I thought id share with you what it’s actually like going to the beach alone with two kids…
Just the word beach gives you feelings of sun, happiness and relaxation, right? Well having kids definitely puts the beach into a new perspective… Let me tell you about the last trip to the beach, to give you a little more of an insight into what beach life really is like…
Ill start by saying that the beaches here are CRAP! I mean I LOVE Marbella with all my heart, its home, but maaaan are the beaches here bad… They are ugly and most of them are filled with stones, it’s a battle of your feet verses stones to get to the sea, and once you get there it’s too freaking cold you just go back to the beach… I mean coming here for a beach holiday is a waste of time, even the sea most of the time looks like hot chocolate, all brown and yucky! So to find the perfect beach is difficult…
I thought I had found the perfect beach to go with kids… I mean when your alone with a few million bags to carry AND two children, you don’t want to have to walk far from the car to the beach… The beach should be a perfect mix of stones and sand, because if it’s too stoney then the kids can’t move, and if the sand is too smooth they can run away fast hahaha! It can’t be too far from home because you risk the kids falling asleep in the car on the way home, or getting impatient on the way there… The sand can’t be too hot haha just kidding…. But seriously there are a lot of things to think about when choosing the perfect beach… Oh and I dont want people there! I dont want to deal with other people around me… Just my kids and I and some sand/stones, that’s it!
Anyways I had found the perfect beach, middle of absolutely nowhere, I have no idea how I found it and I struggled to find it again each time! Parking right beside the beach, literally 5 steps and you are on the beach…. Perfect mix of sand and stones, so the kids don’t go flying into the cold sea, due to the painful stones one has to cross…. so I can have a seat and enjoy watching my kids play in the stoney sand! There was never anyone there… UNTIL… last weekend when I decided we would go there on a Sunday…. I am not joking when I say that 90% of Marbella was on that same beach! The one that I thought NO ONE knew about! Well I was wrong, and it wasn’t like I could just plop down my towel somewhere on that beach, there was literally NO space… You couldnt tell where one family ended and another one began!!! There wasn’t even any space to park the car! It was absolute chaos, like this was the only beach in Spain and everyone had gone there… Well that’s what I thought until I started driving further along the coast… I drove every single side street towards the beach from Casares (far far away) to Benamara (not so far away). Apparently I was not the only one that had decided to go to the beach… Ugh I hate when people think the same way, I hate crowded places, i hate people haha… So because I had promised my kids the beach I WAS going to find a beach that fit my criteria… After 40 minutes of driving I found a small road that led down to the beach… Beach was directly after the road ended… However there was a small sign that said no parking, cars will be towed, at the beginning of this road… There were 3 cars parked after this sign…
So here I am with two kids and I want to go to the beach… If I park before the sign I can promise you the eldest will get bored of walking and want to go home before we reach the beach and I don’t even think ill make it with two bags and my youngest son balancing on my hip… Do I park and say screw the sign.. Well with two kids you need to plan, so I started the planning:
- If I park here and get towed, how do I get to the location of where they towed the car to? Will a taxi accept me with two super wet, cranky, full of sand kids? Will I find a taxi?… Planning is vital! Haha
- Next if im going to park here and risk being towed, then I want to be the last to be towed. There were 3 cars parked along the road, near the beach…. I thought if I park first in this row, the tow truck will have to remove the other 3 cars first to get to mine… In this case I will heard the reverse of the truck beep beep beep and I will have a chance to run up and remove the car before they tow it! Smart plan right?
So I decide to risk it and park in front of the first car in the road, closest to the beach…. Turns out the road was a little squashier than I thought so I had to drive quite close to the pavement in order not to scratch the cars… As I pass the first car I hear a scraping noise and realize that the whole other side of the road is filled with LARGE HARD SPIKY CACTUSES!!!! I need to get to this freaking beach… I continue whilst hearing the SCREETCHING noise of the spikes sliding along the car…. UGH, FULL INSURANCE, FULL INSURANCE, FULL INSURANCE…. I make it to the other side and pause… NOPE im not parking here, ill walk the extra meters, im not going to be one of those people who ignore signs and think they are better than the law… So now it was just getting back, SCRAPING nicely the whole other side of the car, thank god for full insurance…. I drive back to the sign, and park RIGHT INFRONT of it!
So after all this stress of finding a beach and finding a parking space we finally get to the beach.. The youngest was wearing a swimming diaper which I forgot so therefore had peed through his pants and ALL OVER THE CAR SEAT, PERFECT! Anyways there is at least 1km between me and other people on both sides, which is perfection!!!… Probably because of the MAYOR parking problem! Anyways I lay a towel down and prepare for a little chill whilst watching my kids play in the sand… The eldest is straight off into the sea… DAMN YOU SAND!!! There are no painful rocks for him to step on before entering the sea, so therefore no buffer… He doesn’t know how to swim yet so I have to watch him like a hawk, but this is not the problem… The youngest sees him playing with the waves and of course wants to do the same! GREAT… There goes my chilling plans, it’s up and into the ice-cold sea! Look when I say chill I don’t mean sunbathe listening to music, I mean just rest my knees for a little bit whilst the kids can run around safely! You dont chill when you have kids…
So my eldest runs into the sea and back to the beach like 2 million times over the next 20 minutes… Then he goes gets his towel and says ‘okey its enough now, let’s go home….’ So at first I was like hell yes, its too much watching two kids alone at the beach…. But then I thought it took 45 minutes to get ready, another 50 minutes to find a beach and we end up staying only 20 minutes…. and I know for a fact its going to take at least an hour to get showered and dressed once we get home…. So I asked him nicely to play a little longer… he agreed, so he played with the buckets and sand… The youngest then wanted to play with THAT bucket too, NOTE I had two buckets, but the bucket that his brother has is much nicer…. So they start fighting and the eldest shouts ‘your not my best friend and throws the spade on the floor’… The youngest starts crying, because he doesn’t like when someone shouts! I tried to smooth it over and then the youngest stands up and decides to run a marathon, first left, then right and then towards the car on the hot sand… The eldest then starts crying, I want to go home…. Its too hot, im tired… AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, IM FREAKING TIRED PEOPLE!!!! Lets go home….
I didn’t get towed, it took 20 minutes to get home, the car is scratched on the outside and FULL of sand on the inside, liters of sand was spread across the two floors and stairs to the bathroom, bathroom was filled with sand, I had 3 towels and 2 t-shirts and 2 shorts that needed washing, a car seat that was peed on, and now two super tired and therefore cranky kids to deal with, FOR 26 MINUTES of BEACH LIFE!!!! UGH….
Here are a few pics of the beach trip:
Femieshe 