As the weather warms up and the days get longer, my family is spending more and more time outside. City living is hard because apartments are small and staying cooped up inside gets old real fast. So, once the sun starts shining, we are out the door, hitting up a park or two every day. (This week alone, we’ve already visited 4 different parks!) The water got turned on at the splash pads too, making the heat much more bearable come June, July and August!

We are getting a glimpse of what was to come for the summer and we couldn’t be more excited. We survived one summer in the city and now we are planning on thriving through our next one! City summers are tiring and long, but only because we play hard and enjoy everything we can.

I receive a lot of questions about all the things I use and love that make our summer better. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite go-tos, along with some of the new things we are using and loving. Don’t leave home this summer without these!

• Blake and Eddie’s Scooters are by Micro Kickboard. I have gotten countless questions about their scooters online because we literally use them every day! Up and down the hall in our apartment and outside to the store, to school or to the park. We ended up getting Blake the cheapest scooter we could find off Amazon last year and already it’s loose and has a few cracks in it. So, after getting Eddie a Micro scooter and realizing how much more durable and well-made it was, we ordered one for Blake as well. It has really high reviews on Amazon and so far, we’ve been really pleased with them.

• Eddie’s helmet is also by Micro and is the cutest thing ever. He refuses to take it off most days.

• Sunbum sunscreen! I first discovered this on our trip to Aruba. It worked so well for us that I’m going to be using it all summer on my kids too. And, I don’t know if this is science or Lauren talking, but I think the lotion you rub in is much more effective than the spray.

• More often than not, we are bringing lots of snacks and a packed lunch with us and I’ve found a larger, soft sided food cooler works really well for this purpose. (The hard-sided ones are harder to store.) The health science nut in me is a little obsessed with keeping cold foods cold and hot foods hot to reduce all that bacterial growth. So, yeah…coolers all the way.

• My friend, Claudia, told me about these picnic blankets with a waterproof backing that I fell in love with! Super smart and perfect for lunches in the park or laying sleepy kids on cuddled up in their blankets or beach towels.

• And since I need to have a way to cart all this stuff from park to park, I have a huge stroller that is like my minivan in the city. It was expensive, but holds so much stuff. I am big puffy heart eyes in love with it.

And, a few honorable mentions include: bringing cash for any extra items you may need and leaving wallets at home! Carabiner for my keys to latch onto something or someone so I don’t lose them, filled water bottles, sunglasses and hats.

What are your favorite summer must-haves? For more information about summer in the city with my kids, visit LaurensLatest.com!