One - Sand

Although we live only minutes away from some of the best beaches in the world (according to Dr. Beach), one thing used to keep us from heading out to enjoy those beaches. The one (pronounced oh-nay), or sand. I know it's a ridiculous thing to complain about, but it's hard enough to get sand out of those hard-to-reach places... but then trying to get it off of your kids too? It used to drive me so crazy that I dreaded going to the beach. If this is true for you, read on to see how we're minimizing the one-phobia!

Language tip: One is not really used in day to conversation, so don't try to say "I love the powdery one on that beach!" However, it is very common in place and street names, so it will save a lot of confusion to say it correctly. Say oh-nay, not the number 1.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that for the last two years, our kids spent most of their time on the sand. And not just gently scooping it into buckets with shovels. I don't know about your kids, but mine like to dig like crazy, wild dogs. So they end up looking like this:

I'm pretty sure they make cement by mixing sand with sunscreen. Or at least they should because it does not come off!

Even after a thorough shower at the beach, somehow this pile of sand still ended up on the bathroom floor (it looked way more dune-like in real life). I have to remind myself to calm down and just get the vacuum. But, most of the mess is contained when we remember to remove our swim suits in the tub. Many people here have outdoor showers to help with that. We unfortunately do not, and we found that the screams that come from hosing them off in the driveway are not worth it, so they trek upstairs.

In order to avoid the sandy floors and cars, here are some handy tools we keep in our car for beach days. Paper towel, brushes, beach blanket, change of clothes, garbage bag and jugs of water (not pictured). The beach blanket doesn't really keep the kids clean, but is more for the adults and the food. I wish I could give you a simple step-by-step method for sand removal, but it really depends on the type of sand you're dealing with, so you must experiment! Which means trying out different beaches - best homework ever!

Some handy hints: We've found that if you shower at the beach, a jug of water is usually sufficient to get the strays off your feet. However for those beaches without showers, (or if your kids kick and scream through the cold water showers and you'd rather just quickly dash home) you need a brush to help. Fine sand works best after drying out - so brush first, then rinse. More coarse sand does better with a quick rinse then brushing. You'll notice we have two brushes - one is a beauty product and the other is from the automotive aisle. Both work fine, but some people think one is too "scratchy."

Hopefully with these hints you too can finally enjoy the "White Sandy Beach" in Hawaii (or in your neck of the woods) without cringing about cleaning up! What are your favorite beach clean up tools?