Googly Eye Door Wreath DIY

This year is the first time we've been able to decorate our home for Halloween as, well, it's the first time we've had a home since we moved to the US! 

After eight years of checking out neighborhood houses decked out with skeletons, pumpkins and crazy lights it's finally our turn to decorate. The kids have been super excited about it, and I must admit, so am I. Our front yard looks like it's been hit with a kitsch Halloween bomb! Nothing goes together and it's all kind of cheesy, but that's just the way I like it. We have a giant inflatable sand worm from Beetlejuice, skulls on stakes dotted across our lawn, pumpkins on our porch, flickering blood red lights, and our lawn flamingos have turned into skeletons. You may have already seen some of our Halloween decorations on Instagram (like this one) but I'll be sharing more pics on the blog soon too.

Today I'm sharing the latest Halloween decoration that I've added to our home, as well as a super simple DIY to make one yourself. It's a googly eye wreath! Isn't it cute? I think it's a great option for families with little kids as it's kind of monstery (that's totally not a word!) but it's not at all scary.

This was an easy decoration to make with only a few materials needed, and not much time at all. Here's a look at how to make one for yourself.

Lola's Potato Party

A few weekends back we celebrated Lola's 9th birthday with a potato themed party.

Ok, I know what you're thinking... A potato themed party? Huh?

I know, it's a weird one, but if you've ever met Lola then you'll know that she tends to be, well, a little weird at times too!

I have no idea what this potato thing is all about, but Lola and her friends at school have a potato club and so it seemed only fitting that it should also be the theme of her birthday party - especially seeing as most of the guests are members of this esteemed club!

So just what does a potato themed party involve?

Potatoes, of course!

We smashed a fancy potato pinata that I made (although it looked a little more like a Mr Monopoly egg due to the balloon shape!), we played "Pin the Top Hat on the Potato", sang "Happy Birthday" over a cake featuring a fondant kawaii potato (not all potatoes are fancy!), ate Irish potato candies that I remember from my childhood and potato latkes, handed out realistic looking potato stress balls as thank you gifts, and Lola wore a potato t-shirt.

Here's a look at all the fun - well, some of it, because the kids spent half their time playing hide and seek in the house and it's hard to take photos of them when you don't know where they're hiding!

Our First Snowy Day

If you're following Little Hiccups on Instagram, or if you happen to live in Colorado, you'll know that we had some pretty crazy weather last week - including our first snow!

The week started off with fairly typical (or what we've found to be typical so far) Fall weather: sunny days with temps in the 60s and 70s F (10s and 20s C) and cool nights. It even got as warm as 79F (26C) on Wednesday. But as Wednesday evening drew near, the wind picked up and grew stronger and stronger bringing colder temperatures down from the mountains. Thursday morning we woke to light snow falling outside and a dusting of white across our yard.

By the time Lola, Mathilde and I were ready to walk to school, the snowflakes had become large and fluffy and our yard was transformed into a Winter wonderland. It was a pretty magical sight and the girls couldn't wait to get out there in the snow.

Decked out in our warmest puffy jackets, beanies, mittens and snow boots (all of which took forever to put on!) we headed outside and started our slow walk to school. Usually Lola and I ride our scooters while Mathilde zooms along on her trusty balance bike and we get to school in about fifteen to twenty minutes. With snow on the ground and the sidewalks icy I figured that wheels were probably not the best option so we stuck with walking instead. This meant that our journey to school took about half an hour as the girls slowly trudged through the snow.

When we arrived at school we discovered a yellow flag on the school's flag pole. This meant that instead of waiting outside their classrooms for the bell to ring as usual, the kids were to enter their classrooms right away. I had wondered what the procedure would be for snowy days.

Fall Fun at Anderson Farms

It's finally Fall!

Well, it has been for a few weeks now, but it's finally starting to feel like Fall. The leaves are changing color, the nights are getting cooler, and there are pumpkins and Halloween decorations everywhere. 

To celebrate the coming of my favorite Season we headed to Anderson Farms in nearby Erie for a Fall Festival with Kim's work recently. It was such a fun event and a super fun place to celebrate the season.

Visiting a pumpkin patch is always one of my favorite Fall activities and just like everything with our move, a new pumpkin patch was on my "must find" list! Anderson Farms perfectly fit the bill checking off all my pumpkin patch favorites, plus more! Tractor rides, pumpkin picking, a corn maze, cheesy photo opportunities, a petting zoo, fun rides and amusements... it's all there.

Halloween Style for Kids

It's October - one of my favorite months of the year!

The weather starts cooling down, there are fun Fall festivals, we celebrate Lola's birthday, and we end the month with a big bang on Halloween. Such a fun and busy month. We might even get our first snow this month if we're lucky - or unlucky, depending on your views on snow!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Having spent much of my life in Australia Halloween is still a huge novelty for me as we've only been celebrating it since we moved to the US eight years ago. This year will be our first year decorating our house for Halloween and we just might even get trick or treaters for the first time ever! I can't wait!

To get into the Halloween spirit, I love to dress the kids in Halloween themed gear. While I'm a big fan of dressing for the holidays, I'm not keen on buying outfits that are worn just once or twice. Instead, I like to buy cute Halloween themed clothes that can be worn all year round. 

Today I'm sharing some of my favorite Halloween themed outfits and accessories. These are all perfect for Halloween but also for anytime of year. These are also all from some of my favorite small independent brands, so I love knowing that while I'm dressing my kids I'm also supporting some talented artists.  

🎃 Whistle & Flute Kawaii Bat Sweater
🎃 Gunner & Lux Sugar Tote Bag
🎃 Whistle & Flute Glow in the Dark Kawaii Pumpkin T-shirt
🎃 Hello Shiso Spider Hairclips
🎃 Baby Teith Squad Ghouls Onesie
🎃 Rags Expressions of Jack Romper
🎃 Mochi Kids Kawaii Ghost T-shirt
🎃 Hello Shiso Ghost Hairclips
🎃 Mochi Kids Kawaii Skull Tote Bag
🎃 Baby Teith Boo Monday T-shirt
🎃 Whistle & Flute Candy Corn Baseball T-shirt

Aren't these all cute? Perfect for Halloween or any time of year. My kids love the kawaii designs from Mochi Kids and Whistle & Flute, and this stuck in the 80s mama is quite fond of the Baby Teith designs inspired by some of my favorite bands.

Stay tuned for my favorite Halloween inspired style for grown ups coming soon! Kids shouldn't get all the fun to themselves, right?

26 Fun Things to do in New York with Kids

New York City.

It's my favorite city ever and one of the few places that I'm happy to visit over and over again on vacation. With so many amazing places to visit around the world I like to spend my vacation time visiting somewhere new, but there's something about New York City that always draws me in.  There's always something new to see, something new to taste, something new to experience. You could visit over and over again and never do the same things twice. There really is something for everyone no matter where your interests lie.

While I find New York to be a very family friendly destination, I often see questions pop up in travel groups about just what to do and where to go while visiting there with kids. So today I thought I'd share twenty six of my favorite kid friendly activities in New York City.

Some of these are popular destinations on every visitor's list, while others are lesser known in tourist circles, but still definitely worth a visit.

So here they are, in no particular order, my top twenty five things to do when visiting New York City with kids...

A Summer of Exploration with Galileo

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Galileo Camps.

Summer Break has come to an end for another year and that means it's time to...

...start planning ahead for next Summer Break! 

What? Already? Yes!

This Summer Break was pretty hectic for us but we made sure to squeeze in a couple of weeks of Summer camp among all of the moving madness and our trip back to Australia. Despite how busy we were, it was important to me that the kids have a little normalcy and something special just for them during all the change. Plus, it got them out of the apartment while I was busy packing. Ha! Everybody wins!

Anyway, one of our very favorite Summer camps is Galileo. Ava has been going for the past three years and has always had a fabulous time. This year Lola joined her big sister for her first ever Summer camp experience. They both had a blast and learned new skills at the same time. 

Galileo camps are structured in a way that maximizes both the fun and the learning opportunities for kids of all ages, from incoming kindergarteners through to eighth grade. The younger kids (Pre-K to 5th grade) take part in Camp Galileo, a traditional Summer camp with science, art and outdoor activities focused on a fun weekly theme. The older kids (5th to 8th grade) take part in Galileo Summer Quest, a specialized camp focusing on a single major based on varying interests including drones, YouTube production, robotics and, Ava's choice this year, cooking. Both camps foster creativity and team work while teaching the kids important skills and boosting their confidence. The camps look so fun I wish I could sign up for myself! Summer camp for adults... wouldn't that be great?

Let's take a look at Ava's week at camp first...

This year, Ava's major for Galileo Summer Quest was Chefology: Decadent Desserts. As you can imagine, she spent her week learning how to make deliciously sweet treats. Seriously, this was the best camp ever as she brought something home to share pretty much every day! She learned how to make sugar cookies with royal icing, sweet crepes, ice cream sundaes (made with home made ice cream and sauces) and delicious fruit pies. She also learned important skills such as how to read and write recipes, how to accurately measure ingredients and how to use various pieces of kitchen equipment. It did wonders for building her confidence in the kitchen. The kids worked in teams as well as on their own throughout the week and came together on the last day to make a delicious presentation for family members. We were treated to sugar cookies, crepes and pies, and I've got to say, they all tasted delicious.   

Lola's week at camp was based on the theme Expedition Everest. This theme was carried across all parts of her day at camp including her art and science classes. In art class Lola worked on creating a Nepalese style puppet from paper mache, fabric and various craft materials. She kept her puppet's identity a secret all week, so it was a nice surprise to meet "Mr Whiskers" her purple cat puppet on the last day of camp. Mr Whisker's arms move about and Lola was pretty excited to show me that he can even dab! A very important skill for any puppet! Along with her creative work during art class, Lola put her imagination to work in science class creating a mountain rescue robot prototype. With popsicle sticks, foam, plastic tubing, lots of hot glue and a syringe she created a walking rescue robot designed to scale the heights of Mount Everest to rescue trapped hikers.

Along with their set curriculum, both Ava and Lola took part in plenty of fun outdoor activities including fun games and plenty of free play time. There were daily spirit days (dress in your team color, Galileo spirit day etc) with the highlight being Water Day in which the kids took part in all sorts of fun activities that left them dripping from head to toe!

As I've already mentioned, the girls had a fantastic time at Galileo again this Summer. Ava's confidence in her cooking skills grew immensely and Lola became much more independent after her first week of Summer camp. Lola had been a little nervous about not knowing anyone in her group at first, but even after the first day I could see that her independence and confidence had grown, which is just what she needed with the move to a new school coming up.

At the end of their week at camp the girls both received certificates from their team leaders and a pin to attach to their name tag lanyard. Lola was pretty excited to come home with the Galileo rubber chicken pin (for first year campers) and Ava added another badge to her collection.

Galileo camps really are a special place for kids. The curriculum is fantastic, from both the parents' and kids' perspective, and the staff really are the best. The staff work hard to make all the kids feel welcome and to create a fun atmosphere while keeping everyone safe at the same time. They do such a great job, and I was happy to recognize plenty of faces among the camp leaders from previous years.

To learn more about Galileo camps and to find a camp near you head on over to https://galileo-camps.com/