to her lake. The weather was beautiful, the water pristine, the sand divine! My kids would spend all day at the lake if they could and I make sure that I pack enough so that they can do just that.

The first couple of times that I went to the lake I failed miserably. Forgot towels even!! So now I have a very easy routine that I have worked the kinks out over the last year and here it is to share with you!

1. Buy a wagon. Seriously.
I never thought I would need a wagon, I mean just carry the baby or wear it in a carrier and put stuff on the stroller. A stroller should be good enough right? No.
A wagon is a must for the beach. You can still wear your baby with a good quality baby carrier, but all your junk and your kids junk....well that is what the wagon is for.
My favourite wagon is the Lee Valley Wagon. It has great big wheels that will have no problem going over grass, gravel or even sand. And with little kids you go where they are.

2. Buy a Beach Blanket.
This is a must. Sure you can sit on towels and what have you but the versatility of a blanket is great! As the kids get older you may want to switch to a a beach chair - but when they are little you will either be fighting with them over who gets to sit in the chair, or dealing with a wet bum when someone beats you to it! A nice blanket like this one is a great investment!

3. Think about an umbrella or something for shade.
Many lake communities are in newer suburbs so there are no trees that are big enough to help you out! Some of the communities do have trees so it is a real risk whether you want to take one or not. If you are going with a small baby I would suggest just throwing one in.

Now that we have the basics covered, lets get down to what goes into that wagon of mine.

4. Backpack.
In my backpack I have a change of clothes for every child, a towel for every child and extra swim bottoms for my potty training one. I also put the sunscreen and bug spray in the front pockets.

5. Little cooler.

I love this cooler by Traveler's Club. It is so well designed. We usually stay for lunch and bit beyond so I pack wraps for everyone, carrots (veggies), some strawberries and blueberries (fruit), some hummus and some cheese for the kids to snack on. I also pack avocados and a knife and spoon. Sometimes if we are staying longer I bring a bigger bag and pack much more!

5. Extra Bag.
This bag has the chips, cookies and crackers in it. It also has the wipes and a couple extra swim diapers. I leave it half empty as it is also where all the garbage goes and it is used if one of the kids has an accident.

6. The Toys.
The toy bag comes in two parts. First a good mesh bag like this one is a must. Secondly, buy some cheaper plastic toys as they are bound to go missing. A couple boats, some shovels, some buckets, a squirter or two, balls etc.  All the fun things that kids love to play with at the beach. A word of advice, use a sharpie and write your name or another distinguishable character on the plastic toys so that you know for sure if that green shovel that the kids are trying to take from another kid is actually theirs!!

7. Water Bottles.
You can never get enough water. I make sure that I bring a water bottle for each of the kids as well as an extra one if they run out. I also always have water in the car. Little kids can get dehydrated really fast so it's really just good practice to bring water wherever you go!

8. Last but not least...The life jackets.
I grew up in landlocked Alberta so I am not overly confident in the water. To be honest I have never really learned to swim. Even though my children are water babies I make sure that they have their life jackets on when they go near the water as you can never be too careful. Of course, life jackets don't mean you can turn your back..... ;)


 I hope this helps you plan your next trip to the beach! Is there anything else that you think is essential that I have missed?? Make sure you let me know in comments!!

Have Fun!!

How to Pack for a Roadtrip - Part Two

In my last post I explained how I packed the suitcase for our 5 day trek across Canada. Today I am going to talk entertainment. 3 kids, all boys, 7, 4 and 2 stuck in a van for a minimum of 6 hrs a day to a maximum of 10…you need to be prepared! (addendum *we ended up driving right through so it was 3 days with a minimum of 5 hours to a maximum 18 hours *)

1. Go shopping in your house first.

Nothing new is in this picture.

You can be surprised about how much stuff you can find in your own craft room (or cupboard). Pipe cleaners, pom poms, crayons, paper, beads and the like can be used for various activities and will save you time and money that you can put towards other parts of our vacation.
Many moms will pick up books when they are on sale and then put them away for a rainy day. A rainy day or a full day in the car are basically the same thing. Use up old workbooks, activity books, colouring books, even pull out the pages if it is half done. You can make up your own activity books by using these pages and a stapler. Put crayons or markers into a sandwich bag and also connect it to the book with a staple or a ring, this will help immensely in the car or van.

2. Pack supplies separately.

Separate Bags

Count how many days that you are going and think about how many hours that you will be in the car each day. With any road trip there are long days and there are short days, so for the long days make sure that you have more things in that particular bag. Since we went on a 5 day road trip I packed 6 different bags filled with colouring books, toys, etc. Check out this vlog to see some examples. The reason why I packed 6 bags was because the last bag was full of the emergency stuff that came out in the last hour of the road trip when all other things had been used and thrown on the floor in frustration. Make sure when the kids are done playing with the item that you put it back into a bag and then put it away for the trip back or for another day.

3. Make sure you have novel items that you know they really enjoy.

Ninjago, a Starwars Fan, Non-Spill Bubbles and a flash toy.

At the beginning of each day give the kids a new item like a book, or something to colour etc. If they start to act out, or become bored take a pee break, or a snack break and try again. If they really seem bored bring out a novel item and you should be able to get another hour out of them. I let my kids pick a couple toys that I wouldn't regularly buy and then saved them for when the started to get squirlley.

4. Use your imagination - or theirs.

Distraction is really key when it comes to long road trips and if you find that the kids are melting ask them to see if they can see a cow, or a semi truck or a piece of scenery and ask them about it. Kids want your attention on a good day and even more when trapped in a car. Play "I spy", or make up silly songs, or even get each person to say one sentence of a story and see how long you can go.

5. Don't rely too heavily on electronics.

Must Haves.

Notice that I didn't say not to use them. Electronics in the car are really great to make it through a rough patch. We had a rule that the DVD player did not come on until after lunch. We would wake up at 5am and get on the road by 6am. We would have lunch by 1pm and if the kids seemed like they needed a bit of a break we would let them watch a movie that they had never seen before. It worked really well for us. (we also chose movies that we knew they would really like).

6. Use the trip as part of the vacation.

We visited Winnie the Pooh!

Depending on how your kids are you could use the road trip as part of the vacation. Many little towns and big cities have really interesting points of interest and really cool playgrounds to check out. Do your research before hand and see what is available. You could also use the information of the places you visit as a history lesson. Kids love to see these kitchy things and any opportunity to stretch your legs is a good one. Of course, if you are insane like us you may decide just to drive through if your kids are in good spirits. (we went from Calgary, Alberta to Sudbury, Ontario in 2 nights 3 days)

7. When all else fails….

In case of Emergency.

You know your kids best. I brought Jelly Belly's and gave them out whenever the littlest was having a meltdown. I am not a big fan of candy for a little guy like him, but it distracted him until we made it to the next town. I also programmed my iPod with games that the kids would like to play. This is a road trip and a vacation and sometimes you just have to think on your feet! We also have stopped at a walmart to get the kids out and buy a new little lego set - just because we knew that it would keep them happy until the next stop.

This system really works well for us. Another couple tips that I would suggest is pack a lot of snack foods (healthy) and make sure that you feed and water your kids regularly. I gave my oldest son his own cooler and packed it each morning so that he could help himself and I would not have to throw granola bars at him in hopes that he would catch them. (hoping that they wouldn't fall to the floor)

Great Investment.

Speaking of not dropping things on the floor... The last tip I would say is to get some thing for them to put on their lap. We bought the Star Kids Travel Trays and they were really invaluable. I was able to pack all of the items for the day (keeping a couple really special things up front with you.) That way you can also place all the other bags in the seat backs or in the trunk to free up your floor space.

Road trips are a great way to make precious memories for your family. Do you have any tips or tricks that your family does to make it more enjoyable for the whole family?

How to Pack for a Roadtrip - Part One

About a year and a half ago we traveled to Arizona. The kids were 5, 3 and 1 and it was 4 long days in the car. Long, long days. We had said that if we made it through alive that we would consider going out East to the family cottage. That time is now upon us as I am busy packing for 5 full days in the car all the way to Ontario.

We will be driving for a minimum of 6 hours each day to a maximum of 10…which is a bit ridiculous. We will be driving our Honda Oddessy completely packed to the roof with all we will need for a month. Remembering that this is Canada and the weather can go from stifling hot 34c to a mere 5c in the summer. (depending where you are).

She is so cute!

Did I mention that we will also be bringing our 3 year old German Shepard Rotti (mutt)? She will be seat-belted in next to Special K so that means that I won't be able to utilize the stow and go. Everything has to be packed correctly.

I learned a couple tips and tricks from travelling to Arizona and I thought, why not share them with the world? I mean, it made my life easier… so maybe it will do the same for you.

Let's start with the suitcase.

1. Use a separate suitcase for the adults and either give each child a suitcase (like a …..) or just put them all in one. 

I chose to put all the boys together in one suitcase because they are still small people. I also wanted to make sure that we still had the space for snacks and activities as a few of the days will be really long and boring. Once the kids are older I will probably give the oldest his own suitcase and then the littler guys will share one.

2. Buy Ziploc Freezer Bags. 

A diaper, t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

This is the best idea ever. What I do is pack a full outfit in each freezer bag and then label it. So if we have the baby for example; he has a diaper (using disposables on the trip for ease and limited space), shorts, and a t shirt. Then I mark it with his name and write "shorts" on it. If it is a bag with long pants, it will also have a diaper, a long sleeved shirt and socks. It will again have his name on it and the words "pants". Pretty self explanatory.

Name and what is inside.

3 swimsuits in one bag.

It doesn't stop there. I also packed 2 pairs of pajamas for each boy, a warm pair and a cold pair, and put them in a ziploc. Each hotel that we are stopping at has a pool (a must have) so I took three ziploc and put 3 swimsuits in each of them. So when we stop at the hotel we can just grab the pajama bag, one swimsuit bag and one of the clothing bags and leave the suitcases in the van. (Don't forget to bring a backpack or smaller bag for this.)

All 3 rain-pants are in a ziploc, as well as all 3 pairs of water shoes and runners are in separate ones.

3. Think before you pack. 

Left the hoodies out so you can see.

I placed the pajamas in the front so that we can grab them right away and they stay separate from everything else. The swimsuits, swim diapers, and water wings are in the lid (is that what they call that part?).  The two bags each that the boys have containing the long pants etc, are in a separate mesh pocket (probably meant for socks and undies). I changed this from last time as we were always searching through the suitcase trying to find the bag with long pants - so now they will be much easier to find. The last mesh pocket has the bag with the rain pants and rain jackets in it.

Rubber boots at the very bottom. The shoe bags go next. All the rest of the bags are just placed in the suitcase on top. I divided it into 3 so all of Special K's are on the left, R's are in the middle and the Baby's are on the right. (they will inevitably get mixed up by day 3, but that is why separate suitcases would be great too.)

Last but not least I put their hoodies on the very top so that we have access to them right away if the weather is cooler. I also have a bag with the outfit that they will be wearing on Day 1 when we leave. I did this so that it was something that would match the other outfits and so that they wouldn't wear it the day before or something!

4. What goes in must come out! 

I already mentioned bringing a different smaller bag just to take the pajamas, swimsuits and tomorrows clothes in, but you also need somewhere to put all that dirty laundry. Yes, the clothes can go back into their bags, but you don't want to put them into the suitcase or the dirty and clean will get mixed up and that isn't helpful at all! Bring an extra bag (I am using my cloth diaper wet bag), something small and that doesn't take up much room. It can still be in the suitcase (and I would place it to one side) but it is more of a divider than anything.

Well, that it is it! Stayed tuned for two more posts on how and what to pack for entertainment, and how to pack the van for optimum space and comfort for everyone. :)

Happy Travelling! Do you have any tips to share?