Flying to Hong Kong

1st day in Hong Kong. Hot, humid and full of energy..... that about sums up what I think of Hong Kong so far.
11h35mins on a plane with 2 toddlers to get here. Is it worth the trip ??? Oh yes, absolutely ! I love Hong Kong. It really is a spectacular city ! Ok, I may be a bit biased but it really is a fab place ! Will try to find time to tell you all about our trip as often I can.

So back to the flight.... it was STRESSFUL . Last time we flew long-distance with the little ones was end of last year. It all went brilliantly well then but this time, it was quite different ! They were a bit more mobile, a bit more demanding now.
It all started off ok. They were reasonably settled to begin with and DD was put in the cot to sleep. She slept about 7 hours straight. DS, on the other hand was busy.... climbing everywhere, throwing everything on the floor, ripping books to pieces.... etc. But eventually, he also went to sleep but not for very long casue DD then woke up and decided it was time for him to play with her. She climbed onto his seat, screaming his name and poking his face. My very grumpy son was awake.

Watching them, making sure they were entertained, making sure they wouldn't get hurt, making sure they didn't disturb the other passengers (that were trying to sleep) ... a lot of making sure and very little relaxing or sitting back to enjoy the flight.
I didn't mind it too much , cause they were at least not crying... until towards the end of the flight when especially DS was extremely tired. He cried/screamed non-stop for at least an hour ! Nothing I could do, apart from calmly hold him and wait. He (they both) eventually fell asleep..... right before were about to land.

I made sure they kept to their routine once we arrived and they didn't go to bed until it was bedtime. Hopefully they get a full-night sleep and start feeling themselves again tomorrow. Me on the other hand, feel completely over-tired and jet-lagged....

ps. pic of me on bathroom floor at 3am , completely jet-lagged and unable to sleep but too worried about waking little ones up if I turned lights on in the room !

Diana Memorial Playground

With the UK summer threatening to end any day, I try to make the most of the good weather while it lasts and take little ones out to play as much I can.

One of our latest favourites is the fabulous Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. It is free and it is amazing. The kids can spend a whole day there running around the different areas without getting bored. One tip though: bring an extra set of clothing, just in case they do decide to go in the water area....

Here a few snapshots and to find out more click here. There are a few more areas within the playground that we didn't have time to visit, as we only had a couple of hours..... !

Ps. There are some picnic areas inside the playground, as well as a cafe. So you really can stay there all day if you so wish !

Gifts From New York

Needless to say, I brought back a whole bunch of gifts back for the little ones from my trip. In fact, I don't seem to buy anything for myself anymore. It is ALL for them ! I did attempt to go shopping for myself but kept getting distracted by all the cute kiddie stuff instead. First of all, I don't really need anything and secondly, it is a lot more fun buying stuff for kids, don't you think ?
Books, clothes, toys, artwork, accessories... you name it, I probably got it ! However, here are a few of their favourites:


1, Dado Cubes.
Got it from Met Museum Gift Shop. They both love it and spend hours stacking them. I am amazed at how long they can carry on stacking and un-stacking them ! Just today DS figured out how to slot them on top of each other but annoyingly, he does not yet know how to un-slot them.... which means mummy has to come to the rescue (over and over again).
Amazing what a few boxes can do. Great toy that is fun, encourages creativity and improves motor skills.

You can get it from Met Museum's online store.

2, 10 Color Book by William Accorsi
Bought if from Barns and Noble on Union Square. Simple, basic and fun (for the little ones at least) book for toddlers. Bought it because I though it'd be a good toy/book to bring on the plane in a couple of weeks time, as the shapes are all fixed to the book on coloured ribbons , which means I won't have to crawl around the floor looking for them !
Was not sure how this one would go down but to my amazement, they knew exactly what to do with the shapes !!! I didn't even have to show them what to do. The instant they opened the book, they knew that they had to match the missing shapes with the ones on the ribbon !! I mean, how can a couple of 20 month old little people figure things like that out ?????

2, Baby
And finally, a girlie toy for my little DD. I am not really sure how it happened (cause I was never like that as a child) but she is so "maternal". She loves babies !! I realized this when we went to a sing and sign class a while ago and she sat next to one of the girl's baby sister for over an hour, just smilingly staring it him ...
I promised myself not to "stereotype" the little ones (ie. dolls for DD, cars for DS etc.) but couldn't resist !
This one is from the North American Bear Company (who also makes our gorgeous plush monsters) and is super soft and cuddle. She comes wearing a top and nappies but I also bought the optional baby carrier , t-shirt, dress and shoes. This little baby has been spoilt rotten by my DD. She changes her nappy (or rather, she asks me to change it), feeds her and puts her in bed for naps. Little baby goes everywhere and "eats" everything... needless to say, her face is already getting rather dirty! Hopefully DD decides tto take her baby for a bath one day soon .....

Bubble New York

Bubble New York was great. The venue (Cedar Lake) was fabulous. It was somewhat smaller than Bubble London but still had a lot of goodies. I, in particular, liked some of the newcomers.

Here are some pics of the best (in my opinion). Will blog about them individually, as soon as I catch up with some more work but just wanted to give you a quick preview first.

One thing though, I have to say: We need more boys' collections ! There was, as usual, mainly girls' to pick from and very little boys'... but luckily I nipped over to ENK, which was on at the same time, and managed to find some seriously cool stuff there (will show you in later blogs, along with some cool children's shops and places to visit in NY).

ps. one of the highlights of the show was to be able to meet with some really fabulous people in the industry, one of them being my twitter friend @barleyandbirch, who was showing a lovely collection of organic clothing.