Beaches: What does one really need?

 

As I mentioned in my last post, my friend Ashley, a Florida native, has helped me par down what I really need to bring to the beach.  For a long time I thought I had to bring everything and the kitchen sink.  Ashley laughed at me and said, "No, you only need sunscreen, a towel, and maybe water."  That's it.  And really, once I started thinking about it, I grew up going to a beach...it was a lake, but it had a beach and we went there almost everyday of the summer when I was growing up in Mpls, MN.  In looking back, I only ever brought a towel. 

I told Ashley I had some requests about what to bring and she agreed with me...it does depend a little bit on how long you're going to go to the beach.  I've broken down the lists into three:  The Two-Hour Trip; The Six-Hour Trip, and The All-Day Extravaganza.

The Two-Hour Trip

-Sunscreen
-One towel per person
-One water bottle per person

That's it.  Nothing more.  One bag.

The Six-Hour Trip

-Sunscreen
-One towel per person
-One-two water bottles per person
-One-two snacks per person unless you want to purchase a snack from a "snack shack"
-Sand toys
-One beach chair per adult if desired
-Umbrella or tent is desired
-Blanket or sheet

This list comes from our six-hour trip a week ago.  Ashley and I brought a whole lot more than our two-hour trip, but we used everything we brought.  She had the umbrella, I had the beach tent.  We each had babies that slept during some part of the day and having that space was great.  I could have just used her space under her umbrella if I hadn't had my tent, but having our own space was good too.  Our girls are water-babies, so the sand toys get used a little bit, but overall they just wanted to be in the water.

We took the above picture that day mainly because all of our bags are "31" bags and we wanted to send the picture to our friend, who is a 31 consultant.  However, it does illustrate what we brought that day.  I had one of the big bags, plus a larger thermal bag.  Ashley brought two bags, plus her thermal.  It should be noted that Ashley has two little ones, and I only have one.  We don't have the umbrella or tent in this picture, but they didn't take up a lot of space and we got everything in one trip.  I think that is key...bring it all in one trip and pack concisely.

The All-Day Extravaganza

-Sunscreen
-One towel per person
-One-two water bottles per person and/or a jug of water
-One-two snacks per person unless you want to purchase a snack from a "snack shack"
-Lunches for each person
-Sand toys
-One beach chair per adult if desired
-Umbrella or tent is desired
-Blanket or sheet

We haven't done a trip like this yet, but this is my future list.  We'll be adding boogie boards, goggles, and a flotation device for all of our future trips (I'm also adding two adolescents to my group), but really, they aren't absolutely necessary to have fun.  And again, with the addition of two boys, I also had two more sets of hands to carry stuff. 

Things to have in the car:
-extra diapers
-baby powder

That's it.  Have fun!