Ski Holiday at Easter - What Fun!?!

the girls on piste

Well it finally looks as though Spring has arrived!! And boy am I glad, the weather brings a lovely feeling to life in general doesn't it? I have to say I'm feeling really well rested after a week in the Alps where it was also really sunny and warm! 21 degrees on one afternoon!!

Skiing with our family and another family is such a good idea, share the kids, share the babysitting, divide and conquer on the piste! The four children aged between 2 and 8 had a ball - every morning they went to ski school while we went out for a pootle on the slopes. The two older girls were in the same class so had each other for company, the 4 year old boy made lots of friend and my 2 year old girl went dragging her heels to creche. (read Kicking and Screaming for dragging her heels)

our group - minus the 2 year old who is in creche

Now I felt as though the holiday ought to be for everyone so almost everyday I collected my youngest before lunch so she could have time with us in the afternoon and maybe take in a swim. The older kids would all gather and feed - it was a bit animalistic as they were so famished after ski-ing all morning,
and then before you knew it we were being pestered to go back out on the slopes.

After a few days the kids got really confident and as we were situated right next to the nursery run, they begged for us to let them go round and around on the button lift. Of course we were being all sensible about it and taking it in turns to watch every little move closely, but after a while you can get a bit distracted, especially as I was standing next to a rather inviting petite luge, (baby toboggan). So the next thing you know I'm 20 Euros lighter and the proud new owner of a Ferrari red toboggan, so I gather up the 2 year old and the 4 year old for a spot of skidding around. The older two are by now just left on their merry-go-round of a button lift and shooshing down the nursery slope so they are fine.

The 4 year old getting his certficate

Well you'd have thought it would have been plain sailing or should I say sledging, as it was all enclosed with an inflated rim a la bouncy castle style, but the first time the boy went down the slope he literally went through and under the inflated enclosure. Luckily they had a bit of netting too otherwise he'd have been off down the piste. Well, after seeing his face crumpled with tears the 2 year old was understandably reticent about her turn on my snow Ferrari! After a bit of coaxing, I managed to get her to put her feet in the sled and let the break go, so off she went with a little push from mum to send her in her way. Well no-one had noticed the snow hole in the area (when I say no-one I mean of course, me) So in the sled went sending her flying out and over in to the snow. Which she is of course petrified of because it's cold and wet! This of course ended up with the 2 year old in tears too. Anyone having fun yet!!??

the girls again - everyone say fromage!

 There was only one thing for it, Mum would have a go to show everyone it really was a lot of fun and then we were all going to run the gauntlet again! So I squeezed my bottom into a sled designed for a child, I held on tight and got someone to give me a push!! Oh what fun! Until I realised I was careering towards the ESF ski school chalet, so to avoid collision I launched myself off in full flow only to land unceremoniously in a pile of slushy snow just under the window of the ESF ski-school where there was a group of dishy cool ESF instructors gathering for the afternoon session - who noticed. SHAMED!

There was only one thing for it, I picked myself up, collected my toboggan and tried to style it out as all a bit of a laugh for the benefit of the kids! The kids had of course stopped crying and were laughing too (and pointing) so it wasn't a complete disaster and they could then be persuaded to have another go. At this point the older girls had finally tired of shooshing round in a loop skied over to us demanding their turn and making the little ones cry for completely different reasons. It was time to go in, everyone was completely shattered. So we trudged to the chalet with all our gear and as we walk in through the door, the girls pipe up, "can we go swimming now??", "yeah shouted the other two, We want to go swimming!" - relaxing holiday anyone??

Busy Week!

As this is fairly new I thought I'd give you a bit of background on the writers of this blog. I am a mum of 4 kids, a 7 year old, a 3 year old and 14 month old twins!! I have 2 businesses (with business partners) Little G.E.M.s and Green Eyed Monster Clothing and have a tendency to get involved with all sorts of community matters when clearly I don't have the time! My partner in the shop has 3 kids aged 7 and under, our oldest girls are in the same class and we've known each other since they went to nursery and it was friendship that led us to open Little GEMS.  We are both hands on mum's and are really happy to share our parenting experiences and knowledge to anyone popping in the shop and on-line and do so quite a lot. We love it when new parent pop into the shop with their tiny newbies - it's lovely to chat 'kids & babies"- although it doesn't make us broody!

Well it has been an eventful week! We went to Top Drawer on Monday which is a trade fair for gifts and they had a 'homewear' section. I really liked a lot of the interiors products for kids, but I'm not sure where we'd put it if we branched out into interiors. I think we probably need to get the clothes and shoes really nailed before we think about expanding. It has been really refreshing to see some of our new spring season items arrive though - I think we were all getting a bit fed up with looking at the same things.

Its been a a toughy this week personally. The girls have all had a lovely tummy bug which has just moved on to the twins which has been rather unpleasant for all!! I've had practically no sleep what with everyone tag-teaming me during the night due to various reasons. It's like having a newborn again!!

On Wednesday I decided that the twins were old enough to enjoy Piccolo at the Hackney Forge, so we got everyone ready and took Tabby, Bella and Charlotte to the chaotic fun that is Piccolo. It was very funny because Tabby decided she was going to lead the twins - to show them what to do. So she very danced the Cho Cho Wah very enthusiastically! and the twins didn't take long to get into the swing of things. If you've not yet tried Piccolo then I would thoroughly recommend it. I discovered it when my oldest was a baby (she's now 7) and we've been going on and off with the rest of the kids ever since!! I ought to get a loyalty card!! Anyway if you fancy a high volume singing and dancing 45 minutes for babies and toddlers then do give it a whirl! I found it a really nice place to meet other mums too, what with all the cafes and the Lauriston in the village a post singing cuppa with croissant is very tempting!

Piccolo singing, music & dancing.
45 fun filled minutes - drop in - featuring action songs, puppets, story, bubbles and musical instruments.
£4.50 per child - additional £2.50

I also just heard about the campaign to save the One O'Clock club in Victoria Park. Apparently their current building is earmarked for demolition but he new building in the V&A Playground is not suitable to house them. We have used the One O' Clock club a lot - I think it's poor show on the part of the new development to make them homeless especially now that Sure Start schemes are no longer. If you would like to get more information please contact Victoria Park Friends Group @ richarddesmond@victoriaparkfreindsgroup.co.uk or Becky Alcindor at laratara@hotmail.com.

And finally while I have my soap box out, for those of us that live North Side of the shops in Victoria Park Village then we will not be consulted on the proposed Controlled Parking Zone to be implemented by Hackney Council. I hear on the grapevine that they probably have support for the implementation on Gore Road and the surrounds, which will of course have knock on effect on the half of the 'village' which is not being consulted. I wold really like to see if we can all get our head together and support a 2 hour resident only parking window between the hours of 8-10am which will in effect knock on the head the commuter and long terms parking issues whilst still remaining a light enough restriction to allow for customers and visitors on legitimate business to park for free in Victoria Park. If you would like to get any more information on this matter then please email Alex at alex@green-eyed-monster.co.uk

With half term up it would be great if anyone had any decent suggestions for half term activities! If so please post a comment or two!

Alex
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hello - fancy joining us?

Now we're very new to blogging - in fact - some of us haven't even got Facebook profiles!! LMAO However we thought we may possibly have common interests with parents in our community, or parents per se given we (the lovely owners of this fine establishment) have 7 kids between us and a kids boutique! So we thought we could share the benefit and frustrations of our lives, loves and shop with anyone who cares to drop by either via cyberspace or in the shop! So feel free to spread the love and we'll do our best to write something worth reading!