Lauren and her family may have planned their travels too early (last week they were in Florida, but this week it’s so cold in Minnesota that schools are closed!) but they still had a great getaway to Naples, FL last week.

It’s so important to protect, not only ourselves, but our children from UV exposure. Sunblock is wonderful, but it’s sometimes difficult to keep up with reapplication over hours playing on the beach. Enter sun protective clothing! This has been one of our favorite skincare categories, as we find it to be so useful and simple. Coolibar was gracious enough to give Lauren’s family gear to try out on this trip.

Coolibar is a local Minnesota company that is delivering fashionable sun protective clothing that is held to high standards. Everything we tried was UPF 50+ (the equivalent of SPF 50+). Lauren’s six year old daughter fell in love with the wide brimmed hat she wore (in pink no less!) and her four year old son felt the same about his hat (which came in a neat stretchy material that was comfy enough for all kids.)

One of our favorite pieces were the board shorts Lauren’s daughter wore; they were a smidge big on her, so she wore them as coverup for playing on the beach. This summer they’ll be tight enough to wear as a board-short type swimming suit – great for athletic water activities!

Lauren sported her black and white striped coverup again – she loved it in Miami last December and on this trip continued to love how it could double as a zip up shirt after the beach! Another favorite were the UPF joggers – stylish enough for a coffee run, they were perfect to wear on the flight down to FL!

This seems like a Coolibar lovefest, right? The truth is that it kind of is. They generously gifted us the sweet gear, but did not pay us a penny. These are our honest opinions. We will continue to buy Coolibar for ourselves and our family; a direct quote from Lauren’s husband, “when do I get some cool sun gear?”

The only thing we will keep in mind when purchasing Coolibar in the future is that it runs very big. Vanity sizing is good for the ego, but can be frustrating if you find yourself on vacation with the wrong size stuff! Definitely order a size down or plan to let the kiddos grow into it.