Kaamos

I feel time is disappearing with such a speed that I seem to catch it only in glimpses. Toussaint holiday and the sun of Portugal seem far away. Sun, Surf and authentic people are the take aways from our one week recreational pause. Taica stayed at home with a luxory private care-taker, as the mother-in-law flew in for this important mission. The thing is, as soon as you return from the break, the eveyday rat race kicks in with such intensity your mind whirls. Children's school, exams, taxi driving to hobbies, medical checks, birthdays and gifts to prepare..and our own 8h main jobs! As December approaches, at least in my case, the energy levels are down and despite the daily dose of sports, yoga or other pleasent treat, this time of year seems such a drag. Is it the lack of light, ongoing war or climate change angst pressing on the back of the mind and eating on the happiness storages? Probably all of them. I push on with the seasonal activities, visits to the Christmas market, baking first ginger cookies and anticipating our upcoming Christmas trip to up North. Fortunately there are also our wonderful, energetic children with their beautiful innocent souls reminding me to see the joy and fun in all of this craziness. Kiss and Cheers to that!

Paris in September

My long waited girls-only visit to Paris with my beautiful 9 year old daughter. The plan had been cooking already for some years, we knew it was her time for an exclusive travel, but I had a too young baby at home, then there were the terrorist attacks and covid. Pas de chance as the French would say. But here we were now, sitting in the Thalys train on our way to Paris! I had carefully planned the stay to include a little bit culture (eiffel tour, her main wish), hop-on-off bus (in case tired feet) and lots of fun (zara, zara, zara and of course being a great fan of macarons, the iconic la Duree). My daughter was a splendid travel compagnon and without a word walked with me from Champs Elysee to Louvre on both days (22 000 steps!). We stayed in a small boutique hotel, where the staff treated her as a princess. Actually everybody treated her like a princess! Her perseverance amaized me and the staff of La Duree and waiting 40 min.on the line in the rain was compensated with her favorite macarons treat free of charge The Parisians know how to do it with style. The wheather was sunny and beautiful. In the evening we enjoyed a typical parisian dinner and I insisted showing her la Seine at night with the dazzling lights a special feel. How energising 24 hours can be. Both of us were smiling girls while returning home bags full of French treats for those whose turn will be next. Thank you my lovely girl Estelle for the special bonding moments shared, which I will keep sake in my heart❤

Towards LESS waste (I did not say Zero Waste)

I have now first-hand experienced how one single book -coming at the right time and format - can truly make a major change in ones life. The book "Famille (presque) Zero Dechet" (family of almost no waste) did just that. Paradoxically, I had bought the book already back in 2015 upon its publication and gave it to a friend as a gift thus only partially implementing all the good tips myself. Reaching no waste is an utopia (for me), but there are many aspects in our daily life we can and should do better. Here is what I did this week, not to loose the amazing momentum and energy hyped up from the summer: I searched, found and ordered all our weekly veggies, fruits, eggs and proteins but also flours and home cleaning products directly from the local producer (very easy in and well organised here in Belgium and all are organic!). Good bye plastic wrappers, welcome fresh, local produce creating much less co2! Mmore controversially perhaps, I ordered a bread machine AND a yogurt maker. One could argue that I could do them without the machines, but the line goes there and the easiness of operation of both does increase my edge to actually use them. Both first sets turned out a huge success among our family (only question why on earth did I not invest in these earlier?). Furthermore, and surprisingly without any heartache, I gave out my much-loved and well-served Nespresso machine (half-broken anyways, sniif) and digged out an old coffee machine. I simply could no longer bare to look at the aluminium cups, claimingly recycled, but wasting resources anyhow. With this change, My coffee consumption will hopefully go also down  Finally, I invested in small but needed practical things when buying in balk to organise the kitchen: glass jars to organise my flour and cereals, cotton bags for own bread, vegetables, fruits, nuts and sorts. My kids are all very enthousiastic with these changes and husband all in supportive. Breaking the routine was the hardest bit, as all these changes have been cooking in our minds for a long time, but required a rested mind to put in action. My sister (hippy) called me lovingly hippy. I replied, fortunately aiming to reduce waste is no longer for margins, but close to middle stream if not yet main stream. As a mom, I feel a strong urge to educate my kids to make these changes and show the example. This generation has to learn to live more sustainably, it is undeniable. Thank you Universe for showing us the way. Namaste.

Summer 2022 - Bretagne - Saint-Malo

It is Friday morning 7:15 am, the last full day of our stay in Saint-Malo and summer holidays. Tomorrow morning we will head North towards Honfleur for a final over-night stay to make the return drive more pleasent to the whole family (and admittedly further extend our wonderful break by another hint). As in every morning, Taica woke me up, by his gentle scratching on our bedroom door. He is very intelligent we think, as he does not bark knowing the family is sleeping. I have to absolutely write a few words about this adventure for Taica. He has turned out to be a marvelous, flexible, discreet travel companion of all times. Starting from the roadtrip to Finland, where he travelled in a backpack in planes, boat, train and a car without showing any signs of stress. His bravery has continued in the second leg of our summer journey in France, where he follows us everywhere and silently sits in our daughters laps hours in the car, less and more fancy restaurants, castle tours and most recently - in a kayak ! Fortunately, the French love dogs, and he has been accepted to most places without a hic. We are very proud of him and again, thanks to him we encounter and interact with people around us in a whole new positive angle. Who would have known a family dog could trigger such emotions and an aura around everything - not us!

Another great thing happened this summer, as our children have reached ages, which allowed us to tend to the plenty of water sports and other activities available in the reagon, and we have been busy. When asked in the evenings about the favorite things happening in the day, we hear first things "wind surfing, kayaking, surfing, char a voile, sailing..". I must mention, practicing these sports in Bretagne has not meant always sun and pleasent temperatures. For example, our experience of wind surfing in Ile Grande close to Perros Guirec last week - early in the windy morning with fog, light rain, and water/air temperatures well below 20 degrees set the consitions far from ideal and yet we all considered it was amazing experience to exceed ones limits and learn new skills! Another event definitely building resilience of our children was our biking tour from Dinard to Dinan. Supposingly an idyllic family trail from one scenic village to another in a dedicated bike trail. All this proved to be true, if it was not for the un-announced pouring rain that shadowed our trip. The kids (my 7 year old included), biked the whole 47 km without a cry. As we reached the village half-day, we indulged ourselves with hot chocolates and delicious breton galettes to fill with needed energy and endorfins. More importantly, I invested in gorgeus yellow rain coats, which protected the kids and raised smiles in the surroundings so cute where my four pussins biking and bringing light to the grey day. Personally, I am so pleased to see our kids (and us) so very relaxed, happy and very funny together. The days are long and full of program, and it is a huge logistic challenge to transfer our family anywhere with the 5 bikes,ski box and luggage (ode to my husky husband!!) - but it is definitely worth it. Discovering new places, new flavours, skills and encounter with different people make our children grow and keeps myself and husband younger  It is actually also very rewarding -amidst all the everyday business - to hear the positive comments about us from strangers. Yesterday at the beach, an elderly lady stopped for a good while to discuss and give compliments of our family. It makes me smile and I feel truly fortunate. Today awaits new adventure and we will discover the joys of navigating a catamaran in Saint-Malo. As ahead of any new adventure, I feel slightly concerned and play with the idea of comfortably strolling the streets with a coffee mug instead of braving the way to the waves. But I will not give in. And hope it will be worth it this time as well !

Summer 2022 - Bretagne - Conquet

Our second week of holidays took place in Conquet together with our French friends from Orléans. We stayed in cottages next to each other in a cozy holiday village 2 min. from the centre - they with their orange cat Cannelle, us with our 7 month old poppy Taica The week turned out again splended with a mix of water sports (sea kayaking this time), biking tours and culture. We got a taste of local village celebrations "Fest- Noz" and patiently queued 2 hours to get first our bracelets and secondly our lobster menu served in (sneef single-use) plates. We sat in long tables with hundreds of other guests and got to enjoy Breton live-music while we enjoyed the long-waited lunch. An experience rarely repeated in Brussels!
Conquet is interestingly built and it has a charm of its presque-iles, light-houses and biscuiteries. We felt the place was more touristic than Audierne and therefore lost slightly its charm. It was nevertheless such a pleasure to see the kids enjoy each others company - the big girls together, three middle ones together and well my Eva with me❤ Towards the end of the week I attended quite an inspiring workshop to make home made cosmetics with my girls. They were very impressed and happy with their organic toothpaste and facial. I later found a mind-changing book on Zero dechet, which I read with great interest. I realize my rested mind is open to make perhaps life- changing decisions towards a more sustainable way if living and my only regret is we have not started earlier.. As we were close to Brest, we could not not visit the Oceanopolis aquarium, to our children's great happiness. It was also a nice break for the culture and sports we had been so intensively been engaged to. I have forgotten to mention our beach experiences. This week was exceptionally hot in Bretagne and people seeked refreshment from the several breathtakingly beautiful beaches. Only to discover the freezing cold water of 14 degrees! This did not impede my troup, even my 4 year old, to venture the water though. I was concerned, boring mama, of getting bladder infections..Inadmittedly, even I had to go dip in the sea to cool-down, so hot was the wheater. The bretons are equipped well and the cool tempetatures do not bother the water sports either. The 6-7 mm suit really does keep you warm (prooved and tested!) and allows to enjoy surfing, body boarding, kite surfing or wind surfing. We discovered a whole surfing community, mostly germans, with their VW vans packed with the surf equipment. The kids started to dream about mobile car with the freedom it would allow.. Another highlight of the week was our joint meals with our friends, enjoying local delicacies and the French kitchen. Our last night dinner will remain in my mind for a long-time, with the surprise private cabinette, warm service and my sons singing, which took the attention of the whole restaurant! Vive l'amitie et vive la France! Saturday arrived too soon and it was time for re-pack our suitecases and head towards our next destination. We said warm farewells to our friends, whose holidays were ending and had to return to Orleans. Stop-over worth mentioning during our traveling day towars North was the medieval, harbour city Morlaix. Despite the exceptional 36 degrees heat, we visited the old typical wooden "pan-house" of wealthy commercants, who had gained their fortune on selling the lin and hemp textiles. The long traveling day took an end in our next holiday home, a modern airbnb fair in a small village close to Perros Guirrec. Ah the comfort of hot shower and clean sheets!

Summer 2022 - Bretagne - Audierne

After a frantic trip from Finland, unpacking, laundry and re-packing all in a half-day, we steered our 7 seater towards beautiful Bretagne. We had a stop half-way in Chartre to admire the famous cathedral and have a good night sleep. The next day we continued our journey towards the coast, only to stop in the mediavel village Vitré to visit the castle and enjoy lunch. We arrived to our destination late in the evening at the golden moment before the reception closed. Despite the missing sheets and bad smells in the bed room (...) we were happy to have safely made it. The first days have been full of activities: biking along the river Goyen, hiking along the coast to admire the breathtaking views of the Atlantic ocean and Pont Crest and even saw a family of dolphins enjoying the waves! What an amazing surprise. The village is very pretty and lively fishing village with authenticity hard to find else where. Today's higlight was the 3-hour kayaking journey along the river Goyen. I was very concerned how I would handle my four-year old in the kayak, but thanks to the excitement of the adventure and the helping pair of my eldest she behaved like a princess! The children could not believe how easy it was to catch the crabs as the tide changed and we paused to have a snack on the sand only a moment ago covered in water. Such a great bonding activity to do together! The kids were already pegging for a re-do in the next days. Personally, I will need to let my arms rest at least for a day..  Along with the beautiful river kayaking, another highlight of our stay in Audierne was definitely the surf class we attended with the three eldest ones. The surf in Bretagne is clearly not the same as what we experienced in 2020 in Biarritz, but the laid-back atmoshere typic to the surfing community and gentle waves were nevertheless very attractive to all of us. My eldest proudly counted to have been up on the board 12 times! The ESB surf school can be warmly recommended. We got the combinaisons and actually a private class for the price of collective class. This happened at other times as well in Bretagne and moms purse was grateful. On our way from Audierne to our next holiday destination up the Coast we stopped again for some surfing at the Crozet. It is inadmittedly impressive how quickly even my 7 year old caught the technique, found his balance, and was able to surf. Well done! Our week in pittoresque Audierne got a perfect ending, as we accidentally bumped into my friend from Brussels, who had just bought a holiday house from a nearby village! We were invited to visit their charming new home, meet the family and enjoy some truly delicious home-made Breton Far. Both with my husband we felt truly inspired by their brave move to get their second home from abroad. To be meditated.. p.s Audierne remained our favorite spot in Bretagne. It's authentic charm, friendly people, pretty and lively fishing harbour, Saturday market, and one of the best ice cream parlours holds a special place in our hearts and minds.

Summer 2022 - Finland

It is the second day of our long summer vacations and clearly the whole family has already reached the holiday mood. Our summer started actually a week ago with distant working from the dearest place of all, at the grand parents in Finland. The week was full of adventure and activities, the highlights being visiting the summer cottage in Pielavesi, picking blueberries (and enjoying them with milk and sugar!), swimming and fishing in the lake. The fishing deserves a special mention, as my father really took the time and demonstrated the full process starting with digging the worms, teaching the catching techniques and even clean and prepeare the catch. My 4 year old was fascinated by the worms digging part, my 7 year old son still talks about the 18 fishes they caugh (and the huge hauki they missed..). For me and my husband, the evenings with my parents, enjoying quietly a glass of wine and chatting away the day or watching a detective were like the cherry in cake to end a perfect day. I really appreciate the time and effort they give to prepare our visit and warmest of all welcome every time. It is the only place in the world I find my balance and feel secure and grounded. Running in the morning the familiar trail along the lake side and forest is my all-time favorite. The climb on the hill is tough and the descend always as rewarding. Sweat and endorfins guaranteed! One final mention not to forget is my parents pampering us with the nordic delicacies - fresh fish caught by own hands, elk meat hunted by own hands and lingonberries, cloudberries and blueberries personally picked. It is the healthiest and most ecologically, locally sourced menu prepared with love that I can think of. In addition it is genuinly delicious. Thank you äiti and isi for yet again a wonderful stay. We already miss you❤