The Cuban Buffet

TRAVELLING WITH KIDS | DESTINATION CUBA

We didn't expect the food to be great. We've all been to Cuba before. And so we weren't disappointed. The bar was already set pretty low. I think our little one ate less at the buffet than I would have expected though. And so his nutrients tended to come more from snacks, which required a little planning. In case you want to do such planning ahead of time, this is a synopsis of what we found at the buffet. Note that while the food is rarely anything to write home about, the quality does vary from hotel to hotel.

1. The Protein This is a pretty easy find. The pork and chicken can be good. There is loads of grilled fish. And sausage and bacon up to your eyeballs. Eggs 5 different ways. Sandwich meat that looks a little mysterious and hot dogs. My kid refused the former and gorged on the latter. Make sure hamburgers are cooked all the way through before giving them to you wee ones; we had a little incident.

2. The Dairy The sliced cheese and milk for some reason my little guy wouldn't go near. He is normally a dairy fiend but he refused the cheese and said the milk was too creamy. He did like the yogurt though.

3. The Fruit The pineapple it never looked ripe, the flesh looking rather pale, but half the time it tasted really good anyway. The other half it was crunchy and bland. The papaya, orange, and grapefruit were plentiful and good. The Bananas are great. But that was it in the way of fruit.

4. The Vegetables Tomatoes. Cabbage. Cucumber. Green pepper. Broccoli. These were the most plentiful. But carrots, brussels sprouts, zucchini, green beans and many others all made an appearance at one time or another. Unfortunately, except from the salad bar, the veggies tended to be overdone and quite greasy and so it was a hard sell to get the kid to eat them.

5. The Carbs Yucca and Plantain in various forms. Pasta and rice pretty average at best. Potatoes. Fries. And great baked buns and breads. This was a staple for Spud. We always packed a bun for a morning snack, along with a banana.

We were only gone a week and so there was little chance of Spud getting scurvy or some other dramatic vitamin definciency but it's nice to have a safety net of snacks, so to speak. This is particularly true if you venture away from the resort for any length of time.

Wee Travel Journal

TRAVELLING WITH KIDS | PROJECTS

I prepared Spud's travel journal before we left. It's a little bit educational. A little bit entertaining. And in the end it is a souvenir of the trip.

1. I pasted in destination-specific found images and graphics from magazines, postcards, photos, stickers, flickr.com. I included images of palm trees, old cars, musical instruments, beaches, Che Guevera, pineapples, flags etc. It was fun getting him involved at this stage. When he saw the printouts of the old cars though, he didn't want me to paste them in. He carried them around the house for a couple of days first.

2. I included a few travel-themed printouts of mazes, spot-the-differences, and dot-to-dots that I found on Trunki's site.

3. Next I devoted pages to the following topics:
"The toys I packed for my holiday ..."
"Today made me feel ..."
"Today I ate ... "
"Today I saw ..."
"The weather today was ..."
"The friends I made..."
"The words I learned..."
"The things I miss about home ..."
Together we took turns drawing and scribbling the answers and I wrote down in quotes the things he said on each topic. I also gave it to his nana to record her stories of what he said and did on our outings.

4. Finally, I brought double-sided tape in our little craft kit so we could easily add any paper souvenirs we acquired, such as the wrapper of the Cuban chocolate bar Spud enjoyed very much or one of the sweet notes from our maid.

The Packing List

TRAVELLING WITH KIDS | DESTINATION ALL-INCLUSIVE
Packing lists are important to me; it's due to my list-o-phile ways. I'm not going to bother posting an extensive packing list here though ... there are loads of them for reference online. And I really think that they are the most useful when they are customized to you personally. I, myself, referenced 3 or 4 lists looking for ideas with which to make up a master list. Then each trip gets its own list which are then added to a veritable library of lists. Ahhhhh. We use Google Docs for this so my husband and I can actually edit the lists practically at the same time and, theoretically at least, from anywhere in the world.



For this trip I took our "Weekend Camping List" and did a save as "1 Week Cuba". The only 2 things I missed on the trip, and I always miss something, was a selection of pens to write with [I only had drawing pens] and hand cream. Could be worse.

What follows are a few special items that I either wish I had brought or was particularly glad I did:

1. Versatile Airplane Outfit — At 4 am, in close to freezing temperatures, I dressed the little guy in light but lined zip off pants, socks in his sandals [not something I would normally tolerate], and a long-sleeved, hooded T-shirt over a short sleeved tee. Around the time of our decent, in just one minute, he was wearing a tee, shorts and bare feet in sandals. Add a hat and some sunglasses et voilà!

2. Trunki — I've gushed about this ingenious kid luggage/toy in previous posts but I can't say enough good things about this one. Our little guy loves Trunki. He treats her like a little friend. Her name is Trixie. She kept him busy in long customs and border line ups. She spared his tired little feet when we pulled them through the airports. It was the best 40 bucks we spent when it comes to travelling with our little one. The one possible downside is that it may be too flashy for some types of travel or travel destinations.



3. Cammy, a Cozy, and Music — whenever we spend time away from home I like to bring some familiar bedtime items to make going to sleep in a strange place a little easier. We brought Cammy, his stuffed camel [for comfort], one of his blankets [familiar smell and texture], and some familiar bedtime tunes. We packed portable speakers for this trip because we wanted to have music in our room but a simple mp3 player with head phones could work too.

4. Thermal Stainless Steel Mugs — It's so nice to go to the bar, load up on your bevvy of choice and take it back to your deck chair for a leisurely sippage. Otherwise, you get a small plastic cup not much larger than a shot glass, in which the contents melt quickly in the heat, and you end upleaving a huge plastic-cup-footprint before your holiday is done. Not to mention that you will have difficulty staying hydrated with all the walking back and forth to the bar. Also shown in this shot is an 'ecobag', also known as my stylish beach bag, that I bought at Sears for 99 cents. I bought two.



5. Camp Suds and Dish Towel — it's nice to be able to wash your afore mentioned mugs as well as your wee ones' sippy cups in the room. We also use this dreamy, all-purpose soap for rinsing out our bathing suits. It works in warm or cold water. And here I post about wipes and Cetaphil, two other gotta-brings for me.



6. Plastic Plates — occasionally, rather than bullying the little one to leave the room for a meal, we found it handy for one of us to bring back snacks from the buffet to our room. The hotel staff really don't like this. Perhaps it's because they don't want dirty, breakable plates in your room? If we promised to bring the plate right back, then they reluctantly let us do it. Later, we found a plastic plate at the beach bar which we washed up and used for such purposes. I've added this item to my list for future trips.

7. Snacks

Fun Packing Trunki

TRAVELLING WITH KIDS
The day before our departure was dedicated to packing ... some last minute shopping ... tidying the apartment ... and keeping the stress levels as low as possible. We left ourselves plenty of time and even had some fun.

The funnest part was packing Trunki, Spud's crazy-cool ride 'em, carry on luggage. I wanted to include Spud in the packing process as much as possible. But I also didn't trust that he would make all the best choices, as you would expect from someone with only 3 years of life experience. And so we encouraged him to put in Trunki whatever toys or things he wanted with the knowledge that we would have to edit it down at the end of the day if it didn't all fit. He was fine with that as long as we promised to include as many cars as possible. He would've even forfeited the pale and shovel for more cars if we let him but I knew that would be a bad idea. So this is what it started like ...

Spud's Contributions:
· cars, cars and more cars
· a yellow plastic bracelet
· a treasure chest with a couple of metallic puff balls
· a velvet bag full of random bits and bobs like a miniature Winnie the Pooh and some plastic gold coins

Our Suggestions:· choice of stuffed animal [he chose Cammy]
· choice of 5 mini books [we also had a couple of books as surprises for the plane trip, known as 'trip prizes']
· view master [we brought a couple of sets as 'trip prizes' also so this would have extra value]
· mini lego block set
· water wings
· sunglasses
· head phones

My Suggestions that he agreed to but reluctantly:· Thomas craft bag [with paper, crayons, safety scissors, white glue, and double-sided tape]
· HIs Cuba Journal
· Spare set of clothes

Note that in the early stages, the beach toys had not yet made their way in. Some serious editing had to be done before they would fit. And I ended up with the craft bag and the journal ... which in the end are more for me than him anyway.

Time for Tea

I'm working from home today on some real tedious stuff. And it's going to be a very long day. I thought I would take a moment of appreciation ... with a little tea in my precious camel teapot from my dearest friend Wendy-bee and the gift of music in the background, from my dearest hubby. How can that not make me smile? And now I must go back to my 70 pages of transposed words and upper-and-lower-case mishaps ... sigh.

Bentolicious I

SOME BENTOS OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS


Yam hearts
Flower eggs
Edamame skewers
Grapes
Brown rice balls [from the freezer]
Soy sauce fish
Cuke hearts
Orange jello



Broccoli
Tuna patties [from the freezer]
Ketchup Monkey
Cheese cars
Cashews + white chocolate chips
Squash cubes



Apple sauce container [grandma's, from the freezer]
Flower cheese
Kiwi balls
Heart egg
Carrot
Cherry tomato
Brown rice ball [from the freezer]
Orange slice



Apple sauce
Flower egg
Edamame
Cheese diamonds [upon request]
Broccoli
Mini M&Ms + cashews + craisins
Ritz crackers and cheese
Salad Pocky
Tortilla chips


Green beans
Strawberry yogurt
Apple Cheese
Carrots
Kiwi + Banana slice
Flower / Star toast
Chicken sausage
Mini M&Ms
Nut Butter Balls



Strawberry tomatoes
Yam cars
Brown rice ball [from the freezer]
Banana yogurt
Grapes
Peanut Butter Balls

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Bentolicious II
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Bento Takes Shape

RICE BALLS, EGG MOLDS AND CUTTERS

Rice Molds
Easy as pie. Easier! On Sunday night I cooked 2 cups of brown rice, added some sweetened rice wine vinegar, made up all the balls and threw them in the freezer for quick morning lunch prep. Check out flickr.com to see what some ambitious bento-ing folks are up to. Unfortunately, adding nori (seaweed) to make characters out of the rice is not an option for me right now, as my wee one is currently insisting that not a speck of green will pass his lips, knowingly. (Thankfully this does not apply to large pieces of green as in broccoli).

Star and Heart Eggs
I have to say I was quite nervous about trying this but it's really easy. The hardest part is peeling the still hot hard boiled egg. My husband apparently has no feeling in his finger tips so this has turned into his job. Simply place the peeled hot egg upright in one half of the mold, place the other half on top, secure latches, and drop in cool water for a few minutes. Voilà. I used large eggs for my molds and they came out a little small which meant that the star actually looked more like a flower. Especially when I cut it in half lengthwise to reveal the yolk in the centre. Beautiful.

Mini Cookie Cutters For All Sorts of Foods
So far I've made hearts, stars, fish and cars out of cucumber, bell pepper, yam, potato, toast, ham and cheese.

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Bento Accompaniments

THE CUTE FACTOR
The pleasure I get from sorting through all these wee treasures and choosing the right colour combination or theme, is embarrassingly huge. I'm glad my kid seems to appreciate all of this almost as much as I do.

Happy Wee Containers ...
I use the little fish for soy sauce. I put ketchup in the monkey container. And I use the taller containers for raisins and other small bit treats that will fit through the dispensing hole.




Little Skewers for Wee Fingers ...
These tiny little creatures brighten up cheese and pineapple cubes. They also work to spear a row of edamame [soy beans], a favourite of mine and Spud's.




You Gotta Keep 'em Separated ...
Some adorable little sheets that add a lot of charm while keeping the red pepper from staining your hard boiled egg.




Don't Stand So Close to Me ...
Like the bento dividers, these mini containers also help prevent unwanted mingling of flavours. I also like to put little treats in these guys, such as a simple trail mix [cashews/dried cranberries/pumpkin seeds/mini m&m's]. Messy fruit pieces that might juice up the bento can also be contained in these little gems. The paper cups are coated on the inside.



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Bentolicious I
Bentolicious II
Bentolicious III

A Little Japan, China and Vegas

AND LOTS OF FUN

Oh how I love Richmond's Aberdeen Mall [near Vancouver, 30 minutes from downtown]. And, trust me, I've never really used the word "love" and "mall" in the same sentence before. But here's why I think every family finding themselves in the area should consider spending a few hours at this fun place.

1. The main feature for me has always been Daiso, with its 2 floors of $2 wonders. This is where I recently spent a small bucket of money on bento supplies which I will post about soon. And while I spent a glorious 90 minutes perusing all the little kitchen doodads my husband helped the little guy spend his 2 bucks in the toy section. He ended up with a pretty cool zebra-striped cardboard jeep that you put together ... with working wheels of course, because that's very important.

2. After picking out the toy, the guys went to the Fun4Kids which is one of those indoor playgrounds with slides and balls and padded rooms. I actually really like this particular one as it's clean and open so that you are better able to track where your little one is. His crazy red curls helped too.

3. The food fair is all about authentic Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese cuisine. It's cheap and it's good. We had some great wonton soup where the wontons were packed full of green veg and my kid gobbled them up.

4. Cheap knock-off clothing. We saw adorable little jackets, dresses, and pants for 5 to 10 bucks in one little shop on the way to Daiso.

5. Dancing waters. There's a small-scale, Vegas-style fountain that spurts and splashes to Elvis and tunes from Flashdance. Do I need to say more?

Fondue and Lebanese Wine

A NEW YEARS EVE TRADITION
Broth Fondue, Hot Pot Style
I think I'm getting the hang of this tradition thing. Below is my variation on what I found on Go Fondue. It starts out as a fondue and finishes as a soup. It's both good and fun. We will definitely be making this again before next New Year's.

Broth
4 C. beef broth
3 green onions, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
2 T. cilantro, chopped
1 T. garlic, minced, prepared (found in Chinese food store or aisle)
2 T. ginger, grated, prepared (found in Chinese food store or aisle)
2 T. soy sauce
1 t. sesame oil

Bring Beef Broth to a boil. Add remaining above ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

Prepare 2 Platters
1 C. broccoli florets
1 C. snow peas
4 bok choy leaves

AND
1/2 lb beef tenderloin, sliced in thin strips
handful of prawns, large
handful of rice noodles

Spear beef strips with fondue forks and cook in broth for 3-5 minutes. Spear vegetable strips and cook until tender. Dip cooked beef and vegetables into prepared sauces such as: teriyaki, hoisin + chili, barbeque, chutney etc

When the meat is finished add the noodles to broth. Add remaining vegetables and prawns and any small meat bits to broth. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve portion to each guest in a bowl. Enjoy!



And because the 31st of December is also our wedding anniversary we decided to share this special bottle of wine which is from Lebanon, bottled in 1999. I know, when you think of good wine, Lebanon generally doesn't come to mind. But that's the year we travelled there. And it so happens to be their best year. A coincidence I'm sure. It was fun to reminisce about our pre-baby times there ... the internet cafes in Beirut, the military checkpoints, skiing among the cedars, the deserted hotels, the anti-aircraft gun shots that made us drop to our knees, the crazy driving, the Roman ruins in Baalbeck with the tallest columns ever erected, the fantastic food, and the best wine you'll find in the Middle East. Á la santé.

UPDATE: The above links used to go to some of our travel stories posted on Rough Guides which has since been shut down. I wish I would have saved them.
: (

Oh! Wait! Update again! Oh wait! My brilliant husband found a link where the stories are being kept until they upgrade their site! Here they are in the meantime.
: )

Foofy Drink Umbrellas ...

... become play house accessories! First the grown-ups play. And then the kids. Everybody's happy.

Orange Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. peanut butter, creamy
1 egg
1 t. orange extract
1 1/2 C. wholewheat flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
36 miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped
1/2 C. white chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 350 F. Combine the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, and orange extract. Mix until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Roll dough and divide into 36 1-inch balls and place one in each recess of a non-stick, mini muffin pan.

Bake in oven 8–10 minutes or until lightly browned. When done, remove from oven and immediately top each cookie with a mini peanut butter cup. Cool in fridge for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Repeat until all the dough has been used. When all the cookies are baked, melt the chocolate chips in microwave and drizzle back and forth over the cookies using plastic bag with a slight corner snipped off.

Christmas Eve Tradition

I've never really been much about tradition. Looking back, about half my childhood Christmas's were spent away from home; San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto etc. And as it turns out, as an adult, I generally avoid routine. Even when it doesn't make sense to change it up. If I'm given the option of doing something the same way or a different way, all other things being equal, I usually choose the different way, even if it's more complicated. I even annoy myself in this regard.

After Spud came along though, suddenly, I felt like the keeper of his Christmas traditions. So, I've been practicing the last few years but since he's 3 now and quite aware of the Christmas business, I've made a list of what we're doing on Christmas Eve to keep us on track. I love lists. But I'm not going to lie to you, next Christmas Eve's traditions are anybody's guess. We'll see. My husband has plenty of traditions to draw from. And I pulled one from my own. Oh and the other thing I tend to do is try to put too much into a day ... even on regular days ... so we'll see how this goes.

1. Well the first one would have to be that Spud sleeps in until after 9 am. That is exactly happening right now, for some reason, and the only reason I'm able to write this. Obviously this one is out of my hands as far as traditions go though.


2. Bake cookies for Santa. This year will be Orange Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup cookies. Recipe in next post.


3. Make Clove oranges ... this smell IS Christmas to me




4. Make paper snowflakes




5. Go on a quick Christmas light tour of a nearby neighbourhood




6. Sing Christmas carols


7. Have an easy buffet dinner. This year the menu will include a cucumber salad, olive-tomato salad, paté, brie, salami, smoked salmon, pickles, and a baguette. The big deal dinner is tomorrow.


8. Open one present. This will help blow off some of that built up Christmas steam. We have a Cranium game under the tree that we can play with him a little before bedtime.

That is a full day! Other things that will no doubt creep in are TV such as Grinch or Rudolf. A bath. And about 3 loads of laundry and vacuuming [spud said yesterday "Mama, I think we need to vaccuum so there aren't so many crumbs on my feet". To which I cheekily replied "that's what slippers are for, sir". But he does have a point.).

Instead of Just Stuff

5 SITES TO CHECK OUT FOR LAST-MINUTE GIVING
THAT ISN'T JUST A BUNCH OF STUFF

· KIVA "Loans that change lives"
This one is a little different from the following list because it's not a charity. No tax receipt for this one. You lend money to an entrepreneur in a developing country, and they pay you back. There's no guarantee of course that you will see your money again but they have a pretty good track record. And the fun part is you can give someone a gift certificate whereby they, themselves, can go to the site and choose which people they want to lend money to.


· WWF "Give the gift that makes a difference"
Adopt a polar bear for $40. This site takes awhile to load up but it's nicely done and worth the wait.


· OXFAM "Let them know the camels in the mail (sort of)"
The mildly irreverent tone of this site really caught my attention. Forty-five bucks can buy a family a sheep and a mere 18 bucks can buy a farmer a can of worms to improve his fields. And this can all be done with an e-card to your loved one!


· UNICEF "Gifts of Magic"
For 20 dollars you can buy a child "Art in a Box" and for $35 you can buy a child the Gift of Play which includes puppets, a soccer ball and other things. Check out other areas of the site for more traditional gifts of water, education etc.


· PLAN CANADA "ways for you to make a lasting difference"
Thirty bucks can buy 10 Mamma Kits ("A safe welcome into the world for newborns"), 60 bucks can buy Portable Gardens for One Farmer in Kenya ("Nourishing food and the potential for income") and a 100 can buy a solar powered well. You can arrange an "e-acknowledgement" (I'm not sure how I feel about that word) or a printable version of the card to present to your loved one.


Happy Giving!

Mountain Babe

I've really missed going to the mountains and snowshoeing through the trails. I don't think we made it up once last year. Spud was just at an awkward age, I think. He was too big for the baby carrier, at a cool 40 lbs. And also too small to be expected to strap on some shoes and go for a hike.

This year, we invested in a plastic sled big enough to carry gear too. There is a wide range of types of sleds. And we saw all kinds of contraptions on the hill. In the end we spent 13 bucks on this bright orange beauty and hope that it will last this year and next at least.

The little guy wanted to have a little sleep on the sled about half way through our trek. It got a little too cold for him though. He was dressed warm enough but I think that lying that close to the snow just makes it chilly. Next time we'll line the bottom with a piece of foam and see if that helps.

Free Audio Books

On a road trip or in the restaurant waiting for the food to arrive, a little Peter Rabbit can go a long way. I love Storynory for a nice variety of tales to download. Natasha on Storynory does a great job telling the stories, and in a charming English accent. And now my son does the same.

I've also subscribed to the podcasts on iTunes and found some other free ones to subscribe to. So far I haven't found any as good as Storynory. But nonetheless, these little ditties are a great alternative to TV and perfect for long road trips.

Walkie-Talkies and Baby Monitor

TRAVEL GEAR
The Motorola T9500 2-way radios seem perfect for use on vacation and in places where cell phones won't work. Motorola claims they have a 40km range (25miles) and we are going to try the voice activation feature as a sort of baby monitor.

I wish we had this on our previous travels with baby. Now I look forward to spending some humid Cuban evenings with my husband on our balcony while wee guy saws logs in the hotel room. We can also use them to keep in touch with each other when we're out-and-about ... the resort, in town, the market etc. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mums in Snow

It's official. Winter is here.

Tree Ornaments

A bunch of buttons and sticks. Oh, and a lot of hot glue. Ta da! Tree ornaments.

Friday Night Short: Quatchi, Miga + Sumi

My first mascot was Amik, from the Montreal Olympics in 1976. I loved him to pieces regardless of the fact that he wasn't the least bit cuddly and lacked any sort of personality at all. Since then, I've acquired [or more accurately, my son has acquired] one of the Athens mascots from a good friend who was living there during their Games. And one of Torino's mascots that I brought home after seeing the Games there.

And now I'm a proud owner of three more. I'm really smitten with these wee Vancouver critters. The video is beautiful. Stunning even. Check out video here. The plush versions are here.

The Best Seat in the House

THE SANTA CLAUSE PARADE
We parked the car on the parade route this morning, in parking lot facing the street. In the afternoon, when the Santa parade started, we set up camp, fully bundled up and with some warm beverages. The little sun roof in the back of our Element came in handy yet again, allowing us to poke our heads up over all the other spectators.

"Tony Chestnut Knows I Love You"

Tony [touch toe, then knee]
Chestnut [touch chest, then head]
Knows [touch nose]
I [point to eye]
Love [cross heart with my arms]
You [point to wee one]



We tried our hand at roasting chestnuts on the BBQ. I love them. The flavour starts out quite bland. Immediately I felt little disappointed. But then the flavour became quite complicated and deep. A delicate combination of sweet and nutty. I would do it again for sure ... even if our little Spud was completely disinterested in them. I think they would compliment grilled root veggies nicely. And I might try them chopped up in a fresh salad next.

Here's what we did:
1. Cut an "x" or a simple slit in the side of each chestnut with a sharp knife [this will prevent any dramatic explosions].
2. Grill 20-30 minutes on medium heat, turning once.
3. Let them cool enough to handle. Peel and eat.

Serving them with salt is optional. If you are having troubles peeling they may be either overdone or underdone.

Getting Messy

My wee guy is a bit fussy about getting stuff on his hands. I wanted to show him how fun it can be to get messy. We bought a cheap plastic table cloth and some cheap shaving cream at the dollar store. It took a little while to get him started but before long he was right into it, making mountains and volcanoes with his hands.

Next time I will try it with canned whipped cream. If I use shaving cream again I will be sure that I love the sent. It's surprising how long the scent of Old Spice fragrance can linger on ... making my little guy smell like an old man.

Armchair Travel: Cuba with Child

WEE WANDERINGS: DESTINATION CUBA
We are going to Veradero for a one week in January. It will be our third time to Cuba. We went once BB [before baby], to Jibicoa. This trip included two daytrips to Havana. Love Havana! Our second trip, with child, was to Cayo Coco. We did one long daytrip to Trinidad from there. This time it is the touristy mecca of Cuba: Varadero. While we are independent travellers at heart, we have yet to do anything other than the all-inclusive there, with a few light forays, out and about. Nonetheless, I will enjoy journalling our experiences of r-and-r'ing with our 3 year old, in the new year. In the meantime, it's fun to do a little armchair travel. What follows are some links with tips and travel stories about travelling in Cuba with kids.

1. 6 Fun Things to do with Kids in Cuba Scroll to the bottom for a list of 6 kids books on Cuba.

2. Family backpacks Cuba with 2 year-old "Despite it being a challenging holiday, principally due to our new status as a family, Cuba was exactly what the psychotherapist ordered in terms of a plausible adventure for all of us."

3. Travelling Cuba en Famille "If you want more than a beach holiday, Cuba with young children needs careful planning. Compromise is the key: beach time for them, sightseeing for you"

4. Preparing for Cuba with kids and Parental Leave "Cuba seems a perfect destination for travel with kids: no rampant tropical diseases, a great health system, a reputation for being family-oriented ..."

5. Tips Avoiding All-inclusives Travelling Cuba with Kids "... stay in casas particulares (private houses that rent out rooms and usually provide meals"

6. Keeping kids busy on overcast resort days "Sketching local flora was one way to occupy a six-year-old, who had his heart set on building sand castles, in windy Cuban weather"

Hey, Mr. Socks-for-Hands...

"Daddy dressed me and first he put my shirt on my knee. And then he put my pants on my head. And then he put my socks on my hands ... look Mom!"

Visiting Some Wild Ones

ALTERNATIVES TO THE ZOO

OK, so my favourite runner-up animal, next to camels, are donkeys [hmmm, what does t it say about a person when they are so enamoured with beasts of burden?]. Today we saw, donkeys, squirrels, bunnies, guinea pigs, ducks, crows, herons, gulls, and countless other bird varieties. We visited a nearby Wildlife Rehab centre where we saw some pretty incredible animals and heard some pretty incredible stories, both heart-breaking and heart-warming.

There was the little sea bird that eats 1 prawn and 13 shrimp a day, among other things. And the lonely bunny who finally found a partner [spayed, of course]. The star of the show was the Barred Owl. It was such a pleasure to meet him, with his beautiful curiosity and mysterious cooing sounds. With only one eye and damaged wings, this guy is never going to be the wild, free owl he once was; he will always need to depend on people to look out for him.

Besides the animal stories themselves, inspiration lies in meeting the people behind these operations. The people who dedicate their lives to rescuing and healing creatures at their most vulnerable. Perhaps your nearby Wildlife Rehab Centre would appreciate a little visit from you and your wee wild ones and a little donation to help keep the operation going. Try googling one for your region.

Yay for Wee Parts!

PLAYMOBIL NATIVITY SETS


Is it too early to start thinking about the holidays? I can't wait to get my hands on these sweet sets. The kings are awesome. I adore the little cook set. Do you think they are making felafel? And anyone who knows me at all, knows I have a special place in my heart for camels. I've always appreciated the detail that goes into Playmobil. It's toys like these that make me extra-specially happy that my little guy is past the choking hazard stage. Yay small parts!

Scavenger Hunts

HONING OBSERVATION SKILLS



I created this photo list of items found in a park, in Fall. On the weekend, I'll take the little guy to the park and we'll check off all the items we see together. We did this last Fall too and it was loads of fun. Next, I'll make one for the beach and forest. And the market. Maybe more. If you'd like a pdf, send me your email address and I'll shoot it your way.

UPDATE: I have these pdfs available at wee printables. Help yourself!