We don’t plan to go on holiday this year – well, not unless we win the lottery anyway! It isn’t really bothering us because we live so close to the beach and we still have so many places local to us to explore that we decided we are having a proper ‘staycation’ this year.

To make our local days out more comfortable and feel a bit more interesting, Millets sent us a fantastic package of outdoor equipment and essentials. It didn’t look like we were going to have a chance to use them for a few weeks but then BOOM – we found ourselves in the middle of a heatwave. Where else would we go, other than to the beach?

We decided to head over to Anglesey and found a beautiful sandy beach which we briefly visited seven years ago when we first visited North Wales on holiday. We never dreamed back then that we would actually be living here! We managed to find somewhere to park and set up camp.

The first thing that went up was the pop-up tent for the kids. We’ve been thinking about getting one of these for a while – they give some shade and protection from the sun for the kids and somewhere for them to chill out. Benjamin still naps in the afternoon and he was quite happy snuggled up in there. It’s a fair size as well; even Graham managed to get in there!

It’s lovely because the kids are now at the age where they are happy playing without us constantly hovering over them or entertaining them. They made friends with some other little boys and spent a good couple of hours splashing about with them in the little stream leading down to the sea, digging trenches and building sandcastles whilst we sat back on our folding chairs, me with a book and a coffee in hand and Graham dozing in the sun.

The kids were really excited at lunchtime because they could sit at their adorable hippo chairs. One of the issues we have, when we go for a picnic on the beach, is sandy sandwiches. You can guarantee that one of them will move and send sand flying all over the place. Sitting on chairs meant that it wasn’t an issue – and it’s a lot more comfortable!

Our picnic was packed into our beautiful picnic bag from Millets, which has an almost nautical theme to it. The bag has everything you need for a 4 person picnic – cups, cutlery, plates, salt & pepper shakers, napkins and a picnic blanket. The space to hold food isn’t huge (well, not for us anyway!) so we took the coordinating cool bag with us as well.

Once lunch had been eaten and packed away, we noticed the tide had started to come in. Wearing a maxi dress, I decided I would hoik it up a bit and paddle with the kids. That went well – until a wave knocked me over! Of course, the kids thought that was hilarious and decided it would be fun to completely soak me with buckets of water.

Once I had been thoroughly drenched, it was time to start packing up and head back. The chairs fold up really quickly and easily and slid straight back into the bags they came in. The tent was a little bit more complicated – it took a few minutes and several swear words but eventually, we managed to squeeze it back in. The chairs and tent don’t take up a lot of room when they’re all folded back up, which is great because we have a much smaller boot these days and we still had plenty of room for everything.

I can’t say the journey home (50 miles or so!) was the nicest trip – soggy maxi dresses aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but three happy, tired, sandy kids meant that it was a peaceful drive back!

*We were sent these products for the purpose of this review. All words and opinions are our own.