I not so secretly wish we lived by the beach. Everything about it is so peaceful and serene. We visit often but not as often as I’d like. The sound of the ocean waves crashing on the shore is such a soothing sound, a recording of this natural melody plays in my youngest daughter’s room to help her sleep. This may explain why she fell in love with the ocean on our latest visit. We stayed in a lovely beach house in Aptos last weekend with some family. My girls woke before the rest of the houseguests, Kenzie and I left early for a walk on the beach collecting seashells and enjoying the cool morning air while Pat and Piper went to buy pastries and coffee at a local bakery. Everything about that morning was perfect. Read on to learn about our favorite travel crib.

If we lived by the beach I’d make it a point to walk on the sand looking for shells with my girls and handsome husband daily.

The Best Travel Crib

After breakfast, we got ready to play on the beach with the rest of the family. We brought our new travel crib, the Lotus Everywhere Crib by Guava Family for our night away. It is much more convenient to carry than the usual portable crib we are accustomed to, backpack straps make carrying the crib a breeze.  It takes a few tries to get the hang of folding and unfolding it. Once you get it, the portable crib can be set up in less than a minute and taken down and packed up in about two.

An added bonus is the additional fun shade you can purchase making the Lotus Crib. Perfect for a day at the beach. It provides a shady haven for the littles to escape the sunshine and play in, the arched zipper allows the kids to crawl in and out at their leisure. When nap time comes around you can simply zip up the door and let your baby snooze to the rhythmic sounds of the ocean. The rest of the gang can keep playing. It is so nice not to have to pack everyone up so the baby can go take her nap.

 

Water Girls

Piper is a water girl. She always has been from day one. As a baby she loved baths and you couldn’t get her out of a swimming pool. She is a beach girl by nature, anywhere with water is her happy place, add sand and she couldn’t be more ecstatic. The smile can’t be lifted from her sweet face when she’s in her element.

Kenzie and the ocean

Kenzie as an infant couldn’t have been more different than Piper. She screamed at the sight of water. As she grows she has learned to love the bathtub splashing with delight and trying to climb into it every chance she gets. We haven’t taken her in a swimming pool yet, instead, we went straight into the ocean.

Surprisingly she absolutely loved the sand and didn’t attempt to put it in her mouth like everything else in sight. She sat and played squishing the wet sand between her tiny fingers and putting it into a plastic beach pail for hours. Kenzie has been to the beach before several times. This was the first time she could actually crawl around and play. She was in love with the sounds of the ocean, the sand between her toes and fingers, and the water. To my amazement, she LOVED the water. Once we dipped her toes in she didn’t want to leave to cold body of water. She was crawling back to the vast ocean as fast as she could.

I thought I was putting her bathing suit on (for the first time ever) for show but she actually used it letting her daddy bring her all the way into the waves.

I now have two beach babies and I couldn’t be happier about it. Maybe one day we will live along the seaside. Until then I enjoy visiting as often as I can. We are lucky the ocean is less than an hour’s drive and that our girls love it as much as we do. I could, however, do without all the sand that gets stuck in every corner and crease!

Once Kenzie was done playing in the water and sand she happily retreated to her Lotus Everywhere Travel Crib to get out of the sun and relax while we packed up for the day to head back home. This crib is quickly becoming one of my favorite baby products.

For $10 off a Guava Family travel crib or crib/bassinet kit bundle use code 2blondemamas. Code expires May 31st. xoxo

 

xoxo- Alia

 

Thank you Guava Family for sponsoring this post and thank you for reading!

 

Where to next? You might like: International Travel Tips Traveling with Toddlers