Boden’s sea explorer surf suit was a hit with my littlest (and me!) and is half price (£15.60 in age 4-5) at the moment.
We just got back from our mini family road trip across northern Italy.
We. Are. Pooped.
We started on the Adriatic coast, visited Venice, stayed over on the shore of Lake Garda, then set off south to Tuscany, fitting in all sorts of lovely places on the way. We’re all nice and brown, very tired and rather grumpy, and nobody has any clean clothes (or money, for that matter).
All that aside, of course, it was SO worth it!
I’ve got some posts in the pipeline about our trip, from our first experience with Eurocamp (spoiler: we loved it), to how to do Venice with toddlers (my advice? Don’t take a buggy, and do take a travel potty).
In the meantime, I’ve just started uploading all the photographs and videos and spotted these shots of the kids on the beach right at the start of our trip. I think this was our very first day, when we discovered the Eurocamp parc we were staying at – Camping Ca’Savio – was right next to a lovely wide beach. Excited to see sun, sea and sand for the first time in a while, the kids got beach-ready and headed off in search of seashells in their new Boden surf suits.
I bought these from Boden’s kids’ beachwear section with a gift voucher as both kids had outgrown their old sun suits and I wanted something with UV protection built-in (both of the little darlings kick up a stink every time I slather them in suncream). The surf suits have UPF 50+ protection as well as a high neck, which meant I spent less time worrying about them getting burnt in all those weird places it’s easy to forget (I think the sleeves are meant to be three-quarter-length, but my children are on the teeny side).
My two-year-old has the light blue rainbow surf suit, which is my favourite of the two because of the colours (and I’ve just spotted it’s on offer at 10% off on the website at the moment, although I’ve no idea how long that lasts).
Boden’s boys’ surf suit comes in several designs (this is the walrus version) and you can also buy rash vests on their own.
My 4-year-old has the walrus surf suit (similar suits here), although there are a couple of cute designs to choose from. He’s a little more fussy, so I was pleased when he actually wanted to try it on at home before the holiday, and only marginally less so when he then refused to take it off.
I also got them both a matching sun hat with flaps at the side and back of the neck (yes, paranoid mama right here), and these came in handy throughout the holiday as they’re great in the pool – the fabric means they dry really quickly, and we also discovered they float! They’re age 0-4 and they fit both the kids fine.
Lastly, I couldn’t resist this dinosaur towelling throw-on (I also want the dinosaur version for girls), which has already become a bit of a staple back home when the paddling pool is out as it solves the I’m-cold-but-I’m-getting-back-in thing (this isn’t the best photograph, sorry – the ones on the website are better, although some sizes are selling out in this design).
We ended up spending the whole day on the beach, and the surf suits worked both as swimming costumes and ‘normal’ clothes. They kept them covered from the sun in the heat of the day, but warm enough to carry on playing (or throwing sand at each other) when the sun started to set.
They even withstood a whole bunch of sandy seaweed, or ‘gross witchy slimy hair’, as it’s better-known. And that’s an important consideration when you’re two.
Heads up: this post contains affiliate links, which means you’ll be helping to fund this site if you choose to click on them. You can find all of Boden’s reduced beachwear, swimwear and holiday clothes for adults and kids in the clearance section – try the girls’ swimwear section for starters. Next post: our first experience of Eurocamp!
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