Beach Bag

As the weather grew hotter in April and May, we spent a lot of time at the beach. Seriously, I feel like I'm living a childhood dream. Will my kids take it for granted?  I hope not.

I love the beach for lots of reasons--the water, sunshine and sandcastles to start. It's also a great place to tire out the kids an ensure an afternoon nap.  Rarely do I also get to partake in that nap, because all the sand requires major post-beach cleanup.  One solution--a beach bag that lets the sand sift out.  I used screening leftover from hubby enclosing the deck and ribbon that I bought for a previous project.  Here's the mesh bag tutorial from Martha Stewart.

Photography courtesy of four-year old C, who also insisted on a photo of her "ballet shoes".

C's not taking ballet, these are just some sparkly shoes I bought on Target clearance.  That's her swimsuit peaking out.  She's become quite a fish already and I think we've found a perfect outlet for her energy.  We all knew she had the stamina, but I am seriously surprised by how quickly she's caught on considering she hadn't previously spent any significant amount of time in the pool.  I also owe a lot of credit to her amazing swim coach--another mom on the island who has graciously been teaching a few of the kids to swim.

P.S. Do you recognize my skirt?  I never fixed all that wonky sewing.  I figure who is really going to inspect the stitches that closely?  As long as the skirt stays on, I'm wearing it.  I did get a new sewing machine, though, and am loving it!