Pumpkin Bowl Ice Cream

Summer may be over but that doesn't mean that we can't have ice cream, right? Every day is a good day for ice cream, but holidays are even better. 

I've partnered with 'Got Milk?' to bring you this simple Halloween themed dessert. It's so simple your kids will be able to make it themselves. It's so much fun they'll want to make it themselves. And what could be better than happy kids getting involved in making their own food?

My kids and I are big fans of making our own ice cream - without an ice cream maker! All you need are a few simple ingredients, some ice, salt and ziplock bags and you can make delicious ice cream in just five minutes. 

My kids love to make ice cream using this technique. Food always tastes better when you make it yourself, especially if it's fun to make. And I like knowing exactly what is going into my kids' food. This recipe combines the goodness of milk and a little physical activity to make a fun, delicious treat. It's a fun way to get a little more milk into your children's diet and to provide their bodies with the fuel they need to grow.

To give our ice cream a Halloween theme we're coloring it orange and serving it up in carved out mini pumpkins. My kids aren't huge fans of pumpkin flavor so we're making the ice cream vanilla however you could add pumpkin pie spice for a more authentic taste of the season.   

Six Months Old

Yesterday was my half birthday. Hooray! I'm six months old.

I tried to ask Mummy for a half birthday party and half birthday cake but she didn't seem to understand what I was saying. I guess I'll have to wait until my actual birthday, six months from now. That'll give Mummy plenty of time to plan it!

I've been pretty busy over the last month. Like always I've been learning all sorts of new things.

Three Years in America

 Three years! That's how long the girls and I have been in America now. Well, not Mathilde, she's only been here six months ;)

The last year has been a pretty eventful one. The major event of course being the arrival of our little American baby. We've been on fun adventures, celebrated holidays and had quite a few visitors from home. In fact, today my best friend in the whole wide world will be arriving to visit! I can't wait, but more on that later.

Here's a look at some of the highlights from year number three in America. I won't lie, there are a lot of photos, so get yourself a coffee, get comfy on the couch and enjoy...

We started year number three in New York with friends

Berkeley Police & Fire Open Day

Yesterday the Berkeley Police and Fire departments hosted an Open Day at the Public Safety Building.

The girls and I happened upon the event as we were heading out to do some shopping and I'm so glad we did. The girls got to use fire extinguishers, try on fireman jackets and bullet proof vests, play in police cars, pretend to ride a police motorbike, meet Sparky the Firedog and even turn the siren on in a police car. They had so much fun!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere...

Yesterday Lola's preschool class had a field trip to a local greengrocer.

That may not sound like the most exciting place to visit but when you see the giant pumpkin pile below you'll see why it actually was an exciting place to visit.

Every Autumn a mountain of pumpkins can be found at Monterey Market here in Berkeley. It's a favourite place for local kids to visit and climb the pumpkins. And it's a great spot for photo opportunities!

Lola's Ice Cream Party

This weekend we celebrated Lola's 4th birthday with an ice cream party.

Saturday morning we gathered with a group of Lola's little friends on our building's roof top for some ice cream themed fun. We had ice cream shaped popcorn treats, a popsicle pinata, an ice cream shaped birthday cake, ice cream cone party hats, and we made our own ice cream! So much fun.

Ice Cream Party Invites

I can not believe that my little Lola is going to be four tomorrow!

We'll be celebrating her birthday this coming weekend with an ice cream party. Lola chose the theme for this year's party quite some time ago. In fact, I believe it may have been right after her last birthday party finished!

Lola has been super excited about having an ice cream party, and I've got to say that it's a pretty fun theme to get creative with. I've got all sorts of ice cream and popsicle themed activities and accessories lined up for the party and I can't wait to share them all with you.

So let's start by having a look at the invitations...

An ice cream party needs tasty invitations, right? These little chocolate covered popsicle invitations do the trick. I made them three dimensional complete with popsicle sticks, a bite taken out the top and a wrapper. Don't they look delicious?

31 Days of ABCs: K is for Kangaroo

This year I'm once again taking part in a wonderful series called 31 Days of ABCs. Each day throughout October a different blogger shares a project or activity related to a letter of the alphabet. 

Today it's my turn to share and we're up to the letter K. K for koala, king, kite, key and kangaroo.

I'm so excited to share this activity with you. Lola has been learning to recognize and write her letters (both at home and preschool) and one thing that I've noticed is that she gets a little stuck when it comes to matching upper case and lower case letters. Some letters are easy and don't change much between the cases while others look completely different and catch Lola (and many other young children) out. Upper case letters are generally pretty easy, but some of those lower case letters can be a little tricky. Especially when they don't look anything like their big counterpart. I'm looking at you g, r and d!

Capay Valley Open Farm Day

Last weekend we attended the Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Fully Belly Farm. The main festival took place on the Saturday and we camped out over night. On the Sunday there were a host of workshops available as part of the festival however we decided not to take part in any this year (the Kid's Day Camp is on our list for next year though).

Instead we decided to visit a few other farms in the area as part of the Capay Valley Open Farm Day.

So after breakfast we packed up our tent and hit the road. The day was hot and we were all pretty tired from the festival on Saturday so a quiet day visiting just a few farms was in order.

Hoes Down Harvest Festival

Last weekend we headed to the countryside and attended the Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Full Belly Farm in Yolo Country.

Ava and Lola were so excited about going to the festival. They couldn't wait for all of the hands on farm fun and crafts but the biggest draw card for them was the fact that we'd be camping out overnight. This was the first time that we went camping as a family and the big girls were so excited about it. Ava has been asking to go camping for years so it was about time we finally got around to it!

My Karate Kids

If you've been reading Little Hiccups for a while you'll know that Ava has been taking karate lessons for just over a year now. Over the Summer Lola joined in the karate class so now I have two karate girls.

This week the girls took part in a belt test. For Lola this was her first test (for her white belt) and for Ava it was her third (white belt with two black stripes).

Kiwi Crate Giveaway

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Kiwi Crate. All opinions are my own.

This give away is now closed.

Recently we had a look at Kiwi Crate, a monthly subscription service for kids. If you missed it you can find the post here.

My girls had so much fun getting creative with their Kiwi Crate and I know that your kids will too so I'm hosting a fun giveaway. Up for grabs is a three month subscription to Kiwi Crate. Three months of creative, hands on fun delivered right to your door. How fantastic is that?

Conservatory of Flowers

Back in July the girls and I visited the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park with friends. This was one of those places that we'd been meaning to visit for such a long time but just hadn't ever made it there. We decided to make use of the monthly free entry day (the first Tuesday of every month) and spent an afternoon surrounded by exotic blooms.

The Conservatory of Flowers is currently home to a special exhibition called "Chomp! They Came from the Swamp"; a showcase of amazing carnivorous plants. The exhibition runs for just a few more weeks, finishing up on October 19th so I figured it was about time I shared it with you.