The flowers are blooming in Los Angeles and it’s really starting to feel like summer. We spent the past weekend in Malibu and one of the first things I threw in our beach bag was a pair of sunnies for Elodie. When I saw this line of glasses and sunglasses by Very French Gangsters I immediately wanted a pair for her (and myself!) The cutest kids wearing the cutest frames. And the names are…very bombe!

-Elizabeth

In my house we have dinner in ‘shifts’. We are all together, my two boys, my husband and I, but the boys have dinner first around 5:30pm or so while my husband and I sit at the table or kitchen countertop to have a drink and a snack. We have an open kitchen that directly connects to the dining area. Since we both work full-time, this is our moment to blow off a bit of steam and share the day’s war stories. After the kids have gone to bed around 7:30pm we sit down and have a quiet dinner, sometimes with friends or family who are visiting us in Malaysia. All sounds pretty organized? Not so organized actually; getting the boys to sit still for more than a few minutes and finish their dinner is quite a challenge! As a measure of last resort, we promise a reward, mostly ice-cream or a frozen yogurt-stick, if they finish their veggies. What is a mom to do?

My secret weapon, chef and backbone of the household, is lovely Ruth. Ruth is our live-in nanny and cook in Kuala Lumpur. She is simply amazing. Ruth left Myanmar when she was 15 years old and has been working as a private cook since. First, ten years with families in Bangkok and now she has been with us for almost a year. We are very lucky to have her and enjoy Thai cuisine every day; she also makes wonderful what she calls “non-spicy and a bit boring Western” dishes, such as Shepherd’s pie and lasagna. Ruth’s homemade secret recipe spring rolls are to die for! As you know, it is quite common in Asia to have a live-in nanny. To me, living in Malaysia without the support network of my family in the Netherlands close by, having a trusted pair of hands to help run the household is truly a blessing, allowing me to work at home and run my Bloesem blogs.

Of course, I do dabble in the kitchen myself in the weekends and make a few decent Italian dishes. I really envy the Italians, such a beautiful tradition of food and family dinners. So I try to instill a bit of that traditional family dinner culture in my house – time out for all to simply enjoy mom’s home cooking. If I don’t feel like cooking in the weekends, we eat out in one of the many restaurants in Kuala Lumpur; our favorite one, Chinoz, is only a short walk from where we live; they make excellent fresh sushi that even the boys enjoy; their favorite is the “cucumber maki”. Eating out with the entire family, including young kids or babies is a very normal thing to do in Malaysia and most restaurants are fully equipped with baby chairs, coloring sets and all sorts of other distractions for the kids to help them sit through a long dinner. This is one of the things I like about Asia: kids are allowed everywhere, all the time, the more the merrier.

Thank you ladies from Babyccino for this lovely invitation. I simply love Babyccino and all the inspiring things you do so it is a treat for me to be a guest here. xxirene

Last but not least a recipe… well actually I don’t really have one. But here at BKids you can find some handy ones!

xxx Esther

We discovered The Magic Paintbrush while visiting friends in Hong Kong last month. At first I thought it was a famous, old Chinese fable, but then I realised it’s written by Julia Donaldson (of The Gruffalo fame)!! What was this? A Julia Donaldson book we didn’t already know? Yes!

Apart from The Gruffalo, of course, The Magic Paintbrush might actually be my favourite of her books. Told with her recognisable, simple rhyming schemes the story is about a little Chinese girl who is given a magic paintbrush — everything she paints becomes real.  She then puts the paintbrush to good use, refusing to let greedy people benefit from the paintbrush.  Such a beautiful, touching story, and such stunning illustrations (by Joel Stewart). The book is available from Amazon (UK and US).

x Courtney

Here is my theory for kids shoes: Children grow so fast there seems to be no point to have more than a pair of sneakers, a pair of boots for the winter, a pair of sandals for the summer, and a simple shoe that can go with jeans and dresses and can be worn with a multitude of colours. A limited amount of shoes means that shoes have to be simple and that is hard to find. Most children’s shoes are way too complicated  (in the case of my girls — appliqued flowers, butterflies, sequins and different shades of pink!). I also have a problem with overpriced shoes since, as I mentioned earlier, children do grow so darn fast.

I was very glad to find out that I am not the only person who feels this way. The founders of Clotaire, a new children’s shoe label, wanted to design a simple, reasonably priced shoe that works in all situations, and have done so very successfully. They have exactly two shoe designs: a derby and a low boot in several great colours, which can be worn both by girls, boys (and I reckon by their mums too). I have to say, I am completely won over by the simplicity and style of the designs!

- Emilie

Our New Earth is a completely organic line of baby clothes and accessories, and Hugh has passionately told me how he’s constantly striving to find the cleanest and most honestly fabricated materials for his collections. He’s now for instance working with gorgeous 100% organic and natural dyed denims for his upcoming winter collections.

In the meantime I’ve completely fallen in love with the simplicity and timelessness of the Our New Earth designs. It’s all just so adorable! The little sunsuits (see photo of Ava featuring one above), the sweet embroidered and smock dresses, all with the sweetest details, the adorable dress shirts and jackets and pants, the easy bloomers and tank tops…

You can find Our New Earth on our shopping portal here, with a great 15% discount this month — and the prices are already so very, very pleasant!

xxx Esther

The Olympics buzz is starting to hit London, and it seems everywhere I turn these days I see hints of Olympic fever.  I love these cool Olympics-inspired Reversi-Ts from Green Baby. Get this — the Reversi-T is FOUR tees in ONE! So there are four cool designs (my favourite is the giraffe wearing the gold medal), and all you have to do is fold over the top layer to reveal the next.  The tees are remarkably light-weight and streamlined, and of course are made from organic cotton! I got this one for my 5-year-old and he thinks it’s the coolest thing he’s ever seen — a magic t-shirt!

x Courtney

The village is a pleasant 20 minutes walk and there are a few nice restaurants, a little harbour, and some touristy shops — it makes for a lovely little outing. We greatly enjoyed the local market with the most amazing fruits, vegetables and textiles on Thursday!

A trip to Bodrum was fun with the local mini buses (dolmus). We spent most of the day visiting the 15th century Bodrum castle with in it the underwater museum with treasures and ship wrecks, a worthy visit — the castle is beautiful, with great gardens, peacocks roaming around, and amazing views over the city and the sea. We also visited the insignificant (but still impressive!) remains of one of the seven ancient world wonders, the Mausuleum of Mausolus. The Bodrum daily market was fun with stalls filled with spices, fruits, veggies, housewares and some handmade wooden toys and utensils.

We booked the 4 Reasons hotel through I-escape and stayed in one of the ‘functional’ rooms, which was not at all big but very nice, fresh and functional, with a separate bed and bathroom area for the two bigger children (5 and 6). We had Ava (1) in a cot in the room with us. We took a flight to Bodrum airport and the ever so nice and helpful hotel staff arranged transfers to and from the hotel for us. All in all, this was a vacation I can totally recommend if you like to go somewhere relaxing and beautiful with little children in tow (or without!). We’ll certainly be back.

xxx Esther

Every once in a while I can get very excited about a new child related invention. My latest discovery? The Bubble Bum. I grant you, it is a bit of a silly name, but check this out: it is an inflatable car seat, that rolls into a tiny bag when deflated. For non-car owners like me this invention could be the answer to a lot of problems: I spend my time dragging car seats around with me when I am renting cars which, though necessary, is such a pain.

Especially since I have started using the Autolib’ service, the great new Parisian electric cars, I have been trying to figure out the car seat situation for my girls and the Bubble Bum is a great solution!

- Emilie

P.S. The photo is of the girls on their Bubble Bum car seats on our latest outing in an Autolib’. Good times!

One of the great things about living in the Netherlands is that you’re never far from the beach. Dutch beaches are wide and sandy and perfect for wintery, windy walks, but even better to enjoy on a sunny summer day — what’s better than playing in the sand for hours and hours? Even I still like to build a good sand castle! Besides the obligatory buckets and spades, these fantastic Monkey Print Sandals found at the new web boutique Sweet Pea will also provide hours of beach fun this summer. My son has already tested them out endlessly on our wooden living room floor, he sounded like the perfect clog-wearing little Dutchman but thankfully no foot-stamps were left. I can already imagine the fun he will have at the beach pretending to be a little monkey!

xxx Esther

I am a bit obsessed with the spring/summer collection at baggu. With back to back trips to Bali and Turks and Caicos, I wanted some light, summery bags for the beach and these fit the bill perfectly. They fold up easily and are great for trips to the beach, market or for holding all of your little one’s coloring books, crayons and snacks for the plane. I can’t wait to get the leather one in citron!

-Elizabeth

]]> http://babyccinokids.com/blog/2012/05/10/carry-all/feed/ 2 http://babyccinokids.com/blog/2012/05/09/dinner-with-jordan-from-oh-happy-day/ http://babyccinokids.com/blog/2012/05/09/dinner-with-jordan-from-oh-happy-day/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 15:00:49 +0000 Esther in Amsterdam http://babyccinokids.com/blog/?p=28765 Jordan Ferney from Oh Happy Day is one of the most creative people we know. Her blog is super inspiring, and we love her adventurous nature — she recently spent a year living in Paris with her husband, Paul (an artist), and their two cute boys Moses and Roman. Here is her dinnertime story!

My husband Paul and I both work and we both share the childcare responsibilities. I do the menu planning and a big grocery trip once a week while he does the small trips through out the week. Our dinnertime happens about 7pm. Paul cooks dinner most of the time. But I do the prep work for dinner in the morning after breakfast. I hate that feeling late in the day of having to prepare dinner but you don’t have any food or ideas. So I eliminate it by preparing food in the morning. Then Paul just has to throw it together.
My kids are still small (2 and 4) but we try to all sit down for dinner together in the dining room. We don’t have any real rules but the kids have to at least try the main course to be polite. There are certain vegetables my kids love like fresh peas and haricot verts so we usually have a side of those and then make sure there is some sort of protein. One of the best things about France is the bread and cheese so we have a baguette and cheese with our dinner most nights. About once a week we do green smoothies. Our kids love them and it’s our last resort for getting vitamins in our kids when they are feeling picky. (Basic recipe is: 2 bananas, 1 cup of orange juice, ice, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, and two giant handfulls of baby green spinach and water as needed to blend.) Since we moved to France we don’t do take out very often but we do have regular easy meals like one night a week where we buy a rotisserie from our local butcher. And when the weather is nice we grab a pizza on Fridays and go to the park across the street from our house for a picnic. Besides that we eat lots of soups and bean and vegetable salads. I’m really inspired by 101 Cookbooks and Ottolenghi Cookbooks. I usually prepare a salad in the morning then we eat it for lunch or as a side dish for dinner. My favorite salad is this lentil salad. I make it 2-3 times a week. It’s so good, simple and fresh.

- Jordan

Rarely has a pair of shoes made her so happy — in her mind they are a mixture between highheels and tap dancing shoes (not too sure what our downstairs neighbours think about that). And they do look cute; they are kind of the forerunner to crocs, easy to slip on, comfortable and more protective than sandals. I could not find Coco’s pair online, but check out this pair from My Little Attitude which are lovely and very similar! Clog dancing pretty much guaranteed.

- Emilie

We moved into our house a little over a year ago, and the project of decorating it is still an ongoing task. Walls need artwork, sofas need cushions, we still desperately need a mirror in our bathroom (the list goes on)! I only just managed to get some very much-needed hooks up in the kids’ rooms — it’s amazing how long it can take to do something as simple as putting hooks on a wall!

Anyway, in my quest to buy new cushions for our home, I have discovered the most wonderful webshop specialising only in cushions and pillows. Yellow Velvet is a stylish and well-organised site with an even more stylish selection. They have cushions for every setting: living room, bedroom, outdoor areas, children’s rooms, etc. There are so many great options, my only problem was choosing! I ended up buying a selection of these embroidered linen cushions for the yellow sofa in our living room (see below).

And now I’m super tempted to buy some cushions for the kids’ rooms. There is no end to decoration it seems! Do check out Yellow Velvet if you’re also in a decorating mood…

x Courtney

What a pleasure to look at, these images that Anna took of her daughter for the Minikin Lookbook! I love the styling, and what a beautiful little girl she has… Take a look at the Minikin boutique — you’ll discover even more gorgeousness to drool over. I couldn’t resist getting Sara the long tutu in grey which she’s actually wearing today — a super piece!

xxx Esther

So here is my list of what to do in Paris with your family for a weekend (or more!) in Paris:

SEE:

The Pompidou Centre – great for the whole family. The permanent collection is world-class and well laid out, not too big and not too small. The ground floor has a little exhibition center just for kids that normally runs parallel to the temporary exhibitions and helps kids understand the exhibition. If nothing else, taking the rolling staircases, which are on the outside of the building in the plastic tubes, is an activity in itself.

The Galerie de l’Evolution – Paris’s natural history museum, which has recently been renovated and is worth a visit, especially if it is rainy outside. It is a beautiful space and is set in the Jardin des Plantes, the Botantical Gardens. It is a lovely to have a walk around in.

The Menagerie in the Jardin des Plantes – Also in the Jardin des Plantes is the Menagerie, a little zoo that has been around since the mid-19th century and has not changed a lot since then. It is a great size for smaller children and very charming.

The Sacrée Coeur and Montmartre – Montmartre and the Sacrée Coeur is a fun place to explore – unfortunately a lot of tourists agree with this, so the main streets are often packed with tourists. It is quite easy to avoid them though, as the groups normally stick to a few road and squares.

I recommend taking the funicular (easily my favourite public transportation vehicle) up to the top of the hill (you pay with a metro ticket). The view of Paris from the Sacrée Coeur is one of the best. If you walk back down the steps you will find a beautiful old merry-go-round – you might recognize it from the movie Amelie Poulain.

Musée D’Orsay – The Musée d’Orsay is a really accessible museum for kids from about 5 years and up. It houses a lot of the famous impressionists, so it is a great introduction to art and famous artwork that your kids might already know. It is right in the heart of Paris on the right bank of the Seine, beside the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens, the perfect place to go and have a run about in after a museum visit. Do note that one of the crazy things about parks in France is one is often not allowed on the grass and there are fierce looking officers with whistles paroling the parks to make sure it stays that way!

Cité des Enfants - The cité des Enfants is based in the Science Museum a little bit outside the centre of Paris at La Villette. It is definitely worth the treck out if you are staying for a few days. All the exhibitions are interactive, educational and fun. I have been there with my kids and it is quite interesting how different kids gravitate towards different part of the exhibition. The exhibitions are divided between a section for 2-7 year olds and a section for 5-12 year olds. I would advise booking tickets in advance from the museum’s website.

PLAY:

Luxembourg Gardens – The Luxembourg Gardens is possibly my favourite park in Paris – it is beautiful and very, very Parisian. Again you will stumble over the problem that it is hard to find a piece of grass to sit on, but you can sit on the famous chairs, go on the merry-go-round, rent little boats to push around the little pond with a stick, visit the play area (you will notice all the French parents sitting on the benches outside the area while the foreign parents are running around the area trying to keep an eye on their children).

Jardin d’Acclimatisation – the Jardin d’Acclimatisation is situated in the bois de Bologne, on the west side of Paris. This is without a doubt my children’s favourite park. It is a bit like a permanent fun fair with rollercoaster rides, a domestic animal zoo with some random lama’s chucked in, little ponies to ride on, swings, a little water park and several play areas. There is a little train that goes from Porte Maillot to the Jardin which children love!

Parc Floral – on the other side of Paris in the east is the Parc Floral, situated in the bois the Vincennes. It has a great play area and also over the summer has a great climbing circuit through the trees from 6 years onwards. Children are put into harnesses and get to climb and swing through the forest. The Parc Floral also hosts open air concerts (mostly classic and jazz) during the summer months.

Parc de la Villette – If you have trekked out to the Cité des Enfants, don’t miss the play area in the Parc de la Villette. It has some of the best play equipment I have seen, for all age groups.

EAT:

Petit Café du Monde – Though it is tucked away in a residental area in the 11th arrondissement, do stop by this café if you are in the area. It is especially good if you have small kids as there is a great play area and parents can relax with a good coffee and a piece of organic cake while kids play.

Pain Quotidien – The Pain Quotidien has branches all around the world, but I wanted to include this in my list as it has something 99% of French cafés have not: highchair and a changing table. The branch I go to is right in the middle of Paris in the Marais, and it is a good brunch/ lunch pit stop.

Salon de Thé Bonpoint – This tea room is in the basement of the beautiful flagship store of Bonpoint. It is a perfect place to stop for lunch after a morning of shopping around St Germain or after having had a run around the Luxembourg Gardens which are only a few minutes walk.

Rose Bakery – Courtney introduced me to Rose Bakery as I was refusing to go to an English bistro in Paris. She insisted and I now love this place. It is especially good for breakfast, if you are not a huge fan of the croissant and pain au chocolat’s on offer in French cafés. There are several branches of Rose Bakery in Paris..

Marché des Enfants Rouges – The Marché des enfants rouges is situated in the north part of the Marais and is such a fun places for kids as you order your food from the different stalls and sit down along long table and benches to eat your food. There is a great Japanese stand, but you can also choose between crepes and creole food to name a few.

Café de l’Industrie – This is as classic a French hip café as they come. I like it because they like kids in this place. No special extras are offered to them but no one minds if things get spilt of if a table is a bit noisy. There is a very reasonable kids menu if you ask if it.

SHOP:

Bon Marché – I am not a big fan of department stores, but if you are looking for a place that has everything under one roof, the Bon Marché is the place to go. It is not as crowded as the Galerie Lafayette on the other side of the Seine, and the toy department is fabulous, as it the children’s clothes department (and the shoe department, and the handbag department…)

Marie Puce is a lovely little boutique in the heart of the 6th arrondissement. Beautifully designed French clothes, mostly made in France. Classic with a interesting twist. Definitely worth having a look at. (If you don’t happen to be coming to Paris in the near future you can also shop on their website.

Serendipity is just down the road from Marie Puce, it is made the most famous interior design shop for children in Paris. It mixes it’s own designs together with carefully chosen pieces. You will find everything her from beds to room accessories.

Bonpoint – The flagship store of this label is well worth a visit, there are rooms after rooms of beautiful children’s clothes, housed in a beautiful house, just off the Luxembourg Gardens.

Bonton – Bonton used to be under the Bonpoint umbrella but is now flying on it’s own. The recently opened flagship store on the boulevard Filles de Calvaire in the 3rd is great, there is a hairdresser, the lovely Bonton clothes, an interior deco department, a great little book department, accessories for birthday parties

Wowo – Wowo is a tiny children’s clothes boutique just across the street from Bonton on the rue Froissart with sweet, quirky designs. They have a great collection of baby, boys and girls clothes. I also love their fabric which they sell in store by the meter.

Petit French Trotters – French Trotters has been around for year and has a great collection of women’s clothes. Pretty much next door, Petit French Trotters has opened with an equally great collections of children’s clothes.

Alice à Paris – Alice à Paris has managed a rare feat: stylish French clothes at very reasonable prices, I stop in one of the boutiques a couple of times a year to stock up.  There are several boutiques around Paris.

Talc – Another great French label and a big favourite with the mom’s out here. The boutique is in the 6th in the rue Jacob. The designs are simple but comfy and fun. The clothes are often recognisable by the cute animal ears sewn on top of the hoods.

Soeur – this one is an interesting one as this shop designs for the teenage market from about 10 years up (though both Esther and I have found some pretty nice pieces for ourselves there). The Soeur style does represent the style a lot of teenage girls in Paris dress – relaxed but with style. The boutique is the the rue Bonaparte also in the 6th.

SLEEP:

Georges V – This is THE address if you are staying in Paris grand style. Products based on the age of the style will be supplied, each child receives a present on it’s arrival, a children’s hairdresser can be ordered to come to the room and games and toys can be borrowed from reception. The Georges V comes with a prices but I am sure the service is impeccable

I-Escape is one of my favourite website to find hotels on and their list of Paris family-friendly hotels is really good

VRBO is a great way to find a holiday flat without using an agency. A few friends of mine have used VRBO to find a short term rental in Paris and have always been really happy with the flats they have found. Staying in a flat if you are travelling with kids does have advantages, as being able to cook meals at home after a long day of sightseeing can be a life saver!

Livly is a new and exciting brand from Stockholm. I love how they take a classic piece and give it a contemporary feel. Every one of their pieces has a detail which makes it unlike anything else… whether it’s a bright and funky colour, a bold zipper, lace detailing, ruffles on the shoulders, or modern silhouettes. It’s clothing your kids could safely wear to a party or a playground. And of course, being Swedish, it’s all about exceptional quality just as much as distinct design. Livly Clothing is now available for the first time in the UK at the wonderful Scandinavian Minimall.  (I just got the Essmiralda Dress for Ivy, and it is adorable. Such a fun green colour!)

x Courtney

A few weekends ago we went up to the Matakana Farmers Market which is about an hours drive north of Auckland.  There was so much yummy, fresh, locally produced food.  Its worth the drive just for that!  As well as food they had some craft stalls and I came across Maud & Mary-Jane. Sandy who is the founder of Maud & Mary-Jane designs and makes everything herself.  I just love the vintage wool blanket cushions and how cute are the Blankiesauruses? Check out her website here.

Steph xo

When it comes to buying clothes for my kids, I usually go for subtle colours — lots of greys, navy blues, browns, etc. Which means that when my kids spot a bit of colour in their wardrobe, that item then becomes their favourite thing to wear. I am especially having a rather head-strong battle with my daughter who wants to wear only pinks and purples (and the brighter the better for her). It goes to show that kids really do love the brighter, happier types of clothing.

Love It Love It Love It is a UK webshop which fully embraces the bright and colourful. You can find romper suits in every colour, bright and happy tees (like the ones pictured above), and plenty of playful accessories. Not a single grey in sight… and I must admit, it is quite fun!

x Courtney

Dinnertimes for me, in our house are the most important time of the day. It is the time when we all catch up on each others days and also helps my children to take turns in conversations. With five children life can be incredibly chaotic, especially during the week with Brownies, Guides, orchestra practices and sports matches. However apart from Tuesdays we manage to eat as a family everyday, with the occasional exception. We eat between 6 and 6.30pm everyday, which may seem a little late as our youngest is only five but with a healthy snack after school to stop the tummy rumbles, Kitty is more than happy to wait to eat all together.

I am very lucky as my husband cooks the evening meal most days. He loves to cook so doesn’t see it as a chore but a way of contributing to the endless list of tasks that family life throws at us. Between us we seem to have developed a list of go to dinner recipes that feature regularly, but then we also like to try new ideas, which stop dinners being boring! Chicken with pasta, rice or noodles are definately a favourite and we are quite traditional in that we have a roast dinner most Sundays, with BBQs and salads being the favourite Sunday choice in the Summer months.

With a large family there always seems somebody willing to help with the cooking, even if it’s just chopping some veggies or stirring a pan of something. Sadly this keenness isn’t so obvious when it comes to laying the table or doing the washing up!
We have a large farmhouse style wooden dinner table that is the hub of mealtimes. This is where we sit, chat, play Around the World in an Alphabet, laugh and sometimes whine that ‘I don’t like this’. Mobile phones are banned from the dinner table, something that my teenage sons have as yet not moaned about. With technology a part of everyday life it is nice to remove the distraction of phones from family dinner times.
I believe family meal times are incredibly important in teaching children social skills and manners. The time at the dinner table is vital to keeping my children talking about their lives and us spending time together as a family.

Apple Crumble has to be my favourite pudding and I love that you can change the fruit as the seasons change. So I wanted to share this recipe with you!

• 200g Self Raising Flour
• 100g Butter or Soft Margerine
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 4-5 Bramley Cooking Apples
• 1-2 tbsp Light Muscavado Sugar for sprinkling on top of the apples
• 1tsp Ground Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180C. Peel, core and slice apples into a pudding or small casserole dish. Sprinkle cinnamon and muscavado sugar onto apples. Rub butter into flour to make breadcrumbs, stir in caster sugar. Pour crumble topping evenly onto apples. Place your crumble into the oven for about 25-30 mins until crumble is golden brown. Serve with cream, ice-cream or crème fraîche.
I like to add little balls of marzipan to the apples or a couple of handfuls of raisin or sultanas or try replacing some of the flour with ground almonds. Apples can be replaced by more seasonal fruit throughout the year, rhubarb & ginger is one of my favourites.

- Zoe