There's no place like the museum of home

Austin wears: Jacadi Paris polo (similar here), JoJo Maman Bebe shoes, cino shorts (similar here).
Meg wears: vintage dress (similar here), Free Fish shoes (similar here) and fedora hat from Camden Market. 

Why is everything about a hundred times more enjoyable when the weather is good? We are having so much luck with our touristy days lately and I'm pretty pretty sure most of it has to do with the blooming good weather. And hey I'm not gonna complain. Nope. I'm gonna lap it up!

Geffrye museum was a perfect example of the weather making our day out soooo nice. As soon as we got there we parked ourselves on their glorious front lawn for a bit of a picnic (if you can call Austin scoffing biscuits and then running around like a mad-man for the rest of the time a picnic). And just when we thought he would slow down (as if), he ran through the series of gardens in the back as well.

The museum itself shows how people have lived through the times 'museum of home'. Not all of it is suited to a toddler but there is enough to keep them interested (special kids sections on each plaque, fancy 'treasure chests' and other interesting artefacts). Then when you're been suitably 'cultured' there's also a coffee shop with cakes that look AMAZING, and a kids area too with tables for drawing and other activities. 

Austin was pretty stoked with his morning. And so were we because after all of his running Sir "i don't want to nap ever" fell straight off to sleep on the way home. 

The toddler's in charge

Walking the streets of Dalston. Meg wears: Au Lait tank, Minty Wendy necklace, Oliver Bonas hat (similar here). 
Austin wears: Tootsa tshirt, H&M Jeans, H&M shoes (similar here). 

It seems I don't need to run the house anymore. There's a new guy in town. He's tough. He's demanding. And not in the least bit reasonable. Yep, welcome to life with our two year old.

Don't nobody think he's getting in the pram. Coz he aint. And don't anybody even think about helping push the pram. Coz there is only one pram pusher in this house. The two year old. Yep, we make a trip around the corner look laughable, like some sort of snail paced marathon with a two-foot-tall angry turtle in charge. 

What was that? You wanted to leave the house to get to the kiddy class on time? Hahaha. The two year old laughs in the face of leaving the house on time. Coz he is craaazy like that. Just coz your'e the mum doesn't mean you make the rules. Oh no, because he will cry, and stamp and throw god damn biscuit bitties all over the house... until he is ready. So don't you even dare rush him. Coz the two year old will decide these things from now on. 

So you'd become quite comfortable with your two hour lunch-break (kiddy-nap-time) had you? What you use this time as some sort of secret mental nirvana to keep your sanity? Well the two year old says NO. And when he says NO you don't second guess that shit. So quit your whinging and get on with it. 

Oh man. There is gonna be some sort of epic game of thrones, survival of the fittest, battle to the ... ok not to the death, but battle extraordinaire this week. Mama bear is taking back the reigns. Hopefully. Or at least a little bit. Please? God damn. It's lucky he's the cutest little monster around. 

How to negotiate with a toddler in 7 easy steps

Austin wears Ducky Street tattoos, Mini Rodini t-shirt and H&M track pants (similar here)

1.     Try to reason with them. ‘We need the pram today because it’s a very long walk to get there, and we’re already running late so…please get in the pram. I really need you to get in the pram now. Get in the pram please. I said GET IN THE PRAMMMM'.  

2.     Bribery. Chocolate is a sure fire win. So is ice-cream. And sweets. And other yummy snacks. Though the sugar hit probably isn't going to win you any favours when it wears off in 20 minutes. Let’s just tackle one problem at a time shall we?

3.     Beg. This doesn’t really work but it somehow manages to find itself part of the negotiation cycle pretty damn often.

4.     Be passive aggressive. Yeah that is really going to work.    

5.     Get angry. Then instantly regret it.      

6.     Pretend to cry. This at least will get their attention even if it gets no other results.

7.     Give up.

Oh hold on wait, did I say seven easy steps? I meant seven steps I use, that drive me crazy! Ugh. Kids really have a knack for making grown-ups look completely mad don’t they? I usually find somewhere between six and seven Austin miraculously goes and does what I wanted, happy as larry, while I'm standing there a broken person.  #parentlife eh?

Woodberry Wetlands

Austin wears: Cotton-On polo (similar here), H&M jeans, Native shoes.
Meg wears: Karen Walker sunglasses, Karen Millen dress (similar here). 

We had such a great morning at the Woodberry Wetlands on the weekend. And we managed to do it without Austin having some sort of meltdown or me forgetting a critical element in Austin's backpack or all of us jumping on the wrong bus to god knows where. We had to get a break at some point right? Or maybe we’re just super-amazing-best-parents-in-the-world (hahaha. Ok, I’ll stop getting carried away now).

The wetlands were so perfect for our Saturday morning stroll on so many levels… 

1. Austin could run and run and run (woooo, you wear yourself out kid!).
2. There were no roads for him to run on to. Thank gawd. The kid has a knack for giving me heart attacks.
3. For a family which is used to city living you can get your dose of nature all in the one spot. Beautiful wildflower meadows, ducks on the wetlands, birds flying above. Sigh. It was pretty picturesque. <3
4. And probably the most important part I can get one of my all time fave London coffees while on the walk. Yess! Lizzy's delivering the goods as usual, let alone the absolute amazeballs menu.

So yeah, we had a pretty good morning. Boom. Not gonna hold my breath, but here’s hoping we can replicate this unicorn of a day out next week. 

Welcome to the terrible(-y awesome) twos

Austin wears: Jumper Mini Rodini, Hat and Jeans H&M (here and here), Shoes Jordan's (similar here)
Meg wears: Necklace Minty Wendy Boutique, Shoes FCUK (similar here), Dress Mango

When your baby boy turns two… he is no longer a baby anymore - believe me!

He is at least half your height, espesh when you're a shorty like me. He knows exactly what he wants when he wants it; he knows what he likes (oh yeaaaah!) and oh boy you will learn quickly what he dislikes. He won’t let you help him, hardly (I am Mr Independent!) except for the rare moments when he is tired or upset and wants to be curled up in a ball on your lap (sigh). He is exploring and learning and testing all day long. Every day he is doing something new or saying something new (we just got the uh-oh over and over the last few days).

He is sooo grown up in so many ways. But forever our little baby boy in our hearts. <3 Happy Birthday little man. And welcome to the terrible(-y awesome) twos! 

Ten ways we just got Britain-ised

So we were walking to Father's Day lunch on the weekend, and i couldn't help but notice we're picking up all of these strange habits living here in England. Yep, I think we just got Britain-ised. I'm sure there are a heap more but here are ten ways I've found us acting more and more like Brits:

1. celebrating father's day in June (say whaaat?!).
2. thinking 18-22 de grees is a real stinker of a day. Phew, soooo hot. (Hahaha, if only they knew what hot weather really is). 
3. using sunday as your standard pub lunch day (yep two sunday's in a row and counting).
4. saying hi to pretty much everyone with 'you right?' Yes my dear, I am "right". 
5. calling a bug a mini beast.... ok that is a lie! I will never be able to call a bug or a beetle or anything like that a mini beast. Though it does make a normal situation sound way more exciting. 'Pat, come quickly there's a mini beast in the bathroom!'
6. walk pretty much all over London and always wear runners. Ugh, i know. 
7. expect to split a restaurant bill by about 10 cards. To be fair, i think this is pretty normal the world over (except for us aussies back home). 
8. calling the pram a buggy. I really tried to avoid this. What in the hell is a buggy anyway? Are we on a golf course? Where's my caddy to push it? Turns out the name is pretty damn catchy.
9. catch the bus. ALL. THE. TIME. I think i caught the bus once in my whole life back in Melbourne. 
10. given up on shopping centres. Oh, this makes me really sad. We're all like 'let's just head down to the high street' now. Yep, every suburb has its own little high street, and although it's no Chaddy Shopping Centre I'm getting used to my local little village. 

Arty Farty

When it's been raining all week, and you’ve run out of all of the indoor rainy activities you can think of….time to commission your (nearly) 2 year old son to make a piece of art. Posca on canvas. I had visions of an abstract art piece to hang in the lounge room. Don’t get me wrong, I think he did pretty damn good, and if anything else he hella enjoyed it (and it occupied him for a good while). Maybe we can hang it in the hallway?

And daddy's poor posca’s. I think Austin sent them off to art heaven. It was a sweet death. 

The sweetest of summers

So after doing two looong winters in a row, summer has finally arrived (wooo!) and a little bit of vitamin d goes a long way in this rainy city.

Everyone goes a bit crazy; half days are given at work so that people can ‘soak up the sun’, it’s a holiday frenzy for young and old, and the sun doesn’t go down until 930pm (what the whaat). When there is even just a glimmer of sunshine people set up base camp at the park for the day. Deck chairs, books, picnics, portable bbqs. They may as well bring the kitchen sink with them.  

And now that Austin has learned what icy-poles are he is completely hooked (let's be real he likes sucking on ice cubes, so an icy pole must seem like a rainbow on a stick). And it is all fun and games until he pushes his callipo too far up and it splats on the floor. Don’t worry I think he will learn very quickly how to master the old callipo icy-pole.

I like piña colada's, dirty nappies and days by the beach

Ah, the things we do on holiday with our toddler. To anyone without kids they would seem oh, so very wacky. But this is just normal life people, nothing to look at here, keep it on moving! 

Just a few of our fave holiday past times are: 

• long walks along the beach holding hands... oh, oops I mean, long walks through back alleys pushing the pram to get your toddler to have his daytime nap
• afternoons spent lazing by the... couch indoors and out of the sun. Yep, this means coming home pretty damn pale
• acting like a one hour time difference is a gift sent from god. That's right, a one hour time difference means instead of your kid waking at 6am every morning you get to sleep in until 7am! (I am not even being sarcastic right now, this is actual pure joy)
• flying with 300 of your closest friends! Yay! Thomas and Lightning McQueen and Pepper and Mr Bulldozer and just about every single toy and book that will fit into every crevice of our beings
• perfecting your best 'I'm really trying my best but sometimes there is only so much you can do and my toddler will still keep crying no matter what I do' face when walking through quaint little towns
• treating midday nap time like a vacation from your vacation. Oh my god what are we gonna do for the next two hours? Go shopping? Go for lunch? Cocktails at a bar? Cocktails on the beach? Cocktails on the beach while having a massage? Eh, let's just fall in a heap and sleep. Yeah, that sounds good.
• Running around the pool like absolute mad people playing dinosaurs. Thank god we rented a house and weren't staying at a resort. Or actually I don't know, that could've been kind of funny too. Raaaaa.

I’m not gonna BS holidays are so different with our little man in tow, but they’re still fun as hell. 

You scream, I scream

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream. And in the car seat, and in the middle of the night for no reason. You know, standard business for a toddler.

But we are all screaming (for joy) coz we really love Sitges. Its small and cute, with pretty beaches and tapas bars tucked away in laneways. And also every afternoon everything shuts up shop for siesta time (equally quaint and super annoying). We've eaten jamon, fromage, tapas and paella, fresh pastries, empanadas, whole fish, king prawns, 95 day dry aged steak (holy moses), beef tartare, tuna tartare, and just about everything under the sun. Let's just say the beach diet is in the toilet.