"Never be a food snob. Learn from everyone you meet - the fish guy at your market, the lady at the local diner, farmers, cheese makers. Ask questions, try everything and eat up!"

While at a recent visit to Ikea our little play food enthusiast fell in love with their children's kitchen so as we had come to the decision to transform part of the boys room in to a laboratory for Seth we wanted to also do something as exciting for Opeie to wake up to on the big day. Ever since the boys had started playing with their play food we knew we wanted to get them a kitchen and start to build up a collection of children's kitchenware. With Opeie and Mrs M living with serious allergies and dietary issues, the food we eat and where it comes from is really important to us as a family so the fact that the boys actively take an interest in this during meal times and during their role playing is really great.

The plan for Christmas as with Seth's area of the room for a science lab was for Opeie to have his own little diner so that he could serve us and his toys (who are now used to his picnics) food till his hearts content, so while we were painting Seth's wall we were doing the same with Opeie's, creating an area of their room for role playing and food education. 

We had a great selection of products from various places and plenty of things from our kitchen for the boys to use making their playtime a little more enjoyable. The night before our Christmas myself and Mrs M set the area up ready for Opeie to wake up and it ended up looking really nice. 

Opeie was really excited about his new play area and it was great to see that Seth loved it too and was looking forward to playing with his little brother and teaching him what he had learnt from us in regards to food and its preparation. Today's culinary task 'Make some Opeie friendly chocolate' using the inside of his Advent calander as a mold. I'm sure Mrs M will be writing about this soon over at naturalveganecomom.com so check it out.

Opeie's Diner is now open for business and serves food daily. His specialty yesterday was potatoes with jam, delicious (organic potatoes of course). The area is so much more than a play diner, since playing with the play food this year it has helped Opeie with learning colours and counting, hopefully with the use of the large blackboard for his menu it will encourage reading and writing during the coming months. In the mean time though we can enjoy being served a plate of fish bones to accompany our pasta and cheese.

Along with Seth's Lab, Opeie's Diner has served as another great way for us to spend time playing together as a family and if the past few days is anything to go by both areas of the boys room are going to keep us very entertained.

Gifts from the Pirates in Orlando - Eating out and Dinner at Ethos Vegan Kitchen

Eating out in Orlando became increasingly difficult throughout our entire holiday,  for a place thats so huge and boasts insane amounts of eateries i really expected more. Not being a vegan myself or having any food allergies there were plenty of restaurants i would have loved to have eaten at but when 50% of your family are extremely limited to what and where they can eat it kind of throws a spanner in the works. We attempted to eat at a few of the well known restaurants and i got really fed up of hearing the words "we can offer you a salad?". The hard rock cafe couldn't even offer Mrs M and Opeie a Baked potato. What kind of restaurant doesn't have potatoes? Crazy!

Any way because of Mrs M's blog naturalveganecomom.com we spent plenty of time in the supermarkets (mainly wholefoods market) looking for interesting and new things for Mrs M and Opeie to include in the packed lunches we were having to take with us every time we left to go out. On one of the evenings we did get to eat out at a restaurant that Mrs M had heard about through a friend of hers that works at Wholefoods Orlando. 

I'm a meat eater and I've always said that i couldn't be vegan but after eating the meal i had i think it pushed me that one step closer to 'could i walk away from it all'. I chose the 'All American Burger', in any other restaurant in Orlando this would 9 times out of 10 guarantee you a huge slab of juicy meat between two halves of a bun. What i received was a meat free burger like nothing i had tasted before served with blue corn tortilla chips, it was amazing.

It probably sounds crazy to most people but it was so nice to be able to go out and eat a meal together like a normal family, unless you or your family have severe dietary issues then you cant imagine how frustrating it is trying to dine out.

Needless to say i wasn't the only one that thoroughly enjoyed my meal, everyone wolfed down the lot, it was beautiful. The thing that gobsmacked me the most about this very tasty meal, amazing friendly service and upbeat surroundings was the extremely low bill at the end of it all. For four meals and two bottles of natural vanilla cream soda the bill was a mere $31 (£19). 

The best part about the meal was finally seeing Mrs M eating something she wanted to eat with a huge smile on her face. It must be so difficult for her as many of her dietary issues are because of Opeie's breast feeding. She has given up a lot to give our boy the best start he can and i will be forever grateful for that.

To here what Mrs M thought of her lovely meal then CLICK HERE.

If you are interested in visiting Ethos vegan kitchen then here's the menu for you to have a mooch.

Ethos Kitchen Menu

Thanks Ethos for a great meal and fantastic friendly service i can't recommend you enough.

"The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have."

Since our day out to the beach last weekend I had been counting down the days until yesterday. We had made arrangements with Mrs M's parents last week to go to the seaside again (weather permitting). Although we get to see them a fair bit it's always round at either of our houses so going out and spending the day together was a really nice change. We woke up early to prepare a picnic and sort out what we needed, things are so different when you don't have children you can pack a small bag and your sorted, we ended up with four bags heaving with 'stuff', Opeie woke up soon after, sat up, rubbed his eyes and said "see nanny and grandad" which i thought was lovely, nanny and grandad came around 7:30ish and we all piled in the car and headed off on our journey to Llandudno. I'd never been before so didn't know what to expect but I was excited about going out for the day.

The weather was glorious as we'd come to expect from the last few days, I was so greatful for the air con in the car the five of us would have been baking without it. We arrived at Llandudno around 10 and after driving around looking for somewhere to park for a bit we parked up and headed down to the main strip. I was having a great time being out and walking about (a bit like a dog), but Mrs M and her folks seemed a little disappointed, it was quite run down and very tacky but the sun was out and it was much better than another day lounging in the back garden. Opeie managed to spot the hello kitty ride as soon as we got to the pier and Nanny Roo couldn't help but get in on the action too.

 After a brief walk along the pier we headed over to the beach, but it was a little dirty and covered in hundreds of dead jelly fish (gross), Mrs M didn't look amused so we left the beach for a walk along the sea front and then found a bench so that Opeie could have some strawberries and cuddle and kiss his new inflatable spider-man that nanny and grandad brought him.

We had a potter around the shops but it was really hot and Opeie was getting quite sleepy up on my shoulders so we headed back to the car for a spot of lunch. It was obvious we had all had enough of Llandudno but none of us were ready to go home as it was still mid afternoon so Grandad mentioned a place we could go that was kind of on the way home called Betws y coed so we all piled in again and went about our adventure, Mrs M dropped off not long after setting off closely followed by grandad so me and Nanny had a nice chat on the way down with Opeie joining in where he could.

Betws y Coed was beautiful, clean and quite picturesque with a few shops, ice cream parlour and surprisingly a vegan / gluten free restaurant (Mrs M's eyes lit up). There was greenery everywhere and everyone seemed happy to be there. Mrs M got to feel 5 years old again when a worried Nanny and Grandad started to apply suncream to her (this parenting job clearly never ends). I think having nanny and grandad in the car had got Opeie quite excited so he missed his afternoon nap, but as soon as we sat down in the park and he had a feed he was out like a light so we sat in the shade under a tree while he slept chatting and watching the world go by.

 It was only a short nap, after about half and hour he woke up and was concerned that Nanny and Grandad were not with us so straight back on my shoulders he got and off we went to track down those elusive grandparents. We soon spotted Nanny Roo so Opeie was happy, Mrs M was desperate to have a look in the Vegan restaurant and Opeie was pulling me through the restaurant and out the back door because he could see trains. My cute talking satnav guided me over the railway bridge and to the gift shop where we brought tickets to go on the miniature steam train. Opeie wasn't sure about it at first but once we got going he had a great time chugging along and waving at Mrs M, Nanny and Grandad every time we went past. Opeie got just as much excitement from the train tickets we were given and was talking about them all the way back to the restaurant.

Time for a much needed sit down and drink, the weather seemed to be getting hotter and hotter (not that I'm complaining) so we sat and had a drink and some snacks. Opeie kept saying 'Bottomly Potts covered in spots', being a little hot and bothered it took me a minute to realise that our very excited boy had spotted a dalmatian sitting by us and it had triggered off Opeie's love for Hairy Maclary and his spotty friend (such a clever boy).

The drive home was relaxing and Opeie's contagious laugh kept us entertained on the journey back as he waved his feet around and we took it in turns to say 'ewwww stinky'. We had managed to go the day without an awkward toilet break being needed by Opeie while travelling, well that was until half the way home when Opeie announced 'Chocolate Pooh' and i had to sit on the side of a lay by with him on his potty (I'm so proud of Opeie's potty training he's been amazing).

We had such an amazing day and it made me realise even more how lucky we are to have Gary and Ruth in our lives. I really don't know why we don't have days out together more often but i guess its so easy to get wrapped up with all the other things that are going on. With the weather the way it is though hopefully there will be chance for us to have another fun day out very soon.

Thanks Nanny and grandad we love you very much xxx