Five Simple Ways to Entertain Toddlers at the Beach

In all honesty, the beach is the perfect playground for a young toddler.  Sand, water and lots of space to run = hours of entertainment.  However, after a few days of simply playing on the beach, toddlers can become a little bored, and we all know what happens when they are bored........(that's right, mama no longer gets to lay out and relax).  I was prepared for this turn of events last week, and today I am going to share....

1.  Sand Road = Little Boys Dream

• All we needed for this activity was a truck and something to draw a road with.  A large shovel worked best, but I also drew a road with sea shells that were just lying around the beach.  The road can be be short, long, have lots of curves etc.  Caleb loved this!! 
• To add a little more interest to this you can throw in some hot wheel cars.
• I also had Caleb fill his dump truck with sand, and then drive it to the "construction site" at the end of his road.  This created a totally new game in his mind.  

2. Lava 

• Oh yes, the old fashion game of Lava...if you haven't played it we can no longer be bloggy friends. In college my friends and I use to have all out lave wars in the community area of our dorm!! 
• To play I simply drew tons and tons of circles in the sand. Some large, some smaller.  This game was above Mckinlee's head, but she loved running from circle to circle.  Caleb understood that he had to stay inside the circles of he would step in lava.  

3.  Hop Scotch

• Draw a hop scotch board, and invite the kids to jump away.  They are toddlers, they will not fully understand the rules, but they love to jump.  Jumping = Energy, Used up Energy = Tired kiddos, Tired kiddos = relaxation for mama.....get the picture ;)

4. Beach Darts

• I totally made up that name....my creativity is at a loss.  
• Any who, while I was drawing the dart board I asked the kids to collect lots of sea shells in buckets.  
• I then instructed them to throw the shells one at a time at the dart board.  Small circle = most points etc etc.  Kinlee threw lots of shells at once, Caleb loved trying to make it in to the small circle.  I sat in my beach chair, un-interrupted and watched them play.  

5.  Water Buckets 

• I do not know about your kids, but mine had a fascination with walking back and forth to the ocean.  Over and Over and Over and Over.......which meant mama and daddy were Up and down Up and down Up and down.....you get the picture.  I had a brilliant idea to keep them occupied with water at our home base on the beach. 
• I went to the ocean, and filled a large bucket with water, and brought it back to our base.  
• I then placed an empty bucket down the beach from the full bucket.  
• I gave each kid an empty cup, and told them to fill it full of water (that was in the full bucket), run, and pour it in the empty bucket.  Instant Entertainment....try it, you will thank me later.  

If none of those work, you can always head to the beach with a uncle who builds this for you..........

Condo Living

We just got back from a 2 week trip to Florida, and I am not happy to say that we are home.  There is just something about the beach that makes me all kinds of happy and giddy, and even though it is warm in our state this time of year, it is not the same.  Our trip was planned very last minute due to an amazing offer from Nick's grandparents.  They are Disney Vacation Club members, and they offered us some free nights at Disney...who can say no to that?  So, we took advantage of a vacation together as a family, and even though we will be living off of crackers and milk the rest of the month ;) we had a great time!

The first week we were there we stayed in a condo in St Augustine.  The condo was great, nothing too fancy, nothing to old/nasty, and it had a wonderful view of the pool.  Caleb told me that he wanted it to be his new house. It sure brings my big dreams of a larger home into perspective when my baby is thrilled with a 2 bedroom condo.  We arrived after a big storm, so the first couple of days we were there were rather chilly.  However, we threw a few coats on the kids, and enjoyed the beach despite the chilly weather.

One of the chilly nights I took the kids out to the beach after dinner. I threw some pjs on them, because they were the only long pants I had brought, packed their toys, and took advantage of the sunset lighting.  That moment was one to remember............That is a moment I will bottle up for all of time.

Luckily it warmed up very quickly, and the rest of our vacation we spent roasting in the sun.  We hopped from beach to pool, took breaks for naps, and then headed back out for more beach and pool time. My perfect idea of how to spend a vacation.

This little girl kept us and other guests laughing with her Mckinlee Performances.  When she is in the mood she will put on a show for anyone that is watching.

The kids were all about swimming in the pool, and thankfully it was heated!! Hallelujah! We purchased their floats at Wal Mart, and they worked perfectly.  I swear Caleb knows how to swim.  He is still just a little fearful of going without his float. My goal is to have him swimming by the end of the summer.

We went out a couple of nights while we were at the condo.  We took the kids mini golfing one night, and Caleb made a legit hole in one on the Pirate Ship hole.  Nick and I started cheering, and he looked at us in confusion and asked, "Where did my ball go?".  HAHA.

His grandparents came to visit one night, and took us out to dinner at a place called Saltwater Cowboys. Totally great! If you ever visit St. Augustine, it is a must eat restaurant.

The week came to an end, and we headed off to the next part of our vacation, Disney World.