Lily in the City

Lily rocks a cheong sam from H&M (Lily's Mum is ever thankful to generous friends who live in Europe), motorcycle boots from Pumpkin Patch (I know!) and pink framed wayfarers possibly from JK Kids. The "Muffin McClay" dog Lily wanted to take home resides at the Department Store in Takapuna.

Three Little Birds

Cool little video to a classic song, reworked for Ziggy Marley's "B is for Bob" Album.

(This video works wonders with Haeata when I am seconds from screaming "Chill the f out kid!")

Free magic and comedy at the Aotea Centre

This weekend's free Pick and Mix show at the Aotea Centre is coming from Comedy Magician Jarred Fell. After his 11 o'clock show there will be a workshop with ballon animals sure to make an appearance. Fun!

Waterfront Festival this Saturday

This looks like it could be kinda fun! There's an art fair happening, tram journeys, museum tours, a climb up the Silo 6 pack (whatever that means), a lantern workshop and heaps of music.

From 12 - 5pm different bands including Zoh Zoh, The Vietnam War, and Coast will be playing.

Quite a good opportunity to explore the new waterfront development and a great excuse to have Fish and Chips for dinner.

Baby Loves Disco

This fun little party is happening next Saturday but I'm blogging about it now because apparently tickets sold out one week before the event last time. It's called "Baby Loves Disco" and it's all going down at Sales St. Jason Kerrison from Op Shop is DJing and personally I'm not the biggest fan of Op Shop but I'm still curious to hear what he spins. The biggest draw card for a lot of parents though is that the bar will be open. Bet they don't serve bubbles and beer at Wiggles concerts!

Unfortunately I've postponed my Christchurch trip till next week so I'm not going to make it but I'd love to hear feedback from anyone else who goes along.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $12 for walking children (I love the distinction. If you've got a baby who's already walking put that kid in a sling and don't let them out till no one's watching!). $5 from each ticket goes to Plunket which is pretty cool.

Snow Style

How to Make It Work in the snow. Thanks to the very, very willing model Lily, my adorable niece. The kids in our family really love to work the camera.

Variety Monster Book Sale

The Variety Monster Book Sale starts tomorrow! I love a good bargain book and spending money for a good cause is always fun.

Entry from Friday to Sunday is free or you can pay $10 to get in on Thursday.

Cupcakes without the mess (or calories!)

Check out this free printable project, perfect for a rainy/just way too cold day this week.

All you have to do is cut out the dozens of cute cupcake parts and then the kids can have fun putting them together. And as a bonus, no washing up!

The website suggests putting them together with a glue stick or even printing them on sticker paper. I'm considering splashing out on magnetic paper to print them on. Haeata loves putting cupcakes together on my phone with the My Play Chef app and loves magnets so I figure the magnetic cupcakes could be a pretty safe investment.

Have a look around Volume 25 while you're printing out your cupcakes. Beautiful blog and she has more free stuff there!

La Boulange

As I've mentioned before, Haeata and I don't mind visiting The Department Store in Takapuna one little bit. One of those reasons is the lovely La Boulange cafe. The cafe is situated in the front of the store now right next to the sun drenched windows. Delicious pastries and macaroons, massive fluffies, good coffee and loose leaf tea. There is a box of toys but my niece Lily was happy to wander around and look at all the animal sculptures when we visited last week. There is a bathroom at the back of the store with fancy handwash in them although to be honest, Haeata found the designer toilets a little intimidating at first. There is a Nature Baby store right next to the cafe so once you've finished drooling over the Chaos & Harmony boots you can go drool over adorable little merino onsies.

Celebrity Lullabies

And now Haeata thinks Ricky Gervais is hilarious too. Always good when you can find someone that makes both you and your kid laugh till you cry.

How to style a bump

One of my favourite bloggers, Rebecca Woolf, is 26 weeks pregnant with twins and is rocking a unitard. I LOVE HER. Check out her blog, Girls Gone Child. It's a great read and pretty to look at.

Mana's Bounce

Fun song from Recloose with a great video by Mofresh. Reminds me that winter won't last forever!

Here's the Recloose album, "Hiatus on the Horizon" on iTunes.

Bosco Cafe in Te Kuiti

If you're heading down to the snow this week then Bosco's in Te Kuiti is worth a stop. We stopped here on the way to Ohakune last week and on the way back to Auckland. By the time you get to Te Kuiti you're probably 5 minutes away from experiencing a mini mutiny in the backseat so this place is perfectly positioned.

The cafe is sunny, cosy and has big rustic tables. The girls loved the play corner and the massive fluffies (just $1). Most importantly, of course, all the Mums involved were able to enjoy their coffee and tea in relative peace. Liz, a self confessed coffee snob, said the coffee wasn't too shabby either while Emma was really impressed with the vegetarian quiche.

storytime at library....at NIGHT!

One of my best childhood memories is from when I was five years old. My Dad took me out to the library at night to listen to Margaret Mahy read her stories. There was something really magical about going out in the dark to listen to a legendary story teller.

This Friday night there will be an evening storytime event at the Auckland Central Library at 6:30. It's totally free and the website even suggests coming in your pyjamas. Fun!

SNOW!

Sorry the blog has been so inactive for the last few days. We've been hanging out on Mt Ruapehu! Hope you're all enjoying the holidays too.

SPCA School Holiday Programme

Got older kids at home this week? These holiday programmes the SPCA is running look a little different to the same old you usually get. At $30 a session they're not the cheapest day out but if you've got kids who are really interested in animals this could be a special treat maybe. And let's be honest, all that money is at least going to a very good cause. Check out the programme and book now because they don't have many places.

Photo credit : Beverly Tanedo. Check out her cool blog and her pictures of the dogs in her life. Her "pawtraits" are always beautiful and dignified, never cutesy. She works closely with Island Rescue Organisation, the nearest thing her island in The Philippines has to an SPCA.

Wild Bill Rickets / Kids gettin' their DANCE on

I stumbled across this video on the wonderful Wellington blog, Babysteps.

Great song from Wellington band Wild Bill Rickets and really, is there anything better than watching kids lose their little minds to a great song? Anyone who's visited our house will know that hour long dance sessions are a pretty regular occurance.

Make sure you check out the Babysteps blog. Truly cool stuff with heaps of awesome links.

International Film Festival (19th - 23rd)

Aww damn, this is next week already! Totally dropped the ball there but if you check it now you might still be able to get some tickets. The people at the Film Festival have put together a collection of animated short films varying in style and content. The whole thing comes in at just under an hour so it's perfect for young movie goers and the selected films are all a little different to your standard Disney fare so they should be fun for adults too.

The films are showing next week on different dates between the 19th and the 23rd but it looks like Wednesday might be the only day with tickets left so get in quick!

http://www.nzff.co.nz/auckland/film/58fd1bfe-91cb-40fa-88ca-1e47a215273f#

Small Magazine

New issue out now! If you get a chance this weekend, sit down, click on this link and enjoy this gorgeous and FREE online magazine.
http://smallmagazine.net/index.asp

Coffee And TV

Oldie but a goodie. Just a little something to help you get through Friday.

Swim!

There are a bunch of free swimming pools in South Auckland and most of them are open during the weekend so grab your togs and floaties and go check them out!

http://www.manukauleisure.co.nz/moana-nui-a-kiwa-leisure-centr/ in Mangere

http://www.manukauleisure.co.nz/manurewa-aquatic-centre/ in Manurewa

http://www.manukauleisure.co.nz/totara-park-pool/ (only open during Summer but bookmark this outdoor pool for later)

http://www.manukauleisure.co.nz/otara/ in Otara

http://www.manukauleisure.co.nz/lloyd-elsmore-park-leisure-cen/ in Pakuranga (closed for maintenance this weekend but reopening on Monday)

http://www.manukauleisure.co.nz/papatoetoe-centennial-pools/ in Papatoetoe

Crafternoon Tea

This monthly craft market is on again tomorrow in Kingsland. Check out the great list of stall holders on their blog.

NZSO for FREE

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is playing at the Aotea Centre tomorrow for absolutely free! The performance is part of the Pick and Mix series which is specifically aimed at exposing kids to a wide range of performing arts. The 11am show is only 45 minutes and will be followed by a free workshop.

I know a lot of parents are reluctant to take their kids to shows and movies because it's not worth the grief of getting them to sit still in a seat for an hour plus. The great thing about these performances is that they're usually in a foyer at the Centre so the kids can sit down, get up, roll around on the floor (a Haeata favourite) and wander around with free abandon. The workshops are a lot of fun too. Last week we all learnt how to Dougie and another time we learnt how to rock out on a ukelele.

It's Red Nose Day!

Today is Red Nose Day so make sure you buy a Red Nose or even some Jaffas and support a really important cause.

Last year's remake of the classic song by the wonderful Anika Moa, Chip Matthews from Opensouls and some other cool musicians I unfortunately don't recognise.

Get your fabulous on Mama! (and treats for the kids too)

Weee! Haeata and I love The Department Store. She picks out brightly coloured shoes for me at Topshop. I try them on and drool and dream. She loves the winding staircase, the plant wall and the life sized animals. She was really excited to see that they'd added Nature Baby to the mix because now she can do her own "shopping". I love the fresh pastries and loose leaf tea at La Boulange while Haeata loves the macaroons and their box of toys (Separate post on La Boulange to come some time soon!).

Free lunch time concert

Head over to the Central Library at 12:10pm today for a free concert! Violinist Bruce Tsai will be presenting a programme of "classical favourites" along with other musicians. Get some culture in your school holidays!

Taniwha article in The Aucklander

Check out this article about the show Taniwha! that Auckland Museum is putting on.

The article goes into quite a bit of detail about Taniwha legends and even lists some of Auckland's own Taniwha and their locations. My mum has been reading Haeata a story about Ureia so I'll have to blog about that book later.

You can also read my blog about the show from earlier in the week. It sounds really cool, can't wait!

Mini Parisian

Duffle Coat from Cotton On Kids (last year) on sale for just $15 (score!)

Stripy beret made by Grandma (if you don't already have a knitting relative, adopt one).

This is the Bizness indeed

I love friends who send you links to great things, like this video by tUnE-yArDs for their song "Bizness".

Kids being awesome and adults being wacky. What more could you want? Seriously though, that little girl is ah-mazing. Look at her face!

Delish Cupcakes

This little gem of a shop is just around the corner from my house so maybe I'm a little biased but their cupcakes really are delish. They serve Atomic Coffee, generous pots of loose leaf tea and the fluffies are FREE (with any purchase), a too rare occurrence in most cafes these days. It's just a simple little place so there aren't any toys or anything but Colleen and Kathryn are great with kids and don't seem to mind when Haeata rifles through the endless array of cookie cutters they have for sale.

Check out their Facebook page where they upload daily irresistible pictures of the cupcakes on offer for the day. Go on, click, I dare you. And beware the Banoffe Cupcake, it has derailed many a diet.

Taniwha!

Oh, this looks like it's going to be good. They do warn that some scenes may frighten pre-schoolers so you decide whether your kids are going to be into it or not. Haeata seems to get more scared by scenes of people fighting or even arguing than by scenes of monsters so I'm tempted to take her along and see how we go. Tickets are only $10 (children under 3 are FREE) so if we have to run out screaming half way through, at least it won't be a huge waste of money.

Check out the link for more info : http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/1611/taniwha

Wonky Donkey

Or, to be precise, a spunky, hanky panky, cranky, stinky dinky, lanky, honky tonky, winky, wonky donkey,spunky,hanky panky,cranky,stinky dinky,lanky,honky tonky, winky wonky donkey.

This video made me giggle and had Haeata cracking up, thanks in part to the disturbingly realistic sound effects. It's also been nominated for the APRA 2011 What Now Children's Video of the Year.

Make sure you check out the book based on the song too!

Actual Dancing Robot

Cute! And cool boombox, man.

A Lion in the Meadow

A Lion in the Meadow and other stories started yesterday at The Pumphouse. The Tim
Bray production of some classic Margaret Mahy stories is on till July 30th. Looks like tickets are selling fast though so get in quick!

Mos Def on Yo Gabba Gabba

Just a little something to get you through Monday...

Pick and Mix review

Haeata and I were back at The Aotea Centre on Saturday for another Pick and Mix selection and I think this one was her favourite so far. Hip Hop dance crew Prestige performed for 45 minutes, along with their brother crew Identity. They then ran a short workshop and taught all the kids (and some very game parents) some dance moves. Haeata was in her element. When she wasn't gazing wide eyed at the dancers, she was trying to imitate their moves. The guys were all really friendly and communicated well with the kids there. I'm pretty sure I recognised one of the guys as the break dancing panda from a show we saw at Westfield a few months ago.

Next weekend, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra! Just to mix it up a little.

(Sorry about the quality of the photos, my crappy little camera does not deal well with all those windows and all that light at the Aotea Centre!)