Mixed Summer Fruit Galette

There are some tings that get me in the mood to bake... like gorgeous fruit sitting in a basket on a counter. I wanted something quick and delicious, since my brother was visiting - and remembered my Saturn Peach Galette that I made in the Fall, and decided to use it as a launching point.

Ingredients:

1 puff pastry (that you've thawed, and had out of the fridge for 10 minutes-ish)

3 cups (approx.) pitted fruit, sliced thinly (I used nectarines, apricots and Saturn peaches.)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (depending on how cinnamon-y you like it)

1/2 tsp lime juice

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg beaten

Coarse sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F, or 190 C - or whatever your puff pastry calls for.  (Adjust for convection oven if needed.) Line a baking sheet with baking powder.

2. Wash and slice your fruit into thin slices.

3. In a large bowl, combine them with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and vanilla.

4. Roll out your puff pastry onto your baking sheet.

5. Pour the fruit mixture onto the middle of the puff pastry, leaving about an inch around the edge.

6. Roll the edge up over the mixture.

7. Brush the edges with the beaten egg, and sprinkle the coarse sugar on top.

8. Bake in the oven to the specifications on the puff pastry.

9. Take out of oven, allow to cool for a couple of minutes, and enjoy warm.

Spring/Summer Capsule Wardrobe For Boys

Ahhh... Kids. If only they didn't grow so fast! To help not spend exorbitant amount of money on kids’ clothes, to try and declutter, and lessen our consumption of fast fashion, I have been leaning more and more towards the concept of capsule wardrobes. In The Fall, I shared my Back To School Capsule Wardrobe, so now I wanted to share my Spring/Summer one.

Basic Pieces:

- 5 T-shirts (stripes are great, one overall pattern is okay. We also have a couple superhero shirts... thanks grandma, lol.)

- 2 tank tops

- 1 polo

- 1 short-sleeved dress shirt

- 1 long-sleeved shirt

- 1 long-sleeved dress shirt

- 1 pair of pants (whatever still fits from Fall)

- 3-4 pairs of shorts

- Swim trunks (We have an extra pair for "water day" at school.)

Here are some combinations:

Not pictured:

- 3 soft cotton shorts

- 1 pair of Crocs (they can be used as sandals and water shoes)

- 1 pair of rain boots

- 1 pair of tennis shoes

- 1 raincoat (or some other kind of transitional jacket. We got a raincoat, because we walk to school pretty regularly, but if you drive mostly, a leather jacket is also fun.)

- 3-4 pairs of pajamas

- underwear and socks
- sunglasses
- baseball hat

Here is the raincoat.

Tips:

- If your kid likes to slide on his knees like mine, and his sweatpants have holes in them, cut the legs off right above the knee - ta-da!! Easy shorts! I also did this for his pajama pants, and paired them with a complimenting colored plain T-shirt he already had.

- For both of my kids, I have a drawer in their closet that is their "transition" drawer. One half has clothes for them to grow into (things I've bought ahead of time when they were on sale) which I have labelled according to size. The other half are clothes that are from the previous season. So, when Spring/Summer is about to begin, I get out Aidan's clothes from last Spring/Summer to see what still fits him. Whatever doesn't fit gets donated, and of course we keep what fits. This way I'm only buying new things he needs. This year for example, I managed to only buy one pair of new shorts and a couple shirts.

- My son loves superheroes, so of course we have some "outlying" graphic tees. I try really hard to not get too hung up on them, and those are what he wears to school or camp, especially on "fun" days.

Places We Like To Shop:
- H&M - Mainly, we get basics here, such as underwear, pajamas, soft cotton shorts and shirts. They have a "Conscious" line, which we try to buy when we can. The quality can be lacking, but if you stain-stick, and don't tumble dry the T-shirts, you can get quite a lot of wear. Also, you won't feel so bad about cutting them.

- Petit Bateau - This store can be a little pricey, but they have very good sales. We usually shop here when their clothes are on sale, and even buy ahead for the next season. They have an overall nautical theme, which really fits our style.

- Zara Kids - I love their aesthetic and style. Again, they have a "Join Life" line, which is more eco friendly, sustainable and fair-trade. We try our best to buy those things.

- Okaidi - Aidan is tall and slim, and it can be hard to find him pants that fit well.  I really like this brand's pants, especially since they all have an inner adjustable band. Score!

Have you given capsule wardrobes a try? It can be difficult with kids. Have you found any tips or tricks that work for your family? Join the conversation!

Toddler Summer School: Things That Go Week

Jacksonville is a very unique city - it's on the coast, but it's also "the River City", and has an extensive downtown area.  For little boys who are always on the move, it provides the perfect backdrop for a "Things That Go" themed week of summer fun!

On the first day of our week, we went on a Jacksonville transportation exploration (say THAT 5 times, really fast!).  We started off by taking the Jacksonville Ferry.  It's only $6/car, so totally affordable, and loads of fun!

 

Next, we drove downtown, and picked up the Skyway - a monorail that is free and part of the city's public transportation.  We were totally a suburban family excited to be on/taking pictures of public transportation, but whatever!  So much fun!

While we were out and about, he also got to push the button for the crosswalk, and check out a map!

 

Riding public transportation in your own city is a wonderful way to have new experiences and make some fun discoveries!  You'll be surprised by all the fun things you'll find!

For example, a fun Willy Wonka-esque candy shop called Sweet Pete's, Hemming park had these wonderful, gigantic foam building blocks, and the main library downtown has the nicest Children's Library I've ever seen!

Which leads me to my first section: books.

We love The Little Blue Truck books!  They are perfect for teaching the sounds vehicles as well as animals make!

I also enjoy Richard Scarry's books, you can find them on target.com.  And, of course no week about transportation is complete without "The Wheels On The Bus".  We also found a sweet book titled Choo Choo by Petr Horacek at our favorite little book shop on the beach, The BookMark.

All that reading makes a little boy hungry!  It must be snack time!

I've seen a few ideas for traffic light snacks, but most of them used M&Ms for the red, yellow and green lights.  I was trying to think of a healthier alternative, and came up with this:

I toasted some oatmeal bread, cut it into a rectangle, spread Nutella on top, and placed a half of a cherry, a slice of banana and had a grape on top.  (Don't forget to cut round fruits in half to avoid choking - note next picture.)

 

Needless to say, it was a HIT!

Now that our bellies are full, we can move on to activities!

I found a great recipe for a kid-friendly and edible play dirt recipe at coolestfamilyontheblock.com.  It calls for 1 large packet of instant pudding mix, one cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup of water and 3 tbsp oil.  It turned out perfectly, and was great for our construction themed sensory box!  (As her blog says, while it's edible, it is not meant to be a snack.  Just not harmful for those, like Aidan who still put everything in their mouths!)

A couple days later, after we'd had our fill of fun, I emptied out the box, saved the dirt for later, poured in some baby shampoo, water, added some bottle brushes and turned it into a car wash sensory box!

This ended up being THE MOST fun Aidan had all week, AND he washed his toys, which was an added bonus!

 

I also made Aidan a traffic light matching game out of felt.

 

I already had felt and car ribbon, and just had to buy the velcro.  All-in-all, a very fun and educational activity!

Staying with them traffic light idea, I gathered up some of Aidan's plates - red, yellow and green, and some red, yellow and green toys.  Then, I let the sorting by color begin!

 

 

Of course, Aidan is blessed beyond measure, and has a plethora of transportation-themed toys too!

 

Aidan has this adorable greentoys.com tug boat, melissaanddoug.com train and Melissa and Doug chinky puzzle!  

On to craft time!!!

I cut some rectangles, squares and circles, and had Aidan glue them  on paper to make a train.  Then, I gave him stickers which spelled out his name, and made it a "name train"!

 

Another day, I put a piece of paper in a ziplock bag, squirted some paint in it, put one of Aidan's trucks inside, with the idea that he would "drive" it around, and make track marks.
This actually majorly stressed him out, because he couldn't get to his truck, haha! But, the end result was pretty cool!

 

Let's close out with media:

We watched one of my all-time favorites, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! (On Netflix, if you want to watch it.)  That Chitty is the trifecta!  She is a car that can float and fly, so all modes are covered!