Banana Boat Sunscreen & A Look At What's Inside Our Beach Bag

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We just got home from spending two weeks at the beach. I typically pack way too much when we walk down to the beach, but most of the week days, I was heading to the beach on my own. So with 2 little kids in tow and heading into my 3rd trimester of pregnancy, I had to be mindful of how much I carted to the beach. We had plenty of Banana Boat sunscreen in the bag and after a few days, I had gotten the hang of what else we really needed. When the weekend rolled around, my husband was pretty impressed with this year’s beach bag, and how much we actually used everything we brought down for the day!

Here’s a look at what’s inside:

1. Sunglasses: We love the sunglasses from Paxley because there’s a strap across the back that holds them onto the child’s head. We pack the kids’ sunglasses and wear our own.

2. Banana Boat sunscreen for kids, mom and dad (more details on those below)

3. Snacks: We like Nature Valley bars, pouches like the Plum Tots, and fruit

4. Wipes: All my bags have a pack of wipes in them. These will really come in hand if the ice cream man stops by the beach and you have sticky hands that want to go back to playing in the sand!

5. Ball: kids/adults of all ages can enjoy playing catch in the water or on sand

6. Kick-board: Great for swimming and “pretend surfing” on the sand.

7. Sand toys: Sand toys can easily pile up fast and take over the beach bag. My kids love the Melissa & Doug set shown above because it has a little bit of everything. I like it because everything fits inside the one bucket and the sand strainer is the lid. It’s a great beach bag space saver!

8. Beach Towels: We prefer thin towels that don’t take up much room in the beach bag and dry fast. We are constantly in and out of the water!

9. Baby Powder: takes sand off easily and fast.

10. Water Bottles: Everyone in the family needs plenty of cold water on the beach.

While we don’t want to pack a ton every time we head to the beach, we do have to make sure we have what we need to enjoy a day at the beach. We are an active family that likes to run, play and swim all day long. One of the most important things in the beach bag is our assortment of sunscreen. We always apply some at home before we leave, but need to have some on hand for later in the day. For “re-upping” the kids sunscreen at the beach, I find spray sunscreens to be easiest. It’s hard to chase them down and once I do, they are covered in sand. Rubbing a lotion on at this point is not easy. I made a trip to Walmart to stock up before we left. #CollectiveBias

Along with some Banana Boat Kids Free SPF 50 Clear Spray for Maggie and Alex, I decided to try the Banana Boat Protect & Hydrate 50 Lotion for myself. The sun really drys out my skin, so I figured trying something that had an aloe moisturizer in it might help. It’s been great for my skin! I also got the Banana Boat Men’s SPF 30 Clear Spray for my husband. He always ends up using whatever I have in the bag for the kids, but this year I figured it was time he got his own sunscreen. In addition to the Banana Boat sunscreens I purchased at Walmart, a few others I considered: Sport SPF 50 Clear Spray, Protect & Hydrate 50 Spray and the Men’s SPF 50 Lotion. Walmart had great prices on Banana Boat sunscreen, so I was ok with buying 3 different types for my family’s different needs.

Banana Boat has some fun summer contests going on right now! If you head to their Facebook Page, you can enter the Wheel of Fun contest for a chance to win daily and weekly prizes. You can spin the Wheel of Fun once a day for your chance to win. Each spin also gives you an entry into the weekly and Grand Prize drawing. Then, increase your chances to win by sharing what you see, tagging your own with photos with #BBBestSummer, or inviting friends to the Block Party.

Another fun Banana Boat contest is the Walmart instant win contest that you can find on their website. You could instantly win up to $100 in Walmart gift cards.