Baby Beach Time: First Beach Trip Tips

  I love the beach and couldn't wait to introduce the girls to our wonderful Florida beaches. We are so spoiled where we live in Florida. We're an hour away from beaches, theme parks, and big restaurants. Since the girls are easily overwhelmed we decided on a low key beach. Fort DeSoto is a state park with a lagoon, concession stands, indoor showers, playgrounds, beaches, and bike trails. It's large enough that if one beach area looks too crowded then you can try another. We chose the beach with a lagoon so that the girls could enjoy the still waters. The waves made them nervous because they're so loud. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that we spent all day at the beach!  

Here are some tips I learned from our first day at the beach with two one year old twins.

1. Apply your thick 50+ waterproof sunscreen at home before you leave while everyone is sand free and pack spray on sunscreen for later. You have to reapply sunscreen often especially if you're going to be in the water. Many vacationers think that waterproof means all day proof and end up looking like lobsters. I applied sunscreen on everyone four times during our one day trip and the girls were still a bit pink on their arms. Spray sunscreen is much easier to manage once everyone is covered in sand. It's also nice to use on baby's head without getting matted up in hair.
2. Skip the itty bitty bikinis. The more skin your baby shows the more sunscreen you have to apply. We have 50+ rash guards that protect a lot of skin. I have also seen zip up wet suits that are thin but offer sun protection. Sometimes my girls will wear a hat but it's hard to get them to keep it on. 
3. Pack lots of beach friendly snacks and water. Fruit is a great snack to pack because it also hydrates baby. I packed water, juice, milk, blueberries, cheerios, salty chips, and yogurt. Everyone had plenty of hydration, calories, salt, and protein. I luckily even packed extra tap water to help rinse off sippy cups that got dipped in water and sand. Make sure to take plenty of breaks and offer plenty of water to your baby. Read about signs of dehydration HERE.
4. Have some type of shade available to get out of the sun. I use the Shade Shack Instant Pop Up Family Beach Tent and Sun Shelter. It pops up and is anchored down with sandbags. Many people prefer umbrellas but I think they're a pain. The girls loved playing peek-a-boo around the tent and it was really nice to nap under when everyone got tired. 
5. Watch baby closely! The minute I plopped both babies down at the beach they grabbed a handful of sand, shoved it in their mouths, and started to wretch. Once I put them near the water Peanut dunked her head under the water like she does during bath time only to realize that saltwater burns eyes. I caught Cookie trying to chew on seaweed, a used cigarette bud, a shell, and a band-aid. You never know what they will find buried in the sand! She also thought that food tastes best after being dunked in seawater. 
6. I love washable swim diapers. Disposable swim diapers are very expensive! You can buy two adjustable swim diapers for $14 but a box of disposables costs $10 for 22. The adjustable ones will last me two summers while the box would last one month (we swim a lot in pools too). Make sure to pack an extra swim diaper for each baby so you'll have a backup if someone poops. 
7. Have comfy clothes and a bottle ready for the trip home. After being at the beach all day the girls were exhausted. We showered them off, got them in dry onesies and a dry diaper, and popped a bottle in their mouths. They fell asleep quickly and we all had a quiet drive home.

First Birthday Party Tips

  Cookie and Peanut have turned ONE! It's hard to believe that it's been a year since they were born. We originally wanted to do a Winnie the Pooh Birthday party but the cake I wanted from Publix was discontinued. I am so sick of pink that I could puke so I wanted to avoid any stereotypical princess themes. Instead we chose the stereotypical twin theme of The Cat In The Hat with Thing One and Thing Two. My local bakery made the cakes and my husband chose the flavors. They were lemon cakes with strawberry filling and we called it a strawberry lemonade cake. Both girls have a weird obsession with lemons and love strawberries.

 

 The smash cakes ended up being huge! We plopped a cake in front of each girl and just let them go crazy. Peanut dug into her cake like a wild animal and Cookie apprehensively poked at the icing. In the end Peanut looked like a smurf and we had to spoon feed Cookie her cake since she didn't want to get her fingers sticky. Everyone pooped in bright green colors the next day and weeks later I'm still randomly finding blue icing stuck to furniture. This has caused a small ant problem too but it was worth it! 

Here are some things I learned from our first twin Birthday party:

1. Keep it simple, short, and small. We had a small party with only close family members and made hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. I didn't make party favors to hand out (a trend everyone seems to do now), I didn't bake the cake myself, and I didn't decorate my entire house for the party. The less stress you put on yourself the more fun you'll have.
2.  Watch out for baby sensory overload. My girls were so wired by the end of the party that bedtime was rough. They were full of sugar and wallowing in new toys so it was hard to get them to unwind. It helps if you don't start taking toys out of their packages until the next day and try to hustle out guests before bath time so there's time to relax before it gets too late. 
3. Have a plan for opening gifts. The girls were too young and lacked the patience to open all the gifts they got so I was stuck with opening their gifts. I hate the practice of opening gifts in front of a crowd. It's awkward, boring, and I personally don't like the attention. If gift opening is your thing than have fun! I wish we could have discreetly piled the gifts in a corner to be opened the next day. The girls and I were tired after cake and I found opening all those gift bags exhausting. 
4. Set aside a special time for the baby to open mommy and daddy's gifts. Twin girls are usually showered with gifts. People love buying them cute pajamas and loud toys so our special gifts can be forgotten easily. I learned from Christmas to have a quiet moment alone with the girls to open their gifts from us. It's now a family tradition!
5. Celebrate! It's a party. I tend to get caught up in serving others, washing dishes, and cleaning up messes. In the past my hosted parties passed me by while I hustled around making everyone else happy. I've learned to sit my butt down and soak in the party with everyone else. Leave the dishes for tomorrow.
6. Cover the highchair you plan to use for the baby cake explosion in plastic! I totally didn't protect our high chairs and now they are stained blue. I guess I have a permanent reminder of how delicious that cake was.