Monday Love

Dreams are free, so free your dreams.

~ Astrid Alauda

Jack & Daisy Cafe

The far North has been waiting for
such a place as Jack and Daisy.

Located in Pascoe Vale there is a new kid on
the block in the world of 'child friendly' cafes.

Jack and Daisy cafe is super kid friendly.

Not only do they have warm and helpful staff, they also
serve delicious food which makes this one hard to pass
up when deciding on a place to visit in the North.

To read more of this review check out our WEBSITE

Enjoy!

Christmas in May??

We were lucky enough to receive an invite to the"Mothers Day Blogger Brunch" at Day Dreamers Cafe last Friday. It was hosted by the lovely Christie from Kids Business.

I adore going to events like this as l get to catch up with some old online friends such as Planning with Kids, Speedbabysitting and Nifty Mums, but l also got to meet some new ones including the fab women behind Tot Hot or Not, Fairyfloss Markets and Be A Fun Mum.

I must say Kids Business know how to throw a shin-dig. After hearing some guest speakers we got to have a cheeky brunch and have a good old 'gas bag' with everyone. We all got very spoilt as well and received loads of goodies for ourselves and of course for our children. (It is Mother's Day after all!)

After making two trips to the car - (yes TWO!!) with all my goodies l finally got home and gave them to Mr Two who asked if the toys were from Santa. (Too cute!)

l just want to say a big THANKS to all the companies who generously gave us toys and products to try at home with our children. Check out the cheeky snaps below of Mr Two enjoying his gifts.

{DHL Large Truck from Bruder}

{Maestro-Bot from Hasbro}

{Bag of Mega Bloks}

{Play Doh Breakfast Set from Hasbro}

{ Mini Boat with Car from Little Tikes}

Baby Friendly Cafes : Gippsland Lakes

As you may or may not know we recently returned from a camping holiday to Mallacoota.

Yes our little family experienced the great outdoors, toasted marshmallows and attempted to catch a fish or two. Well hubby was in charge of the 'fishing' department as it's not really my forte'

I'm more into checking out the local markets, op shops and of course the lovely little country cafes.

We happened to dine in a few and although they had some baby and child friendly features they just didn't have all 5 "hey bambini" features. You know the box ticking ones that are needed to make it onto our site like highchairs - change table - entertainment - room to move and menus.

So to be fair l thought l'd let you in on where we dined anyway and some of the kid friendly features they had.

Yarragon Country Style Bakery
Yarragon
Change Table - Breast Feeding Welcome (ABA Sticker shown)


Serenity Cafe
Mallacoota
Box of toys - Babycinos


Wharside Cafe
Eden
Kids Lunch and Dinner Menu - Highchairs

Stay tuned as we did happen to find a baby friendly cafe/resturant that did tick all our boxes and it happens to be our FIRST review for the Sydney-NSW area.

House Work

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing
is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.

~Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints, 1966

Happy Easter

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Easter!

We are off on a family camping holiday to fish,
toast marshmallow's and sit in country pubs.

Take care on the roads and may your
Easter days be filled with chocolate!

Enjoy!

xo

Family Dining In Footscray

This week we welcome Kate Christie from Babysitters and More as our guest blogger. Kate is the co-founder and Director of Babysitters and More and when she has time between school pick up and emails she loves to take the family out for dinner.

My family loves going to Footscray for dinner on a Friday night – it is FAR better than getting take away! Our eatery of choice is First Taste Soup, a Chinese (Cantonese) Restaurant located opposite the Footscray Market in Hopkins Street. While the decor is not exciting, it is certainly family friendly – no need to worry about spilt drinks, staining the table cloths (there are none) or annoying fellow diners (pretty much local families). The menu is extensive and has recently been added to with a dozen or so delicious Thai dishes. The service is quick and friendly with lots of staff on hand so that you don’t have to wait.

But, like any great restaurant, it is the food we keep going back for. My weekly favourite is the Chicken Curry Luksa – a nice hot spicy dish full of lovely slippery noodles, lots of chicken, a handful of coriander and perfectly cooked boc choi. A huge side dish of Chinese Broccoli cooked in Plum sauce doesn’t last long with the kids around – chop sticks fly everywhere as they pile their plates with lovely green crunchy veg (I can’t believe this, it is a battle to get them to eat broc at home!). My kids also have their favourite dishes including Chinese Sausage Hot Pot, Honey Pork, Satay Chicken, Mixed fish Hot Pot, Dumpling soup with 8 or 9 delicious prawn dumplings bobbing in the broth, Prawn Ball and Pepper beef Hot Pot. The first time we took our kids (all under 10 years old), they were a little wary of the food – but now they experiment each week with new dishes and great gusto! Our kids are now experts with chop sticks and love the hot tea resident on each table in a silver thermos.

The walls of First Taste Soup are decorated with colourful vases of pickled fruit – cute and corny. If you don’t mind this and can tune out the ever present singing contest on the two TVs, First Choice Soup should be your next choice when looking for a fantastic, and cheap, meal. Our family of 5 barely cracks $50, and we have never managed to finish a full meal yet!

{Thanks for sharing Kate! We can't wait to try this little gem out!}