One of our Aussie friends go picnic very, very often. When we met up once, we asked her about it and she told us about beaches that her family often goes to. So, we tried going beaches too since late last year.
During the Christmas break, we decided to make a trip to Mornington Peninsula, which is about 1-2 hours away from our place. It is a very popular tourist spot, so I did some google before making the trip, and I was a bit stress out with the food preparation (I always worry I don't pack enough (be if food/drink/clothings/anything for the kids especially!).
We drove a bit to
Dromana, went sight seeing a little around there, and drove back to
Mills Beach in Mornington for our first very own beach outing.
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| Natalie enjoyed the beach a lot! |
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| Trying to practice her swimming |
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| This is their 2nd time @ beach but they looked like they know what to do.... |
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| Our little tent |
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| Building sand castle |
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| The three excited kids! |
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| The little destroyer! |
The day's weather was very good for the outing. It was about 25C, but there's no cloud in the sky so it was really, really sunny and hot! I got a little sunburnt on my back because I wore a singlet and I missed that spot while applying on my sunscreen.
The girls enjoyed themselves but the day didn't end very well - everyone was cranky while we're leaving. It was our first time so we made a few mistakes.
1) We wore the wrong shoes - we should have worn thongs but the girls wore the wrong type of slippers (hard to walk on sand), and EG and I wore socks with sport shoes. Very wrong!
2) I over-packed. I think we had almost 4-5 big items to carry. Bags with food, clothings / towel / extra clothing to change, water bottles/cold drinks/, sunscreen, our tent, sand play toys, etc. Ended up we all were pretty clumsy when leaving - with sticky bodies (sand and sea water) even we have cleaned up in toilet, and the girls were complaining they couldn't walk properly with their wrong type of slippers.
3) We parked too far. It was our first time there so we just parked at the road side. But we didn't realise it was so far to the beach shore. So again, the girls especially the younger one, were complaining all the way when walking to the car, and the daddy was super irritated so everyone got scolded and in not so good mood.
I didn't even want to get into the cleaning part after we're home! :P
But nevertheless, everyone (maybe just except me :P) still enjoyed themselves a lot during the beach outing. The girls and EG talked about it a lot and been asking for another one before the school term starts.
So, 3 weeks later we went again to another beach. This time it's nearer, maybe just 40 minutes away from where we live. Eunice said she didn't want to go so far. So, we went to
Chelsea Beach. We've been to this beach last year with a friend, so we know what to expect here. This time, I made sure everyone wore the right types of shoes, and we put on sunscreen for everyone before we left the house. I still over packed a little, but it wasn't as much as the first time. And I tried to keep the food simpler. This round, everyone was happy. The girls enjoyed themselves a lot, while the parents also chillax together.
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| Borrowing each other's courage while going to the waves! |
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| Ahhh.. RUNnnnNNnnnNNnnn..... |
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| Trying to do a hand stand |
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| Frisbee |
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| Daddy, and his two darlings |
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| Mermaid in the making |
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| Little mermaid II |
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| Chillaxing.... |
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| Our little tent... |
However, there was only ONE problem. It was too windy. The sea breeze was very strong and the wave was stronger too. The girls were a little scared when playing in the water. I remember when we first came last year it was the same, very cold and windy. This time round, the weather was warmer, but still as windy. So it might be because of the beach itself. We were eating our food mixed with sand! :P... However, it was still a very, very good and relaxing experience for all of us.
And today, we decided to go to a beach again since Monday is a public holiday. This time, we didn't tell the girls to avoid them hassling us the whole day/weekend. I only told them the night before that we might be going to a beach. I asked Eunice, which one do you want to go? She said she prefers the further one because the sea is quieter. Good, so she won't complain about the distance, since she chose it as well.
We decided to try
Mothers Beach this time - which is just next to Mills Beach. Since we're going to drive all the way to Mornington, we included visiting
Mornington Craft market in our day out itinerary. We only ended up at the beach about 1.50pm and we stayed till almost 4pm. This time, I only started packing in the morning. And I only brought a set of clothes to change for the kids. Food wise, I only brought water (I used to bring juice/soda along), and went to the shop to buy some bread. The kids will be too excited to eat anyway. We had some nuggets as snacks while we were walking around the market, so the kids really didn't eat much after we arrived at the beach.
This time, we changed our mat to a water proof one, and it was cloudy today - so we omitted the tent - one less thing to carry. And I reminded EG to park as close as we can to the entrance of the beach so we don't need to walk so far. It went all good today. Thank God! Less things to carry, and not as hot as it was cloudy.
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| Sandcastle |
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| Dunno what's the fun of building a sandcastle and then destroy it.... |
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| Kicking in water. Hmmm... She's ready for swimming class, I think. :) |
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| Love this picture. Daddy and his darlings having some quiet talk together. |
Beach, is not exactly my thing. But the other 3 in my family love it, so it is 3 against 1. This time, I sat on the mat most of the time, and just snapped a few pictures here and there. It was truly a very relaxing experience. And after the previous two experiences, the girls know what to do when we said it's going home time, they know how to clean themselves, and that we have to walk a little to the car. And they didn't whine or complain anymore. All I did was just offer them the leftover spam/nuggets, and some crackers on the way home. And everyone was happy.
EG and I decided that maybe we should visit other beaches around us - if the weather is kind to us. Summer's now over and autumn is on its way. A friend likes to go beach during winter, but I am not sure if we're up to it as it can be freezing cold, but it might be something that we should put in our to-do list for this year. :)
