Top 10 Beach Trip Tips

 

 We have had so much fun playing at the beach this summer.  I wanted to share some of my best {little} tips with you (and help myself remember them too!) that have made our beach trips even more fun!

First, let's talk food.  Everything is better with food! 1- Individually pack your snacks for each person--this is so sand only infests one {little} snack bag at a time.  It only takes one person's sandy hands to make all the food gritty!   One of our favorite snacks to take is fruit-so refreshing! Note to self: a Pringles make a great container for spitting cherry pits into!    2- Water.  You won't last long in the sun without your water bottles.  And related....know where the bathroom is BEFORE you pick your beach spot!  I also keep a bottle of hand sanitizer with us.  My little boy is always finding things like bird feathers and I want to keep him healthy :)
3- Beach toys--My best advice: keep them in basket with holes (see below.)  The idea is that you don't fill your car with sand if most of it shakes out of the basket before you leave!
 

  4- IKEA bag for your towels (and other stuff too!)  These big blue bags are less than $1.  They are perfect for carrying beach towels and other beach stuff because they don't soak up water and the sand shakes right out when you are done.  Love this because it's so nice and big!  

5- Use a snow sled to slide the stuff.  Want an easy way to carry everything across the sand?  Pile it all onto a sled! 6- Take care of your eyes: Don't forget your sunglasses or sun hat.  And if you put your sunscreen on before you leave for the beach it will actually have time to soak in before you want to get into the water (so it doesn't wash right off).  Kids hate waiting!  And our most sunburned spot? Right under the eyes-don't forget that spot!  

    7- Safety first! Don't forget those life jackets, or floaties for the kids.  If it's crowded at the beach it can be harder to keep an eye on little people.  Make sure you have the peace of mind knowing the little ones are protected.   Know the limits of safe swimming in the area of the beach where you are too, as well as what the swimming abilities are of those in your group.

  8- Shade!  You will enjoy your time at the beach more if you aren't melting under the sun.  But the trick to keeping your umbrella in the sand on a windy day?  Plastic grocery bags!  Fill them with sand and attach them to the pole!  Keep a few in your blue IKEA bag so you'll always have them.   9- Comfort!  Make sure you have comfortable chairs to sit in.  I love our bamboo mats (from Target a few years ago) for the ground.  Neither our mats or chairs hold onto sand.  The mats are nice because the sand can get very hot on your toes.  They are also a great place for kids to sit down as well as to keep our things on since it's not right in the sand.

  10- Sand!  Wet sand is such a pain when you are ready to leave.  If you aren't careful, it will all end up in your car!  I keep a bottle of baby powder in our sand toys basket for drying it out so it brushes right off when we are ready to go.   We just pour it on feet and legs and rub it around.  It dries the sand right out and brushes away!
  I like collecting sand from the different beaches we visit-each sand has its own look.  If you do too, keep a container for storing sand to take home.    Let them dry!  Let swim clothes and towels dry outside when you get home, instead of coming right home and washing them.  When they are dry shake the sand off before taking them in.  This keeps all the sand from ending up in your washing machine!

 These are {little} tips we've collected over the past three years.  They have made a big difference in how much we enjoy our beach trips.  I hope they help you have a wonderful time too! If you have a favorite tip, add it in the comments. Have fun making memories at the beach!  

Updated! The Best Granola (yum!!)

Making granola is a weekly {little} project at our house.  I have tried quite a few granola recipes and my husband LOVES this one the best.

Today was the day to make a new batch, and oh how I love the smell of baking granola!

I've shared this {little} granola project before with the details of how I store it and such.

 If you decide to try out the best granola ever, be sure to check that one out.

But I have updated my recipe and wanted to repost it with the changes I've tried.

 

One thing that I love about granola is that it lasts in your belly.  When I feed my kids cold cereal they are hungry again in about an hour.  But when they eat granola, it lasts until lunch time. 

In the winter, we add some dried fruits (it's very yummy on it's own too!)
But in the summer cutting fresh strawberries, peaches, or blueberries into this granola is divine!  Sometimes we eat it with yogurt, sometimes with milk.  It's yummy to snack on dry too!

 One of the main revisions to my recipe is the number of cups of old-fashioned oats.  I have increased them 3 cups since the last time I shared it.  And we can't tell.  There is still plenty of sweet and lots of taste.   Of course, adding more oats makes it go further, reducing the fat content too, a nice bonus :)
 You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut, depending on your taste. 

Granola is one of my favorite "go-to meals" to share.  It's perfect for a new mom, a thank you gift, birthday treat, etc.  It isn't a hot meal so it can be enjoyed anytime.

Once again, I have put two on a page because I promise that once you try it and share it with anyone, they will want it too!

Jedda’s Granola  It's yummy!  Enjoy!  

Sprinkle Ice Cream Sandwiches!

You may remember that I have a thing for sprinkles. Well, I have a thing for ice cream too. I shouldn't admit this, but my husband and I (without any help from the kids) ate well over 100 ice cream sandwiches last summer.  Now, that was a tasty {little project]!

In celebration of National Ice Cream Day (TODAY!) I'm combining the two to make Sprinkle ice cream sandwiches.  Sprinkles make everything more fun!

To make {This Little Project}

1- cut your ice cream sandwiches into bite-sized pieces

2- pour sprinkles into a shallow dish

3- dip ice cream sandwich into sprinkles

{little project} tip: the edges that you cut are the easiest to dip because they are flat.  So you can decide if you want to just sprinkle 2 sides (the flat sides you cut) or all 4 sides.  It gets a little crunchy if you go for all 4 sides-but it's cute to look at ;)

4- eat them before they melt!  Yum!

The month of July is National Ice Cream month 

so you still have plenty of time to celebrate, lol!

Elspeth (an ice cream expert) and I have shared some ice cream projects in the past. We both have and love this ice cream maker:

Ice cream is done in just 30 minutes in this beauty!

Need some ideas for homemade ice cream flavors? Check out our list here!

Want our basic recipe, check out this post!

And you'll want to stop by this post for a fun way to make a kid's ice cream parlor.

I'm hoping to find a winning recipe for homemade ice cream using coconut or another lactose-free milk for my Jay.  It's hard to do his homemade (though I'm grateful I can buy it!)  

If you have any ice cream favorites or secrets, please share with a comment.  So many ice cream flavors to try....I can't wait!

Oh, and we're off to pick blueberries with friends today.  So of course, we'll be making homemade ice cream and a blueberry treat tonight together.  Seriously, summer doesn't get any better than this! 

My Favorite Swimsuit

Yes, that's really how I feel about the swimsuit I found this year.  It was TIME for a new suit.  I don't know how much you enjoy shopping for a swimsuit, but I think it's safe to say that most of us don't love it.  It can be more than a {Little Project} to find the right one.

My goals for a swimsuit were these:

1- Not to look like a frumpy mom.

2- Wear something flattering.  For me, this means wearing a suit that shows my best me-not just the skin on me.  I'm more than a body, right?  So I want something that is modest and cute and shows that I'm confident enough about who I am as a woman that I don't need to show the whole world what they don't need to see-know what I mean?  

So, I feel really lucky to have found this swimwear company:

Lime Ricki is just my style (see goals above) and they have a TON OF OPTIONS.  I love the mix and match aspect too!

(no compensation for this blog post, by the way-just love these suits!)

I know that the rest of the world has probably had enough warm weather to have been swimming already, but here it's still too cold :(  Serious sadness about that!

But when we were on vacation last week we were visiting the red rock of the west it was WARM!  So I got to swim-finally!  And now I know for sure that I love these suits!  

So even if you already have your suit for this year, read on; you might find something you love too!

Let me introduce you to these darling 

ruffle skirts/bottoms:

Ruffles!  On a suit!  And so cute!

and these skirts are just one of their styles of bottoms (my personal favorite though).

Now a fun top to go with it:

Cute tops, but not cut too low.  No overload of cleavage.  Smart looking-don't you think?  There are a bunch of fun styles to mix and match with.  The back of the suits are well-done too-go look!

Now for my other favorite:  The swimdress.

Now, this photo doesn't do justice for how cute this suit really is.

Sorry, this photo of me in it isn't much help either for you since it's in the water...but that's all I have.

 This is actually a one piece suit (the grey bottoms goes all the way up) and then the pink goes over the top.  It's connected under the bust and then hangs tight to you for the rest.

And yes... more ruffles!

So if you want the skirt look while you walk around or a cute one-piece look you can have either.  There is enough fabric to have the end of the dress hit in a variety of heights on the leg.  Clever, huh?

If you are like me and love a classy and covered look instead of the bare/meaty look, here are a few more of my favorite sites:

Shabby Apple 

Thread Ethic

Jen Clothing

Happy shopping, a fun {Little Project!}
;)