Vacation, we will go…





Our first family vacation is right around the corner, I am beyond excited to have a week full of family time.  I can’t wait for my boys to see the ocean for the first time and witness the enormity of it and I am so eager to have them see the endless sand that surrounds the water.  We talk about the ocean and our vacation but until you see the ocean for the first time yourself, it is impossible to describe.  Even with my lack of affection, they LOVE sand and playing in it, but have not played in any other sand than the one in a small mid-western sandbox.  My husband and I have been to the beach and on vacations but this is the first one with the little boys. It will be amazing…..right?

I am going to stay positive however I am not naive to the fact that traveling with two little boys who are not-quite four and not-quite- two for 16 hours in the car could get dicey at times.  We have the iPad, we have a DVD player in the car…. But what else? Our goal is to have dinner, baths and then pack them in the car right before bedtime and pray they sleep most of the way there.



 Oh and we are going to try to do this drive in a straight shot, this is the part I am most reluctant about. My Jake will be four in a couple of months and he is a great little car-rider, I am not so sure he is a great 16-hour car rider, but he is pretty good.  My sweet Jimmy on the other hand, well he is my wild card.  Let’s just say that we went on a three hour car ride to see family out of state and he made sure to let us know he was back there and displeased with the five-point harness he was being restrained by, about every 5- 10 minutes for the duration of our drive. If we have a 16 hour drive like that we are going to have to buy one of those cargo things you put on the roof to put Jimmy in. Haha, obviously I am kidding, although I think he might actually enjoy traveling that way.
Jake (with a sensor) likes his scuba gear

Jake is usually distracted with the DVD or games on the iPad and I think that should keep him entertained for the time he will be awake, God willing, he sleeps most of the night time. But if anyone has ideas for me to get a wild almost-2 year-old to South Carolina from Illinois, short of UPS’ing him down there, I am open to suggestions.  

The sixteen hour car ride may not be fantastic but then we will be to the beach, where we can lay in our chairs, read a book and listen to the ocean, while drinking an ice cold tropical drink….hahah YA RIGHT! (Hey how would I burn any calories that way?)  No, I am sure I will be sweating profusely just getting all our beach paraphilia down on the beach and set-up hopefully in time to build some sand castles before it is time to take the little one back and nap. I am thinking of bringing a tent to see if I could get him to nap on the beach, I am not sure how this will go over. ….(Ideas welcome)

Jimmy is a water baby!
I also have a plan to bring a smaller blow up pool to have with us under a canopy for the boys to play in the water but not in the sun and in the ocean the entire time. We have sand pails and shovels to keep them entertained and I have a large sheet to lay out for them to sit on.  I got a tip from a mom that told me to bring baby powder to rub on them and the chemical reaction of the powder to sand makes all the sand fall off, which would be ideal before getting into the car. These are tips I need, if this works, genius!

Another mom said there are “sand carts” that help in getting your items (and Children) to and from the beach without holding seventeen bags and having your children slipping out of your grasp. We don’t have one of these, or a wagon for that matter, where do you find something like that? How much? How worth it is it to have one?

Any mommas out there with any traveling tricks or beach tips for little kids please write them in the comments below. I am trying to do anything that I can think of to make this a fun, easy (dare I say relaxing) trip. I am very excited, and slightly overwhelmed at getting our family to the beach!

 

Yours truly,
Midwestern Mommy, looking for baby beach tips!
 
If you, or anyone you know has traveled to the beach with little ones lately please pass this along, I would love to get some tricks of the trade from other mommys.

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