Sandcastles and Footprints

Returning for a day out to the beach with the kids after lockdown felt like a dream.. 

During lockdown, the pure thought of returning to the beach felt like a dream, especially after a long cold winter. I longed to feel the soft golden sand between my toes, the warm sunshine on my skin and to be able to sit back and watch my two boys being carefree again playing in the sea and building sandcastles. So you can imagine just how utterly incredible it felt when we finally got to go back! 

We live about 2.5 hours from our favourite beach - Boscombe Beach in Bournemouth, so it's always a special day out for us when we go, but this first time after 2 years at home, was even better than I could have imagined! There was no better feeling than watching the boys play in the sea. Their faces were alight with happiness the entire time and I can't get their happy shrieks out of my head from each time the waves came in towards them.

They were so happy to be at the beach and play in the sea and in the sand. After so long of asking them to be so much less carefree, to do their school work at home, to not see their friends or family and just generally be less kid-like, it was amazing to just let our guards down and let them be children properly again! 

Plus, we'd been lucky enough to have picked the perfect day for it weather-wise, the sun was beaming, the sky was bright blue, the sand was golden and the sea glistened! I almost felt like we were abroad! Boscombe Beach stretches for miles, so despite the fact we were visiting during half term, there was plenty of space even with us arriving towards midday. We'd found a spot with plenty of space around us near the front, close enough to watch the boys near the sea. We'd even somehow managed to find street parking for the car, so we didn't have to pay for parking! Visiting as a family, we found it reassuring to find quite a few public toilets nearby and also see a lifeguard on duty!

We enjoyed a tasty M&S picnic that we'd taken with us and then treated ourselves to an ice cream from the nearby ice cream van (are you even at the beach if you don't enjoy a melting ice cream on the sand!). We always ensure we take a spare carrier bag for our rubbish to make sure that all we leave behind is our footprints and sandcastles in the sand. It's so sad to see when people leave their litter behind on our beautiful beaches, which then ends up in our seas and ultimately harms the sea life. It's so easy to take rubbish home or find a nearby bin. If we spot any litter that's been left behind, we add it to our rubbish bag and take it off the beach. It's actually fun to make it a bit of a competition between us to see how much we can collect and it’s a great way to teach the children the importance of looking after our world. We returned home from our day at Boscombe Beach feeling chilled with such happy memories, we can't wait to go back! 

Good to know

Nearby there are a few places to eat out - Reefside which is based on Boscombe Pier, Urban Reed and a Harvester - The Neptune. All of which are within walking distant to the beach front! There are two table tennis tables on the beach which you can use free of charge and the pier is great to walk down and take some photos on. This Summer Bournemouth Reggae Weeekender is on 29th-31 July and the UK's biggest free air festival is on from Thursday 1 September to Sunday 4th September 2022.

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