Our Family Day Out - London ZOO!

Daddy and Isabelle very excited about the ZOO trip

Isabelle getting really bored after standing in a queue to get in for 1 hour

It was very hot, so we ate a lot of ice cream and ice lollies

Isabelle exhausted on a train home

All children love animals and with the beautiful weather forecast for the day we decided to go to the famous London Zoo. Thanks to twitter I got a link to a discount voucher to get 20% off, so we could not buy the tickets online and had to queue for an hour... It was a long queue, especially on a hot that like last Saturday. If you are planning on going,count on spending the whole day there, there are so many things to do. Isabelle loved the animals, but also enjoyed the play areas and splash bits for the children. I have to say, I was not very impressed by the food choice you could get there. As we decided to go at the last minute, I did not manage to prepare any sandwiches at home and we finished up buying some very expensive burgers, which none of us liked.... Well, I will remember for next time.

Isabelle loves elephants and we were disappointed we couldn't find any at this famous ZOO. I have been at a few Zoos around the world, but have to admit that I expected much more from the London ZOO. All in all, we did enjoy it, but be ready to spend a lot of money not just on the tickets, but also on other attractions your children will be tempted to attend.

SitSac Booster Combo Seat Designed In Sweden!

Not long ago I was approached to review a SitSac, the new booster combo seat designed in Sweden. First I watched a video with the author talking about the use and how she came up with this brilliant idea. Isn't it just great she combined a booster seat with a backpack where your kids can store their things and carry everything on their back?

When it arrived, I thought I would need my husband's help to put all the parts together (my previous experience with car seats). But luckily no need for that. It was very easy as the instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I took a few pictures for you to see for yourselves. It literally took me 10 minutes to read the instructions and put the SitSac together.

Booster cushion, detachable bag and seat bag


Seat bag attached to the booster cushion


Detachable bag attached to the booster cushion

As Isabelle has recently turned 3 years, she wasn't able to test it, except carrying it around and screaming: "I want it, it's my new car seat!" I told her she had to wait untill she started big school. I asked some of my friends' children who were in the age bracket suitable for this booster seat (4-12 years) and they all were very happy to participate in testing it.

They loved the lime green colour and the fact they can store their things in the backpack. One of the girls has also found a little pocket for her mobile very useful. All in all, they agreed that one word to describe this product would be the word " Cool". I also liked the reflective bits on the backpack, making it also extra safe, and the fact that the cover is machine washable.

This product has just been released in the UK, so don't forget to spread the word about such a brilliant product. For more information or to buy visit the official SitSac website.

Friendship

This week's gallery topic is friendship. I cannot imagine life without my friends. I absolutely agree with the saying that " You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends" and that's maybe why they are so important to me. Some of my friends are in the Czech Republic, some in Australia and I also have a few here in London.

This is my best friend Bela. She lives in my home town in the Czech Republic. I have known her since I was 2 years old... We went to nursery and primary school together. We used to spend holidays together and we still see each other every time I go back to see my family. I love her very much, she has always been there for me when I needed her.

Kate and Sarka, these are my friends from Sydney. We went through some tough times together, which made our friendship very strong. Now they are both living back in the Czech Republic. They are the party girls and always keep me entertained when I visit them in Prague.

Dusan, I met him in Sydney. A very good friend of mine, I think that most people don't believe in us being "just friends", but we don't care. I think I helped him a lot when he was trying to end a long term relationship with his ex girlfriend, at least he says so.

These are my English friends from London. I met them all at our ante-natal classes and cannot imagine going through pregnancy and motherhood without them. We have been seeing each other for more than 3 years now almost every week.

And one more picture left. Yes, again it's a picture of Isabelle. I love her so much and want her to think of me not only as a mummy but also her best friend.

The THERALINE® Baby Pillow!

When I was given this new THERALINE® Baby Pillow for a review, one of my friend's baby came across my mind straight away. It is her second and she had no problems with the shape of her first baby's head, but her second daughter's head is quite flat at the back and it worries her. Of course she has been changing the positions of her baby's head when she is sleeping and lying on her back, as this is usually what the midwives suggest doing.

She was very happy when I told her about the pillow and she has been putting it under her daughter's head for the last 2 weeks or so and I think the flatness at the back of her daughter's head is slowly disappearing. At first she was a bit concerned her baby would not be able to turn her head because of the pillow, but it does not seem to be the case. I think it took her baby couple of days to get used to the pillow, she is 3 months now, but now has no problems sleeping or lying on it. I think it's a brilliant product and will definitely keep it in mind when we decide to have our number two! What do you think?

For more information or to buy visit the official website http://www.theraline.co.uk/babykopfkissen.htm

Black or White ?

I have always wondered when is Isabelle going to ask this question. She has recently turned 3, and until last week, she has never mentioned people being black or white. And last week she popped the question. Mummy you are white and daddy is black, " What am I?".... she caught me unprepared and I just answered " black & white". She loved the answer and kept on saying it... When my husband got home we talked about it and he came up with a "cappuccino" version. I quite like it and so we now say she is our cappuccino.

I just think it's funny that until now she has never mentioned that people were black or white. Now she calls one of her baby dolls " the white baby" and the other one " the black baby". I know some people get funny when talking about this subject, I believe that very young & unspoiled children are the most honest and they just say what they see, don't they?

Self portrait!

"Wild me"
before getting married

"Relaxing me"
on holiday in Whitsundays, Australia, on one of the whitest beaches in the world

"Anxious me"
just before getting married

"Happily married me"

"Married me"
a few hours after the ceremony

"Happy me"

"Loving me"
with the two loves of my life

"Yummy mummy me"
... maybe?

I have to admit, I am not one of the people who hate having pictures taken. My mum is like that and maybe that's the reason why I am not. She was always complaining when my dad wanted to take a picture of her when we were kids, and used to tell him to take a picture of me and my brother instead, that it was a waste of pictures.

I understand that everything changes once you have a child, and most pictures we take are the pictures of Isabelle, but I still want to have some pictures of me, so that one day, when I'm old and wrinkly, I can look at some of my pictures and think....well I didn't always used to be that wrinkly. Superficial? Maybe....

I have recently been a part of a new mummy glossy magazine photo shoot, and absolutely loved it. I spent the whole day being pampered and the photos look fantastic. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to show the pictures...YET. I cannot wait for the magazine to come out and share these with you.

It took me a while to choose the pictures for the Gallery Wednesday as I wanted to show you a bit of my personality, hope you can picture the real me now!

Also don't forget to check out the rest of the amazing posts from the Gallery.

Paint Your Own Wellies!

When I was approached by Kidclever.co.uk for a product review, I was spoiled for choice. I was mainly thinking of reviewing something useful for Isabelle, as she has so many toys... maybe too many as most children have these days. This website has a huge range of very clever products so the title Kidclever says it all. At the end I decided to ask for these lovely pink Paint Your Own Wellies.

As I have mentioned here before, Isabelle is very creative and absolutely loves painting. I was waiting for a rainy afternoon, and decided to show her her new project. She was very happy I went for the pink colour and not green, even though I am not a big fan of pink. The pack includes the wellies, six Little Pals paint pens (red, orange, yellow, blue, green, pink) and a very important LEAFLET with the instructions how to use it. We warmed up the paint in our hands and were trying to get some nice pictures, but Isabelle was not listening to me and putting too much paint everywhere ... well, a 3 year old!

I think it's a brilliant product and could keep your kids occupied for a while. Also, how many kids have their own hand painted wellies? They could come up with results like this:

Family Afternoon at St Albans!

We had a fabulous family afternoon at St Albans yesterday. We love going there. It's just half an hour drive from us and we go there quite often. I would love to live there. The park is huge, you can see guys playing football, children on slides and swings, also people training under the lead of some army instructors. It's very clean and mostly you can see young families going for walks, but also older couples.

Isabelle was fascinated by the little ducklings and wanted to feed them. You are not allowed to feed them bread and there was a very king little boy who offered her some of the seeds he had for the birds. She wasn't scared. I was.....not of the birds but of Isabelle falling into the still cold lake. She was so excited, she wasn't paying much attention where her feet were....

After a nice walk and Isabelle scootering around we went for a nice lunch at the local Wagamama restaurant. It's a child friendly place, they have clean highchairs and menu for kids. Isabelle loves eating there as she gets her own chop sticks, which she calls "chop chicks". The little town itself has a very nice market on Saturday and Sunday mornings and for me it looks like a typical English town. If you live there, I have to admit, I envy you.

Not My Little Baby Anymore!

Isabelle has recently turn 3, and in the past few weeks she has been going through many changes. I have to say that most of these are proving she is a little girl and not my little baby anymore. She loves trying on clothes and if she could she would wear only pink clothes...which I am not a big fan of.... She also loves watching me when putting my make up on and then pretends to do the same. Yesterday I let her put some of my lip gloss on when writing an e-mail... not really paying attention too much ... bad mummy. Then I looked at her and had to laugh. Just look at her. One day I will show her this photo and she will be laughing with me. I just wish it will take a very long time before then.

CyberMummy 2010!

If you are a mummy blogger, you must have heard about this conference. Everybody talks about it, it seems to be an unmissable event. I would love to go, and after twittering (@Kahanka) to some other mum bloggers I have decided to write a post. Maybe there is someone who would like to sponsor me.....PLEASE. Blogging is very important to me and has completely changed my life, so meeting some fellow bloggers and all the interesting speakers would be fantastic. As I live in London, would just need a ticket from a very kind sponsor. THANK YOU :)))))

Men In My Life!

Andrew & Me engaged


My lovely brother


My dearest father


Andrew as a daddy


Darling nephew


Great friend

This weeks theme for the gallery is "Men". All men on the photos above are somehow very special to me. All of them in a different way. I love them all and am very grateful for having them in my life and cannot imagine my life without them.