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Life On The lake // Lake Pawtuckaway with a baby and a toddler

Have you spent time at a lake with your baby or toddler? We spent a week up at lake Pawtuckaway this month, tucked into the forests of New Hampshire, and had so much fun!

I was surprised by how different spending time at a lake was from taking two kids to the beach. In some ways it was a lot easier in a lot of ways and it was quite a bit HARDER in a couple others. I never had to pack a full bag of stuff just to head to the water because we could just walk thirty feet down the dock and be right there. Instead of worrying about Adelaide crawling into the waves, I had to stay close enough that she couldn’t crawl right off the dock. There were the same concerns about sunscreen but it was a lot easier to reapply without sand everywhere.

A few things that were lifesavers (not literally) for us at the lake:

  • Sunscreen stick: Have you used a sunscreen stick before? It’s a lot like chapstick in a bigger tube…but of sunscreen. This one isn’t sticky, it smells great, and I use it on my kids faces and for reapplication. It’s so convenient.
  • The cutest reusable swim diapers: These darling little swim diapers from Bambino Mio arrived as a gift right before our week on the lake and they were perfect. It was our first time this summer with reusable swim diapers and they were super easy to use. Plus, I loved not having to throw away disposable swim diapers after just an hour of playing in the water. They have a super soft cotton terry lining which is gentle on baby’s skin and a drawstring waistband. A lot of the time I’d just throw on a rash guard with the swim diaper and skip the swim suits altogether.
  • Inflatable floats: I picked up the shark and flamingo floats midweek at the lake and they were the biggest hit of the trip. We used them close to the dock (tying Adelaide’s float up to the dock a lot of the time) and put the inflatable sun shade up if it was too sunny. The kids loved getting to lounge in the water and kick around and after a few days of floating in his shark, Lincoln was ready for swimming on his own (with a life jacket). I grabbed the floats for $8 at Walmart but they’re not available anymore – you can get them on Amazon here for a bit more. 
  • Snacks: Whenever anyone on the dock was getting cranky, snacks fixed it. I kept a stash on hand on soft bars and these bags of freeze dried fruit that Adelaide loves.
  • Insulated kids cup: We’ve loved the 360 cup from Munchkin for a few years but they came out with an insulated version recently and it was perfect for keeping the kids’ water cool all day down on the dock. Adelaide and Lincoln can both easily drink out of it without spilling and I think they need to make an adult size one for traveling.

I also dragged up blackout curtains, noise machines, and both pack n plays to try and make their sleeping as normal as possible but it was by far our biggest struggle of the week. The kids were sleeping in the same room and it has me a bit terrified for what the shared nursery will look like next month.

Overall though, it was so wonderful to get away for a week. I still have some work to do from my computer in the mornings or evenings and we were only about 40 minutes from home, but it felt like an escape. It seems like time in nature consistently acts as a reset button and we need to do it a little bit more often.

And a picture overload for our time up in Pawtuckaway: 

^Little friends 

^tied her flamingo up to the dock or to whatever adult was floating next to her so we could easily pull her in and give her more snacks 😛 

^This peddleboard was one of the highlights of the week! Have you tried one before?

^just loungin 

^telling us some animated story – he’s always chatting it up these days 

^Love these two 

^our only family picture from the week

^we took Lincoln tubing for the first time! he went on a nice slow ride with me and loved it (“like des bumps mommy!”) and then a faster, bumpier ride with Ben where they got thrown from the tube. needless to say, the next day he asked to only to with me and kept saying, “keep me safe, mama.” 

^he got a haircut after this week 😛 

^these cuties in their matching swim diapers 

^her little sideways glance while she’s drinking 😛 

^we picked blueberries in the yard to make muffins one morning 

^he  mostly ate the blueberries 

^I snapped this sunrise shot at 5 am one morning while up with Adelaide. Maybe it was the lake, maybe it was a developmental leap, maybe it was a shared room, maybe it was something else, but that girl did not sleep all week long. And so I’ll keep this picture to symbolize the beauty in hazy early mornings with tired children (and the happy reminder that seasons don’t last :P).

 

taking the kids to the lake? what to pack for a lake vacation with a baby and a toddler

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One Comment

  1. These pictures are all so cute! Love baby A in those pool floats! She has chunk in all the right places!