At the beach with kids: 5 simple things to bring

Going to the beach is, to me, the ultimate fun family-time. Easy, fun, outdoors, and relaxing (well, unless your kids are at the stage when they try to drown or eat sand every 2 minutes!)

Here are 5 things I always bring to the beach, to make a good time even better:

1. Sunscreen - to reapply after sweating and swimming. The spray ones are nice because they eliminate the "rubbing into skin" step.
2. Water - When it's hot and kids are playing, a bottle of water always comes in handy.
3. Bandaids - Because you never know when someone will skin their knee!
4. Hand-sanitizer - Always nice to have on hand before you have a snack or an ice-cream.
5. Buckets - For the beach-treasures: rocks, sticks, shells.

And yes, I often bring a lot more than 5 items, but these are the things that always come along, whether we're going for a couple of hours or a full day.