Over the 4th of July, we had the opportunity to join my maternal birth family on a trip to Hilton Head, SC. There were 27 of us which made for an incredibly fun week! That being said, traveling anywhere with toddlers is tough. I planned for months so that our experience, from the 11 hour road trip to full days at the beach, was as easy as possible!
Aside from the obvious (clothes, swimsuits, towels, etc.), here is my shoppable top 10 list items that helped make our trip successful! All of these items were purchased by us, however I do receive a small commission if you shop from my links. Thank you in advance if you choose to do so!
- Keenz Wagon
- Portable Play Yard
- 4Moms Breeze
- Tailgate Tent
- Beach Blanket
- Car Organizers
- Portable Potty
- Tablet
- Aquabot Water Bottle
- Mesh Beach Bag
1. The Keenz Wagon was recommended to me by a friend and we purchased it last summer. It’s great for so many reasons and occasions, but this was our first trip using it and it was a life saver! It’s awesome because you can push it like a stroller from both sides which is so much easier than pulling. We used it to lug all of our gear down to the beach and also for exploring the island! It has two 5-point harnesses and lots of accessories. (Including a cooler which was perfect for our adult beverages and lunch for the beach). It even served as a bed for Brody when he tuckered out early one night! 
2. I absolutely adore this play yard and highly recommend it to anyone with toddlers whether traveling or not, however it came in super handy for us on the beach. Shealeigh just turned 2 and is very busy. I honestly debated bringing this to the beach because I figured she could just nap in the Keenz Wagon, however Jordan insisted we bring it down. I’m so glad that we did because all she wanted to do was climb out of the wagon when it wasn’t moving. The play yard ended up being perfect for playing and napping as it allowed for her to still get air through the mesh sides! You can also purchase a canopy for shade if you don’t take a tailgate tent. 
3. We recently acquired a 4MOMS BREEZE and I wish I had splurged on it sooner! When they say it’s a breeze, they aren’t kidding. Our pack-n-play has served us just fine, but I love how simple this thing is to assemble! It definitely made things easier for us on our trip. We stayed in a condo with a long, narrow hallway. Have you ever tried to move a pack-n-play through a doorway or through a narrow space? It’s a little bit infuriating. It’s just too wide so you have to fully disassemble it to move it (ie. pressing all the buttons and pulling the strap in the right order so it fully collapses). With the 4MOMS BREEZE, you literally pull up on the strap in the middle and the whole thing collapses instantly. One super easy step so that you can move it back and forth between rooms for sleep and play super easily!
4. Okay, I realize a tailgate tent is a larger and heavier item to haul with you, however it collapses down pretty small and can make your beach experience so much better. On our beach days, Jordan ran down in the morning and set up our tent to reserve our spot at the beach for the day. Once we got down there, we loaded the rest of our stuff in and it was our little outdoor home for the day. Three families in our group had a tent, so we had a nice big shady spot for everyone to escape the sun in.
5. When we took Brody to the beach when he was 2, he absolutely hated the sand and refused to walk, sit, or play in it. I did not want to take that risk this year, so I purchased this beach blanket. I liked the idea of having somewhere to throw our towels and bags down without them being covered in sand. This thing was awesome and any sand that got on it wiped right off easily. The kids liked to sit on the edge of it while playing in the sand and sit on it for lunch picnics. We set it up halfway under our tent and halfway out so that we could put our chairs on it as well.
6. If you follow me on Instagram, you may remember my stories a few months ago when I purchased these. I purchased two car organizers when planning for the beach, but have been using them in the meantime as well. These are awesome to hold so much stuff for the kids without it flying round on the car floor. I got one for each kid and filled them with toys, activities, snacks, etc. and put on the ground in front of their carseats so that I could easily reach back and hand them things to keep them busy. It also has handles on each side, so you can grab it and bring it inside your hotel/home/etc. as well! 
7. I’m not sure what it is about water, but whether at the pool or beach, Brody has to pee constantly! I think he gets a kick out of peeing outside because we let him pee in the bushes out by our pool. However, going to the public beach, I wanted him to be a little bit more discrete, so I got this little portable urinal. (They have female versions as well.) He used this a lot by the beach and we just dumped it and cleaned it each night back in our room. (I wont include a photo of him using it, you’re welcome.) An alternative is this potty seat which we also have and like a lot. You can unfold it on top of full-size toilets as a toilet trainer or self-standing with an absorbent bag insert.
8. I think that this one speaks for itself. Yeah, yeah, we try to limit screen time when we can, but let’s face it, it’s one thing that keeps them occupied for long periods of time! Make sure if you don’t have wifi access to download games and videos ahead of time! We started with a fire tablet originally but just did not personally find it super user-friendly. Maybe because we are apple people and are stuck in our ways. We ended up returning it and getting an iPad mini. We have fun and educational games on there for Brody, and we recently got the osmo and LOVE it for interactive play/learning.
9. This water bottle is AMAZING! I saw it and read the reviews and decided not to purchase it because it was more than I wanted to spend. I figured we could just use regular water bottles and ocean water to clean off. Insert first day at the beach here and whining about sand and salt water all day long. I jumped on my prime and ordered it to the beach condo that day! What I love about this opposed to just a mister is that it mists and jets, so we used it to cool off and to rinse off. The jet stream was substantial enough to clean sand off little hands and feet and spare us from SOME of the whining!
10. I grabbed two of these mesh beach bags on amazon and we used them every day! I stuck all of the kids’ beach toys, goggles, life jackets, etc. in them and after a day at the pool or beach, we just rinsed it under the outdoor shower and set the entire bag full of stuff on our balcony to dry for the next day. I loved not having to dump sand out of the bottom of bags!
I hope that you find this post helpful! Let me know what you have your eye on for your next trip! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me on Instagram & I’ll be happy to answer.
