Family Moments: Beach Day Fun

Hey, everybody. I'm Lisa McEwen. It is another hot day, so we are out at the beach while we are camping. But everybody knows, if you are going out and swimming with the kids, it means you bring a lot of stuff, right? So here's a look at what we bring every time we go to the beach. One, two, three, go! If you're camping in Florida in the summer, you know it's going to be hot. So what better place to be than a nice, cool lake? We're camping at a state park in North Central Florida: Gold Head Branch State Park. It's a quieter state park. Since it's inland, it's not busy at all, which means we get to hang out at an uncrowded lake that's close to our campground. Our girls, Adalyn and Riley, could stay in the water for hours. They love to swim, and I'm always entertained at what activities they come up with. We're trying to catch minnows. This morning's activity, as Adalyn says, is catching minnows. They're using some sand toys to try and capture a few of those little fish. When we first arrive at any beach, they are never quite sure which activity they want to do more: swim or play in the sand. So after trying to catch a few minnows, it was off to build sand castles and play on the land. What are you doing, Riley? Burying myself. This cool little watering hole is a nice feature of the state park. It's known as Little Johnson Lake, which is one of several lakes here in the park. Though, it's the only swimming spot. Aside from the quiet locale, the beach also has a bathroom nearby. If you have kids, you know that's a big deal. In just a few steps, you can get your kids to the bathroom without much hassle. When we go to the beach, we tend to go for the day, which means we practically bring enough for an entire bedroom. We brought out the canopy tent because the Florida sun can be brutal. So we needed a little bit of shade. We also brought some chairs, a few towels for the kids, and we packed a lunch to enjoy a nice little picnic, here, at the beach as well. On our beach day, we are all set up. You saw the tent, the food, the kids are in the water having fun. And then, the dark clouds rolled in. An unannounced storm decided to crash our beach party. So, we quickly started packing everything up. We managed to get everything to the car before the worst of the rain came down. But even a few hours relaxing at the beach with family is okay with us. After all, part of our being is making the best out of changing circumstances.