Baby/Kid Gear

The calendar still says May, but we’ve had some beautiful, beach-worthy days here in Southern California. It’s got me thinking of restocking my beach day essentials and heading to the ocean with my kids. So, today I’m highlighting just a few of my favorite things to pack for a (stress free!) beach day with kids.

Beach Day Essentials for Moms

Brush on Block
I love this sunscreen for both my kids and myself. It’s easy to apply and not greasy and doesn’t get in anyone’s eyes. I usually do apply SPF before we leave the house and then take the brush on sunscreen for an easy, no hassle reapply when we’re out.

Melissa and Doug Sand Toys
We received this cupcake sand toy set a few years ago and it is such a hit with kids of all ages. The hardest thing is remembering to pick up all the pieces when I leave.

Baggu
Are you guys familiar with this great line of bags? They’re perfect to have in the car for running errands, and I always take some to the beach to wrap up our wet, sandy items. The bags are machine washable too so they’re easy to clean!

Turkish Towels
My dear friend was born and raised in Turkey and introduced me to these amazing, lightweight Turkish towels. They absorb water surprising fast and dry quickly, while taking up MUCH less space than traditional beach towels. I found these on Etsy, but Bed Bath and Beyond carry a similar style.

Cozy Kids’ Cover-up
J.Crew carries great beach cover-ups for kids and this one happens to be on sale right now. No matter how hot it seems when we leave the house I’m always disappointed if I forget to bring something cozy to wrap around my kids at the end of the day.

Folding Utility Wagon
My husband purchased this wagon two summers ago and we always get asked where we got it when we’re out on the beach. It’s very sturdy and we can put both kids and supplies in it for easy transportation on and off the beach. PS. Pulling it with two kids and supplies is also a great workout!

What are your favorite items for a day at the beach with your kids? Do you have any tips on how to make a beach outing stress free? I’d also love to hear your favorite local beach for kids, I’m always on the hunt for new places.

I’m always looking for children’s room decor that is timeless and won’t need to be swapped out as my kids get older, so it’s no surprise that these live animal art prints taken by photographer Sharon Montrose caught my eye.

The photos, available at The Animal Print Shop, are so pure and gentle that they’d be perfect for a new nursery, but they’re also lively and spunky enough for any “big kid’s” bedroom or play area too. I mean, how could you not be happy waking up to any of these little darlings?

Do you have any tips and advice for decorating your child’s space? How do you create a room that can grow along with your child?

All images via The Animal Print Shop

This is one of my all time favorite mom finds ~ the H&M $4.95 sundresses for girls.  Yes mamas, $4.95! 

They come in sizes 1 1/2 – 2 years to 6 – 8 years and both my girls get several each spring and live in them for the entire summer.

I am happy to report that they wash and wear incredibly well for the price. However, they do tend to shrink up in length over time, so I always buy a size up.

Our favorite place to shop for an H&M kids’ section is in Crystal Court at South Coast Plaza, which has a fabulous selection. Note, the H&M in the main mall doesn’t have kids clothes.

You can use their store locator on their website, and filter by “Kids” to find an H&M by you that carries kids’ clothes. Not all of them do.

Moms of boys – do you have any equivalent steals you have found for boys? Please share!

I didn’t know I would be doing a Drypro Waterproof Cast Protector review and a blog about what to do with a kid in a cast on the beach, but unfortunately, I am. However, as you can tell by her happy popsicle-ladden face above, things turned out OK and this product ended up being the best thing to come out of a crappy circumstance.

So last week took an unexpected turn when Morgan broke her elbow at the playground. It was awful. One of those stupid, freak accidents on a last minute run to the park which resulted in a 3 hour doctor visit, and a full arm cast two days later.

It happened in the blink of an eye, within one moment of me turning my back to talk to a neighbor, she climbed up the ladder to reach the first monkey bar, slipped and fell on her arm.

I turned around to check on her, saw her start to slip, ran to catch her, but couldn’t. She went down in slow motion, me yelling, “Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!” in my head.

When I picked her up I knew. It’s a terrible feeling.

Of course, there is never a good time for this to happen, but the incident happened to fall (no pun intended) the week before we were going away for the weekend to stay at one of the historic Crystal Cove beach cottages.

If anyone has tried to reserve one of these cottages, you know, it’s not easy.  You have to try to reserve them six months in advance and they sell out within like 10 seconds. So we got very lucky.

But now I had a three-year-old in a full arm hot pink cast. That + the beach is not an ideal combo. Mommy was a little stressed out.

My husband ended up buying this Drypro waterproof cast cover at a medical supply store by his office, which turned out to be AWESOME.

The cover is made out of a heavy duty latex with a vacuum seal, so literally nothing could get in that puppy.

My little one was so resilient and completely unfazed by her arm in the cast cover. She didn’t mention it or complain about it one time. She just went about her beach day as if she wasn’t wearing a waterproof oven mitt.

We used it mostly for protection from splashing and the sand, as well as for showering, and it was fabulous. I don’t know how it would do for swimming and full submersion in water, but for our purposes of protecting a child’s cast at the beach, it was perfect.

So if anyone lands on this page looking for a Drypro waterproof cast protector review, first off, I am sorry. Secondly, the product rocks.

I saw this pin on Pinterest – an idea for baby big organization and I thought it was so smart I had to do a blog on it!

Simply use a 3M Command Hook to hang your baby bibs on the back of the high chair!

And I ask, WHY, oh WHY, was Pinterest not in my life when I had a baby in a high chair?

It would have been so much easier to have the bibs hanging right there.

Mamas, I love to pin great baby and kid ideas on our Tiny Oranges Pinterest page! Please follow us if you don’t already.

Do you have a special way to organize your baby’s bibs?

Or, are you in love with Command Hooks and have a special use for them you’d like to share?

Please share in the comments below!