When Going to the Beach or Pool (With the Most Fantastic Beach Bag)

Last month when we talked about summer vacations for the Nordstrom summer giveaway (HERE) sooooo many of you said you wanted to go to the beach.  Given that I live 15 minutes from several beaches here in San Diego yet hardly ever go to them anymore, I felt both lame and inspired to get outdoors and near some water this summer.  Since I’m currently off work for a few weeks and Addie is finally at an age where she’ll enjoy being around water, I’m excited to get out more!

With my hopes to be nearby water regularly this summer, I’m putting together my go-to list for our beach bag.  Or pool bag.  Or splash pad bag.  Whatever you wanna call it.  Since we’re only at the start of our adventures, I’m still working out and testing the list.  I’d love to hear your additions!

To talk about beach bag stuff I’m teaming up with a cute Etsy shop called Ooh Baby Designs (HERE)!  In the past I’ve featured scarves and clutches from Ooh Baby, but the shop owner Stephanie also has a huge selection of handmade beach bags, teacher totes, and wet bags as well.

We started our adventures last Friday by joining some friends at the local Waterfront Park (think splash pad type of thing).  This is a list of what I packed in our bags, and I felt like it was exactly all we needed.  Off to a great start so far!

– Beach Bag (HERE).  This bag is from Ooh Baby Designs, and overall I LOVE it because it’s not only cute but very practical and utilitarian!  First of all, it’s super duper duper lightweight but is sturdy enough to hold a fairly heavy and large load.  (Our very large towel, two bottles of sunblock, two huge water bottles, a change of clothes, and my heavy camera among other things.)  The thicker straps make it comfier to lug everything around.  Also, I really, really love that the inside of the bag is lined with water resistant material.  If you need to carry back a wet towel or a wet anything, this bag is so durable for that.

In addition to all of that awesomeness, what’s also so useful about this bag is that it folds up to be really small.  Like, less room than a pair of jeans would take up.  A lot of beach totes can take up tons of space because they’re structured and large and bulky, so how compact this Ooh Baby bag can be is fantastically helpful if you’re taking a trip somewhere and want to pack a beach bag with you!

There are TONS of cute prints for this bag, including starfish like mine above but in a cute aqua, or a striped pattern in either grey or yellow or pink or red, chevron print in various colors, and lots more cute prints like sea coral in various colors.  Find them HERE.

– Towel (HERE).  Isn’t this towel cool?  If you follow me on Snapchat (audreyPMT) you’ve already seen it and helped me decide to get this one instead of the black/white (HERE).  I’m SO happy with the blue one, so thank you for voting!  It’s so pretty and large enough to fit 4 kids comfortably.  This sounds dumb, but I think being round made it feel very welcoming, as if it were a rug in a living room where the kids came.  Plus, they could sit and face each other really easily.  All of their own rectangular towels were laid out, but they kept gathering on this one!  It’s also fairly soft and made hanging out on the grass feel cozy.

– Wet bag (HERE).  I didn’t know these existed, but they’re pretty helpful!  These are smaller bags lined with a waterproof material.  They can really store anything that a normal small bag would (toys, makeup, tech accessories–anything), but when they’re especially helpful is for things that are WET!  Like, a wet swimsuit that you changed out of or toys that haven’t fully dried yet.

The one above is also from Ooh Baby Designs.  It’s got a nice little handle for hanging dry, or just hanging for easier carrying.  And there’s a zipper on it for closure.  Once Addie was finished playing in the water, I changed her out of her wet swimsuit into dry clothes, threw her wet suit into this wet bag, and tossed it in our beach tote with all the other dry stuff.  It’s so convenient to have this bag!

It comes in several different colors and prints HERE.

– Sunblock, sunglasses, hat, hair ties

– Dry change of clothes

– Diapers and wipes

– Baby powder (for the beach).  Since I haven’t been to the beach in a loooong time I haven’t gotten a chance to try this out.  But my friends swear that it gets wet sand off you right away!

– Snacks and water bottles.  Of course on hot days in the sun you don’t want to get dehydrated.  I’ve talked about my water bottle before in my airplane tote post, but it is a MUST for this because it keeps liquid cold up to 24 hours!  Find it HERE.

– Beach chairs.  For Waterfront Park or beach we bring these awesome beach chairs we got from Costco.  They can recline far back if you want to take a nap.  Each chair also has a cup holder and pocket for your cell phone, as well as another larger zip pocket on the back, AND another large zip pocket that is insulated as a cooler!  It also has a pillow to support your neck when you lay back, which is probably one of my favorite parts.  Lastly, it has straps so you can carry it like a backpack and be hands free to carry all your other stuff.

After going to Waterfront Park on Friday we already went back on Saturday.  Addie loves it, and it’s pretty relaxing for me as well.  Looking forward to the rest of the summer!

Thanks to Ooh Baby Designs for sponsoring this post.
Be sure to check out their awesome beach bags and wet bags HERE!

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