Relief from Seasonal Allergies with Similasan

Sponsored post: I received these Similasan products for free from Moms Meet (momsmeet.com) in exchange for my honest opinion. All photos and opinions are my own.

Spring! 

It's a favorite time of year for so many, but if like me you suffer from seasonal allergies, the new growth that Spring brings can be a real problem. All those beautiful blossoms come with pollen. Pollen that gets up my nose and irritates my already sensitive eyes. For me, Spring is a season of sneezing and itchy, watery eyes.

During our recent trip to Austin, Texas Spring's pollen bounty was in full force! The trees were gorgeously green and filled with blossoms, the grass was lush and green, and the sky was filled with pollen floating about! I'm not kidding. There was so much pollen in the air along the tree-lined waterfront in particular that you could see it and even catch it. Just 20 minutes out walking around and my eyes were red, itchy and watering like crazy. Unfortunately, poor Ava was just the same. 

Luckily, I was prepared for the Spring onslaught and had packed allergy relief products from Similasan. 

A post breakfast walk along the waterfront on our first day in Austin left Ava and I with red, itchy eyes so we headed back to our nearby hotel for some relief. Similasan Allergy Eye Relief, that is. A few drops in each eye and the redness, itchiness and watering were gone. 

Similasan Allergy Eye Relief contains natural active ingredients including flowers from the Eyebright and Sabadilla plants. Eyebright (Euphrasia) is known to temporarily relieve minor eye allergy symptoms including redness, swelling of the eyelid, watery discharge and thick mucus. Sabadilla is known to temporarily reduce watering eyes and eyelid redness.

Unlike other allergy relief treatments, Similasan Allergy Eye Relief does not contain harsh chemicals, antihistamines or vascoconstrictors (chemicals that constrict blood vessels) and therefore can be used as often as needed with no known side effects.

Knowing that we had a day of outdoor activities (and a lot more pollen) ahead of us I made sure to pack a box of single use Allergy Eye Relief droppers for relief on the go. 

With relief from our seasonal allergy symptoms we were able to have a fun filled afternoon kayaking along the tree-lined river without worry. Well, without the worry of itchy eyes, that is! I was a little worried about these kids of mine tipping the kayak and Ava was worried about the snapping turtles swimming in the water! Luckily neither of these things ended up being a problem.

Just look at all that pollen floating in the water in the photo above! It's making my eyes itch just looking at it!

Do you suffer from seasonal allergies too? I definitely recommend giving Similasan Allergy Eye Relief a try. It works fast to temporarily relieve allergy symptoms, and unlike other drops I've tried in the past it doesn't sting at all. It's perfect for my sensitive eyes and I love that my kids can use it too (it's suitable for ages 2 and up). It's a must have when I'm packing for any trip and also for use at home.

Make sure to click here for your coupon to save on Similasan allergy relief products.

Epic Snacks for Epic Play

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Goldfish® but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

My karate kids are growing up!

A few weeks back it was belt test day for all three of my girls and they all passed. Blue belts for both Ava and Lola, and a white belt with two black stripes for my littlest ninja Mathilde.

The girls worked so hard preparing for their belt test. They practiced their kata moves and their sparring skills every week at karate class in the park until they had perfected them.

All that karate work makes for hungry kids and hungry kids need tasty snacks that pack a punch like a blue belt!

Goldfish crackers have been one of the kids' favorite go to snacks for such a long time, so we were super excited when we discovered the new Goldfish Epic Crunch Nacho flavor. A classic favorite with a new twist for my growing girls. The perfect after karate class snack.

Talk about packing a punch! These tasty little morsels sure do live up to their name. The zesty nacho cheese flavor was a big hit with the kids (and grown ups!) and the extra tortilla crunch made for epic snacking fun.

Goldfish Epic Crunch are baked with whole grains and contain no artificial flavor or preservatives. They're always baked, never fried.

The big, bold flavor of Goldfish Epic Crunch comes in a big, bold new size. With a flavor and crunch that appeals to bigger kids, these tasty snacks come in a bigger size for more flavor and crunch in every bite.

A knock out hit with my karate kids!

Looks like we've found our new go to snack for lunch boxes, road tripping and sharing with friends after karate class!

To learn more about about all new Goldfish Epic Crunch Nacho and to find a retailer near you click here.

Summer Camp Fun with Galileo

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Galileo Camps but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

It may be a grey and rainy day here in the Bay Area, but Summer is just around the corner.

And Summer means Summer camp!

For the past few years Ava has been attending Galileo Camps here in Berkeley and she has always had a blast. This year is no different and she can't wait.

This week the kids are on Spring Break and rather than travelling like we usually do we're staying home and having "Camp Mum". A week of hands-on craft and STEAM activities inspired by Galileo as well as a little exploring out and about. I'm keeping the kids' minds active and learning while we have fun together.

Today we took a fun activity from the Zoom, Fly, Bolt, Blast Steam Handbook from Galileo and made grabbers with simple materials. They were easy enough for the kids to make on their own and provided a ton of fun when done. 

Roasted Vegetable Red Lentil Pasta Bake

This post is sponsored by Barilla but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Last week I shared all about my new favorite pasta from Barilla.

Barilla's Red Lentil pasta range is my new go to pasta for the family. It has the taste and texture of regular wheat pasta, but it's made from only one ingredient - red lentils. No gluten, no grains, no GMOs... just high fibre, vegetarian and vegan friendly red lentils.

Today I'm sharing another recipe that's perfect for the cooler days that we've been having lately. This pasta bake is packed full of veggies and tasty mozzarella cheese. It's hearty, but not heavy. Pasta comfort food!

Clear Skin with Bioré

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Bioré, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Can you believe it? My oldest baby is almost a teenager! Where have the years gone?

As the teenage years approach, so too do all the fun teenage skin problems. Pimples, blackheads, oiliness, blocked pores... ugh. I would say that it brings back memories, but I'm still dealing with most of it myself. However, it does bring back memories of my younger years and learning to care for my skin. Yes, I can remember back that far!

In the past few months Ava has really started to take an interest in caring for her skin and treating those nasty breakouts when they occur. Being a kid in the tech age, she's always looking up product reviews online and watching YouTube videos of all sorts of beauty and skin related topics - including those pimple popper videos. You know the ones!

Intrigued by just what's inside her pores, Ava was keen to try out Bioré Pore Strips. She'd seen them in videos and wanted to see what sort of gunk was hiding in her skin! Seeing as she's still quite young and her skin is on the sensitive side, I'm often hesitant to let her try any skin treatments that my be a little harsh, but knowing that Bioré products are trusted and dermatologist tested, I was happy for her to give them a try. Plus, it IS kind of fun and rather satisfying to see just what comes out of your pores!

Blueberry & Cream Cheese Muffins

With the cooler days coming, or already here depending on where you live, fun indoor activities for the kids are on my mind. As Mathilde is getting older and becoming more independent, one fun activity she really has taken a liking to is baking. She loves pouring the ingredients, stirring it all together, cracking the eggs (always her favorite), and at the end of all that fun there's a delicious treat. What could be better?

So while the big kids are at school Mathilde and I have been doing quite a bit of baking together. It really is such a great activity to do together and I love seeing how much joy it brings. Now, I know that this is the season for baking everything pumpkin spice or gingerbread flavored, but I like to mix things up a little so our baking lately hasn't been particularly seasonal. In fact, it's been almost Summery. Blame it on me being Australian and my seasonal body clock (if that's a thing) being all mixed up!   

Our latest baking fun resulted in delicious blueberry and cream cheese muffins. They're so good that I just had to share the recipe with you all. The cream cheese centers of these muffins are my favorite and they taste especially good warmed up. It's kind of like they've been buttered for you to give that extra special treat.

Today I've teamed up with Real California Milk, not only to bring you this tasty recipe, but to share the Seals for Good campaign. You may remember that I shared the Seals For Good campaign and how it is helping communities affected by the hurricanes in Texas and Florida a little while back. The campaign has been extended to send some love and support to those affected by the devastating wildfires right here in California.

To take part in the Seals For Good campaign, simply snap a photo of the Real California Milk logo (which you can see below) on any dairy product and share it on your social media using #SealsForGood. For each share, Real California Milk will donate $5 to the Great American Milk Drive, up to $10k in California and $20k in Texas and Florida. Post your pictures any time between now and December 31st 2017 and don't forget to use that hashtag. No purchase is necessary.

Now here's a look at how we made those tasty muffins...

What you'll need

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 3/4 cups frozen blueberries
8 oz block of cream cheese (cut into cubes)

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Pour the sugar and butter into a large bowl. Cream together either using a mixer or with a wooden spoon. I used a mixer for this part which was one of the only steps that Mathilde didn't help with, although she did give it a good mix with her wooden spoon afterwards - while pulling a super cheesy grin in an attempt to look like the cartoon cow on the butter pack! 

Once the butter and sugar mix is fluffy add in the egg, egg yolks and vanilla.

Give it a good mix until it's well combined.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mix to the butter mix a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Stir well in between.

Once all of the flour and milk is mixed in, slowly fold in the blueberries. We used wild blueberries which are much bluer than regular blueberries and made for a purple/blue muffin mix. They also made for purple/blue toddler hands!

After cleaning those little blue hands, line a 12 hole muffin tray (or two 6 hole muffin trays) with cupcake liners. Fill each one about 2/3 full with muffin mix. The mixture made 18 muffins for me, but the original recipe I based this on suggested that it would make 12. If you would like the muffins larger, fill the liners closer to the top.

Place a cube of cream cheese into the center of each muffin and push it down.

Sprinkle generously with sugar - although maybe not quite as generously as Mathilde did!

Bake the muffins at 375F (190C) for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a rack then enjoy while warm for a soft cream cheese center.

While these muffins taste best warm, they're pretty tasty at room temperature too making them perfect for lunchboxes or picnics.

Don't these muffins look so good? I must admit I've eaten way too many of them in the past few days. But all those blueberries make them healthy, right? Right?!

When you go buy your dairy products to make these tasty muffins (and for all your other baking needs) make sure to look for the Real California Milk seal on the pack. And don't forget to share a pic on your social media to help support the Great American Milk Drive.

For more information about the Seals For Good campaign click here.

Puddle Fun on a Winter's Day

The Bay Area has experienced some pretty wet and wild weather over the past month, which has seen us spending a little more time inside than usual. But as soon as the sun has come out, we've made to sure to make the most of it by getting outside for some of the girls' favorite Winter fun: puddle jumping!

With all the rain we've been having there are plenty of pretty big puddles to be found near our home. One day after school this week we made our way to a nearby park where we knew there would be lots of big puddles for splashing. We grabbed our raincoats, rain boots, snacks and drinks - everything we needed for a fun afternoon out at the park.

Stop Motion Animation Fun with Goldfish

Between swim team and karate classes, my girls are generally pretty busy after school. Weekends, however, are a different story. I like to keep weekends free from regular activities so we can be free to do whatever we want without having to work around a schedule. We tend to spend a lot of our weekend time just hanging around at home relaxing. It's nice to have a little down time after such a busy week, but at the same time it can get a little, well... boring! To keep the kids from heading straight to the tv I like to have a few activities up my sleeve to keep them busy. Simple things like painting, coloring, building with Lego, playing board games, or making puzzles generally go down pretty well, but sometimes they want to do something a little bit different.

A while back we visited the Children's Creativity Museum in San Francisco and the girls made their own animated movies. They had a blast making their little movies and have been asking if they can make their own at home. Stop motion animation is actually really easy to make at home with just a few items: a camera (or smart phone/tablet), a tripod, a background, and small items to be the star of the show. You can really use anything: toy animals, dolls, building blocks, toy cars... even food! We decided to go down the food route and made Lola's animation with one of her favorite snacks. Goldfish crackers!

Goldfish crackers are a big hit in our home when it comes to snack time so we've always got a pack or two in the pantry. They're oh so moreish and the whole family loves them. With their smiley little faces, Lola decided that Goldfish would make the perfect characters for her animation. Well, that, and it gave her a fantastic excuse to them afterwards!

Here's a look at how we made our animation...