Beach!

Every fourth of July my husbands family rents a condo at the beach for all of us. It used to be Destin, but since we moved to NC, Destin is about a twelve hour drive for us so the trip has been moved to Myrtle Beach. Last year I sat under the tent watching the ocean, feeling extremely self conscious of my (not actually very visible) baby belly, and daydreaming about the baby that would be just old enough to sit up and play in the sand the next time we were there. This year that baby WAS just old enough to sit up and play in the sand, and she completely changed the dynamic of the trip. It was different, and wonderful. And she loved it. Pictures tomorrow!

I was worried about her being uncomfortable with sand all over her- and I read in Real Simple (my favorite magazine of all time, maybe second to Martha) that baby powder makes sand fall off your skin. But pouring and rubbing just wasn't working. So, M and I came up with the idea to make a fabric pouch to fill with powder. Turns out, someone else did too, because there is an entire website devoted to powder pouches. But I made my own, and they worked perfectly!!

Just a rectangular piece of fabric, a piece of Velcro, a little stitching, and POOF! Super great washable, reusable, sand removing powder pouch!

I liked it so much I made one for my mother in law!

I was able to let the baby play in the sand and water, dry her off, and put her in clean clothes (without sand stuck everywhere) all without leaving the beach. Otherwise I would have had to keep her on the blanket until just before we were ready to leave so that she wouldn't have to be all sandy. In case you don't know, sand on a baby anywhere very quickly leads to sand in eyes and lots of crying. But it works great for everyone else too. Keep it in a ziploc bag and leave it in your beach bag until you need it!