Warning: There are lots of gratuitous & adorable baby pics in this post.
I spent last week at the beach soaking in some sun and salty air. This was our first trip to the beach with Knox so needless to say I was a little anxious about how to recreate the "comforts of home" when we are very far from home. Here's a look at our week in pictures along with some of the stuff I packed for a week at the beach with baby.
Car seat: We recently swapped out Knox's infant carrier for his "big boy" car seat - the Britax Marathon.
It consistently gets high safety ratings and is super easy to install. There have been lots of times when I've missed the convenience of the carrier (like when I really want to make that stop at the grocery store on the way home but Knox is fast asleep in his car seat and I can't just pick him up and snap him onto the grocery cart anymore). But he was starting to get pretty cramped in the carrier so we made the switch. He's way more comfy in this big seat.
See...snoozed almost the entire way to the beach:
The view from our bedroom:
Knox slept in his pack 'n play in the corner of our room. At home, we always use his mobile, the Tiny Love Sweet Island Dreams Mobile for his naps and evening bedtime. It's enormous and not travel friendly though, so whenever we take trips, we always pack the Tiny Love Animal Friends Take Along Mobile. It's super travel friendly and has a very compact design (it breaks down into 3 pieces). And bonus - it plays the same tunes that he's used to his crib mobile playing. I've found that little comforts like this go a long way toward easing the transition from home.
Early morning ocean watching.
It was super hot pretty much the entire time we were there. We took advantage of the early morning to get in some quiet beach time when the sun was less strong.
Chubby baby toes + sand = I can't even stand the cuteness
We saw this nasty on one of our morning walks.
For our afternoon trips to the beach, Knox mostly hung out in his beach cabana. It was perfect for keeping him comfortable and shaded and has great ventilation. He even napped ocean side in it for 2 hours one afternoon.
Other than dipping his toes in the ocean, Knox didn't do much swimming (waves were crazy!). To keep him cool and happy while on the beach with us, we brought along this baby pool. The inflatable canopy was key. He was able to hang out in the shade and splash around. It was perfect and I can see myself using it on the deck for a quick refresher when I don't want to cart all our stuff to the neighborhood pool.
We had one rainy/cloudy day during the week we were there. I honestly didn't mind it. The overcast sky was a welcomed respite from the blaring sun we'd had all week and we had the beach all to ourselves. I brought the JJ Cole All Purpose Blanket along with us. It's waterproof and all but repels sand. I hate battling with sand covered towels, especially with a wiggly baby so this was perfect. I use it for picnics and outdoor play dates too.
Knox's high chair is huge so it was not making the trip. I used this First Years On-The-Go Booster Seat to keep him safe and secure at meal time.
It easily straps to any chair and it has a little self-inflating seat that boosted him up to table level.
The last indispensable piece of baby gear that goes everywhere with me is our video monitor - the Summer Infant Day and Night Handheld Color Video Monitor. Pretty much as soon as we got there, I headed out to the beach to see if the range allowed me to be on the beach and receive a signal from the bedroom where he was napping. It did which mad nap time much more pleasant (for me!)
In summary, we essentially filled a car with just the stuff we brought for Knox. But it was worth it...the week was fantastic!
This last picture has nothing to do with the beach but the Sunday after we got home Mr. H+F and I had our first official "date night" since Knox was born 8.5 months ago. Our wonderful friends watched him for a few hours while we went to see David Gray. It was a fantastic show and my mental health was renewed!
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