You know what’s awesome about having a trampoline? More motivation than ever to have friends over! And with the summer sun officially here, we decided to host a little get together to celebrate. The best part? The kiddos happy playing outdoors for hours without any real effort on my part.
This morning Miss G woke up to discover a jingle bell on a red satin ribbon and this little note in her snowman advent calendar. She was beyond excited.
While living in Kuwait certainly comes with its challenges, the perks are undeniable… Today, thanks to very generous friends, Miss G and I spent our day out at a private villa in Khiran soaking up Kuwait’s gorgeous fall sun. The company was fabulous, the food was delicious as always, and the kids happily played all morning. It’s easy to forget the challenges on days like these…
This morning we met up with good friends and toured around the city together. It was a day filled with cafes, restaurants, walking, glüwein, and Christmas markets, and though it wasn’t the most munchkin-friendly day, Miss G managed to hang in there until falling asleep in her stroller about 3 minutes after leaving dinner. With Brad staying at a local pub for football night, I was going to make the 35 minute walk back to our apartment as quickly as possible for bedtime, but instead, I bundled my sleeping babe up tightly and leisurely made my way through the glowing shops and market stands, enjoying them one last time before they disappear tomorrow morning. When we eventually arrived at our apartment, I lugged my sleeping girl upstairs, set her into her bed, and listened to her sleepy murmurs as I removed her boots and jacket in the dark. I covered her up with her duvet, and she was out for the night. It was a good day.
Morning coffee.
During our first stint here in Kuwait, my Friday ritual was to go to The Avenues first thing in the morning when the mall was nice and quiet (Fridays mark the beginning of the weekend here). I’d pick up a coffee, browse the shops, visit Dean & Deluca, and leave before noon when things began to get crazy. When Grae arrived, the tradition continued, only now as a mama and Grae date. Brad would get a morning to himself to sleep in and have some downtime, and Gracen would snuggle up with me in the Cuddly Wrap or Ergo as we cruised along. It was always one of favourite parts of the week… A little piece of calm civility in a country that can sometimes be chaotic and overwhelming.
Jessica of Northshore Mama, Nat of Nat Nanton, and I met just over a year ago when the three of us were all nominated as Vancouvermom.ca’s top 30 bloggers. Despite the bustling room filled with people, the nerves of knowing absolutely no one, and the craziness that is 100+ moms all gabbing during a rare night out, Jess, Nat, and I managed to connect during the celebration event and learned that we all had baby girls within a few months of one another. That night, we decided a play date / mommy date was in order sometime soon. Since that night, we’ve chatted pretty much daily, have met up for several mama outings, and have even attended some munchkin-friendly events together, but we didn’t get around to that original play date until today. And I have to say, though it was a year in the making, it was well worth the wait. These ladies and their munchkins have a special place in my heart. The girls each have distinctive personalities and it’s such a joy to watch them interact, problem solve, and compromise with one another. Together they’re a perfect blend of determination, compassion, humour, and smarts, and something tells me that if these girls stick together, they’ll no doubt conquer the world one day!
snack time // play time
sharing is caring // incognito
a natural // baby love
pony rides // nat attack
friends
♥
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Today was the highly anticipated day of our {backyard} messy play date…finally! Gracen and I got everything ready yesterday afternoon and had it all sitting by the backyard to make our early start time a little easier this morning. During our prep, Grae was so excited she could barely contain herself. She gathered sensory bin items and assembled them like it was her job and this morning she was up bright and early eager for her friends to arrive.
When we do these sorts of play dates, I try to have a variety of different kinds of open-ended activities spread out throughout the backyard. This means that there is something for everyone and not all of the kids are always crowded in the same area like little sardines. Today’s sensory activities included our bird bin, an ocean bin filled with water beads, a construction bin filled with pea gravel, a cloud dough bin filled with different moulds and scoops, a gardening station directly in our garden {as we didn’t plant this year due to our upcoming move}, and a sparkly slime tray. For kiddos looking for a bit more action, we had our inexpensive and easy backyard balance beam, a sandbox filled with dinosaur bones and shovels for digging, a pool filled with cups, scoops, and nets {because it was too cool to actually swim}, and bubble chasing courtesy of a couple of bubble machines. For our little art lovers, we had out a big moon painting station and a bucket of sidewalk chalk with some water for dipping, and for those looking for a little bit of downtime, we had our 5 minute teepee with some puzzles inside, a beading station, and a tunnel hideout.
Sounds fun, right? Strangely enough, after all of the build-up, Miss G was quite clingy and whiny throughout. I think it was a combination of feeling slightly smothered by a very affectionate friend and just being a little overwhelmed. Though I think she still had fun, I was a little surprised that it didn’t go over a bit better than it did… But what can you do? I’m pretty sure the other kids enjoyed themselves, and after a lot of messy play, we all sat down to a laid-back picnic lunch of sandwiches, fruits and veggies, nuts, crackers, cookie dough boys, and homemade iced tea and lemonade. After saying goodbye to our friends {and passing out play dough and play putty favours – all Miss G’s idea}, we found ourselves in a backyard that looked like a tornado had run through it… A true sign of messy play date success, I’d say!
Here are some photos from our morning…
After hosting a couple of these play dates, here are a few things I’ve learned along the way…
1. Include activities of varying messiness. Not all kiddos love getting filthy.
2. Spread play stations out as much as possible. Not only does it allow the munchkins lots of space to play and explore, but it also helps keep the play materials separate (though we did end up with slime, sand, and cloud dough in our pool this time around!)
3. Expect your play materials to get trashed. While water beads, slime, and doughs may last several months when enjoyed by just your child(ren), many children may be experiencing these play materials for the first time. Water beads will be smushed, dirt will be added to the slime, and buckets of water will be dumped into cloud dough, so be prepared to throw everything out and start fresh.
4. Slime and concrete don’t mix. Being used to my very careful, rule-bound little lady, I thought nothing of putting a big tray of slime out on a table on our concrete pad. Needless to say, by the end of the play date, it was everywhere and Brad and I spent a couple of hours picking, peeling, spraying, scrubbing, and sweeping it all up – pretty rockin’ Friday night, no? All in the name of fun! ☺
5. Include a hand washing station. Kids are going to want to wash their hands between activities and having a spot to do it outside not only makes it easier for them, but it also minimizes traffic in and out of the house. We use a drink dispenser filled with warm water with a basin below and some soap and a hand towel nearby and not only does it get the job done, but it’s also a lot of fun.
♥
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This morning Grae and I had the absolute pleasure of hanging out with the lovely Little Miss Mama and her adorable curly-haired girl. There was good play, an explosion of toys, many sharing opportunities, and best of all, a make your own pizza station for lunch. The girls made pizza together, ate over an episode of Winnie the Pooh (I think this blew G’s mind), and us mamas got a few minutes to chat in between. Oh, and Grae ate FIVE pieces of pizza, so lunch was obviously delicious.
It was the perfect play date. We’ll miss these two ladies terribly while in Kuwait.
♥
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A perfect way to start the weekend… A Stanley Park play date with some girlfriends. ☺
Saucer sharing.
The magic of bubbles.
A giant microphone for a little performer.
“Hello Goose! How you doing today? You wanna see my flower???”
♥
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A little tradition we started back when Gracen was just 5 months old and we were living in Kuwait is an annual Valentine’s tea. Today we hosted our third celebration with a bunch of Grae’s good buddies, some awesome mamas, delicious treats, and some messy fun. The sun was shining, us mamas got to sneak in conversations in between chasing toddlers, and the kiddos played happily.
Here are some snapshots from our morning…
Tea.
Heart-shaped pretzels made especially for us by SweetSalt.
Banana berry muffins {adapted from this recipe}.
Mmmm… Fruit.
Strawberry crispy hearts.
Hearts.
Treats for the mamas.
Tea for toddlers.
Berry-scented play dough.
Hard at play.
Water bead fun.
Aftermath.
Crafting.
A happy girl post-party.
Kind of crazy that we’ve had two teas here in Vancouver and next year we’ll be back to where it all started, but I’m looking forward to it.
Take a peek at last year’s tea here.
♥
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Since being selected as one of Vancouvermom.ca’s Top 30 Mom Bloggers, I’ve gotten to know some really incredible and inspiring local ladies. Over the course of the last several months, we’ve turned to one another for advice and support time and again, and have become fast friends because of it all. I’m beyond grateful to be part of such a wonderful bunch of mamas, and it goes without saying that I will miss them dearly while away in Kuwait.
Today Miss G and I were lucky enough to meet up with several of my lovely blogger friends – Tairalyn of Little Miss Mama, Amy of The Connection We Share, and Erin of Erin at Large – as well as their adorable munchkins for a Granville Island play date. The weather wasn’t completely on our side, but the company certainly made up for it.
♥
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