On top of being a Motherhood Portrait Photographer, I am also a mama myself.
When the kids are out of school for the summer and I don’t have a session scheduled, we spend our time away at the cottage.
Last week I shared some of my beach essentials on my Instagram stories after I showed you all what I use to pack snacks for a day at the beach.
This snack tray I got off Amazon is my absolute favourite. It has such deep sections and allows me to pack 8 different varieties so my kids can sample across many different foods.
I also shared some of my favourite snacks that I pack … because I know how hard it is to come up with new ideas. Here are a few of my favourites (click on the image for the amazon purchasing option):
I also showed you THE perfect cooler that I found to house this snack box. I was tired of lugging our large and heavy hard cooler back and forth. I was so lucky to have found this TITAN by Arctic Zone soft cooler that fits the container perfectly, has a ton of room for other things, keeps the food cold and has a great top to put our drinks in. I highly recommend you pick one up if you also have the snack box.
I also showed you how I pack the cooler to get the maximum space as I can without taking up all the room with ice packs.
The night before I freeze large and medium freezer bags with water and lay them flat so they freeze like this:
Then I layer in the large freezer bag first:
Then the snack box (fits like a glove):
Then the two medium frozen flat bags:
Then I put other snacks and drinks on top and at the sides. It fits so much!
Along with the box I also showed you other beach essentials we bring with us everyday.
Our JBL speaker is a must to drown out the fighting and to keep the kids happy and bopping on the beach when they come out of the water. It is so small (it fits in the palm of my hand), yet so powerful. It lasts all day in the heat plus back at the cottage as we BBQ dinner.
Another must is a large beach bag. Being a family of 5, we need all our towels as well as a beach blanket. I wanted something that was stylish and fun that also gave me the space I needed for all this. I found this one and I love it. I can also fit our sunscreen, my phone and some other snacks that don’t need to go in the cooler.
Lastly, our foldable wagon. This thing is a beast. Seriously it carries the kids plus our beach chairs, beach toys, umbrella and games. It is so easy to fold up and clean out. We also put all three kids in it when we walk down for ice cream after dinner. This would also be great for taking the kids to the soccer or baseball field for their summer leagues.
Are there any other beach essentials I missed that you love? If so, let me know in the comments below!
Disclaimer: the Amazon links listed above earn me a commission at no extra cost to yourself.