I tease my husband that one of his requirements when picking a new place of employment is that there is a Konditor & Cook within walking distance. (There are 6 locations in London and my husband has worked near to 3 of them.) Their wonderful cakes and pastries are his (not so secret) indulgence and I can’t blame him — I am yet to taste something that K&C has to offer which doesn’t blow me away. Every cake, muffin, croissant is melt-in-the-mouth heaven.

Konditor & Cook was started by German-born Gerhard Jenne, who studied to be a ‘Konditor’ (pastry chef) in Germany before coming here and learning to be a ‘cook’ in London. Other than tasting good, Gerhard’s cakes look the part too and can be customised for any occasion (I love these mini-wedding cakes pictured). He has even written a book on how to decorate Wacky Cakes & Kooky Cookies. Everything the team bakes or cooks uses organic free-range eggs and natural butter, and if you need your whistle wetting further you can see their menu here.

Konditor & Cook have shops in Soho, Borough Market, Waterloo, Chancery Lane, The Gherkin and on the South Bank. Click here for full details.

Mo. x

The tour takes in some key London highlights (Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and The London Eye) but it’s the tour guides who make it (ours got the whole ‘duck’ quacking when it saw another duck – the kids were in hysterics and couldn’t stop talking about it for days)! It is cheesy but brilliant — but you have to be the sort to throw yourself into these things — not for those who embarrass easily.

Duck departure point:
DUCK STOP
Chicheley Street
London, SE1 7PY

BOOKINGS
+44 (0)20 7928 3132

Apart from being a huge space to run around with fascinating trees, flowers and plants, there is also a dedicated indoor children’s area called Climbers and Creepers. All the zones have an educational element relating to plants and their habitat and have been so cleverly thought out to cater for a really wide age group (quoted as age 3 – 9 but there are great touchy-feely bits too which are good for babies).

On the other side of the gardens is the Treetop walkway (designed by the architects of The London Eye) which is 18 metres up in the air and 200 metres around — giving you an opportunity to see the tops of the trees and those who inhabit them. At ground level there is a tunnel with an exhibit giving insight to what happens under the trees (good for any bug and creepy-crawly enthusiasts!).

The duck pond in front of the Palm House (near the Victoria Gate) is great for spotting all sorts of water birds and they even have an explanation of the different species with sound-buttons to hear their different calls (fondly called the ‘quack-board’ in our house and it is always the first thing my 3-year-old wants to go and play with — our favourite is the call of the Eider).

And this is just the start of the fun, with Badger Sets, an aquarium and greenhouses* full of exotic plants, trees and plant life (The Evolution House exhibits Stromatolites, which are the oldest living organisms on the Earth and we see them as small bubble eruptions in a sandy pool of water at the entrance — coooooooooool!)

Kew is also well equipped for fuel stops with plenty of cafes and restaurants all serving good children’s options (they do those clever lunch boxes where you can pick 5 picnic-esque bits to make up a lunch, and in every box there is a pack of seeds to take home and plant).

So why has it taken me so long to write this post? Kew has been working on a new outdoor children’s playground for outside Climbers and Creepers. They had some issues with planning permission (it was meant to be up and running in the Autumn of last year) so I wanted to wait to be able to tell you about it and when it would be ready. Well we went to Kew last weekend and it is well and truly underway (see pics). It will be launched in time for the Easter holidays on 2nd April. It is called Treehouse Towers and looks a whole lot of fun for up to 300 children — a properly exciting place to let off some of that chocolate-easter-egg-energy! We are very excited about its launch and will definitely be heading down there to try it out.

* Note the greenhouses at Kew are not your ordinary greenhouses — they are possibly the most beautiful greenhouses in the World! The Palm House has 700 panes of glass and is considered the most important Victorian glass and iron structure in the world. And The Temperate House is the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the World — pretty impressive stuff.

Kew Gardens:
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB
email: info@kew.org
24-hour visitor information line: +44 (0)20 8332 5655
Opening times:
Kew opens at 9.30am every day except 24/25 December.

Two years ago our Christmas got canceled on Christmas Eve — well the trip we had planned to Switzerland did anyway. It was our first Christmas with a child and you know how important they are! We were devastated. I think the only thing that saved us was Melrose & Morgan, our local deli in Primrose Hill (where we lived at the time). We turned up at 12pm to a packed store of everyone collecting their orders and they thankfully managed to make us up one of their ‘Christmas’s in a box’. It honestly saved the day.

But Melrose & Morgan is not just for Christmas, their fantastic home-cooked meals are perfect to take home, heat up and make you look like a domestic goddess. Sadly my better-half isn’t easily fooled – Melrose & Morgan’s food is just that bit too delicious for him to believe it was made by me whilst I had 2 children hanging off my arms.

Each day the kitchen prepares a different menu using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. Additionally they have a range of staples including their home-made pies, freshly baked bread, mouth-wateringly delicious cheeses and sweet treats for every occasion. I keep one of their pies and some of their home-made ice cream in my freezer for those “its 6.45pm, there’s nothing to eat in the house and the kids are going crazy” evenings (of which we tend to have 4 a week).

I’m not big on branded merchandise but my one exception is Melrose & Morgan’s mugs, aprons and my favourite canvas shopping bags with their simple red font spelling evocative foodie words such as ‘picnic’, ‘cheese’ and ‘custard’ (I love that one in particular!).

Melrose and Morgan:
42 Gloucester Avenue
London, NW1 8JD
Phone: 020 7722 0011
Nearest tube Chalk Farm or Camden

I’m a huge fan of Swedish kids clothes shop P.OP (Polarn O Pyret) which sells playful and colourful kids clothes and a small selection of maternity wear. Think lots of stripes and lots of colour. They have 4 shops in and around London (Brent Cross, Westfield, House of Fraser (Oxford Street) and Kingston) but a further 10 or so stores around the rest of the UK.

Next up: Zara Home (no, not Zara Kids): A very small selection but I love their quilts and blankets for kids and they always have a tiny rail with really sweet sleep-wear/snuggly-wear. I have had some great finds there.

I find so many good kids birthday presents from Paperchase particularly these children’s writing sets, which are so sweetly designed. They often do melamine plates and trays and sets of fun snackpots, which are perfect for kids’ dinner time and eating on the go.

Long before having children I had a bit of a Muji-addiction. I always find something there — it certainly indulges my stationery habit. It is also a great place to head for souvenirs as they do these sweet little bags of miniature wooden cities and London transport (black cabs, red buses) in a bag (but I’ve only seen these in-store not on-line). What some may not know about Muji though is that they are great for (what I like to call) ‘fat-tops’ — cleverly designed tops that fall over your bump during pregnancy or, as in my case, my post-baby chocolate-bump. Note there is usually more of a selection in store then online.

On this subject I do love Comptoir des Cotonniers – very flattering clothes! Quite a bit pricier then Gap but really very lovely (also have a tiny ‘girls’ collection from age 6 — I’m seriously wishing the years away so my daughter is old enough for it, cute! cute!) Feel a bit of a cheat with this one though as it’s originally a Parisian brand.

A great stop for well-designed toys and kid’s furnishings is Habitat. Their wooden London Bus is a long-running classic but I also love some of their newer toys like the Tito (pictured here). They also do fab bits and pieces for a kids room — we recently got a bright red wagon for storing toys in, which we love.

Last but not least, if you happen to be passing The White Company (or The Little White Company) then it’s always worth popping in. I particularly like their pyjamas but they also do cashmere baby cardies and classic toys and nursery decoration.

All that shopping might make you hungry and on a London High Street you are never far away from a Carluccio’s (Italian), Wagamama’s (Japanese) or Giraffe (International) — which are all well set-up for kids. If sushi is your thing, then I adore Itsu, but it’s not so buggy /high-chair friendly. For a sandwich-on-the-go … you can’t beat Pret-a-Manger (who now do cute kids bags).

We carried on our journey to the zoo which was a perfect-sized animal treat for pre-schoolers. Donkeys, Otters, Chickens, Pigs, Meerkats and Monkeys to name but a few — all really close up and the zoo is small enough to be a distracting hour or so without it being overwhelming.

During the Summer months the park also has a boating lake and a land-train that can be picked up from outside the Adventure Playground. A really fun family day out.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Battersea Park
London, SW11 4NJ
Tel: 020 8871 7530

They have stores in Dulwich & Covent Garden (which would be perfect if you happen to be taking a trip to Benjamin Pollocks as per my last post), but they are also sold in some pretty lovely other places: Liberty, Selfridges, Fortum & Mason (to name but a few) and of course you can buy them online from their site. I find the Miss Hope’s Jolly Mixture a very exciting treat and the Sugar free Gummy Bears a good one to ensure the children don’t bounce off the ceiling with too much sugar!

CONTACT DETAILS:

Hope & Greenwood
Covent Garden
1 Russell Street
London WC2B 5JD

The park is also a deer Park but has a more formal-grounds feeling to it than its neighbour Richmond Park. We love the new Pheasantry Welcome Centre, pictured, (which opened last summer) and has a great café backing onto the Woodlands Gardens (which is a section of the park closed off to dogs but great for small children, with a large duck pond and plenty of tree-stumps to climb). Another top-spot is by the car-park near The Diana Fountain, where there is a model boat pond with some very impressive boats to go and watch terrorising the ducks.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Bushy Park:
Hampton Court Road
Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2EJ
phone: +44 (0)20 8979 1586
email: bushy@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk

Recently I had a reason to re-find that store, and the magic hasn’t left the place! Benjamin Pollocks is a delightfully old fashioned place (originally established in the 1880s) in the Covent Garden Piazza. I must warn you — it isn’t buggy friendly as you have to climb a narrow staircase to reach it and the shop is small and crammed to the rafters with toys, but worth the trip indeed.

The toy theatres are beautiful gifts for slightly older children (I think my kids may be more interested in ripping and chewing their cardboard constructions!) but they also have a good selection of other ‘oldy-worldy’ toys and games. I ended up getting Hopla for my 3-year-old and these darling counting flashcards for my daughter.

If Covent Garden is too much of a trip, they do also conveniently sell some of their wares through their website.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Benjamin Pollocks
44 The Market
London WC2E 8RF, United Kingdom
Open: Mon-Sat 10:30am-6pm; Sun 11am-4pm
020 7379 7866

Did I ever tell you I wanted to be an actress when I was a kid? I know, I know, it isn’t such a strange ambition but I was pretty serious and headed off to stage school when I was 11 to learn my craft. Somewhere along the way stage-fright took over and I decided a life on the stage wasn’t for me. I’m sure my kids (like me) will be big fans of the big screen but I want them to also inherit my love of stage performances too — that’s why I love the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon– a theatre which specialises in children’s productions and caters for a wide age-range (starting as young as 6 months).

The Polka is celebrating its 30th birthday this year and it is no surprise that it is still going so strong. They have a consistent high-standard of performances aimed at children and often have high-profile directors and actors involved. They also have a very good programme of stage-related workshops for slightly older children during school holidays.

We recently went to see Goldilocks and the Three Bears — I was a little worried as my son has a bit of an ‘issue’ with bears — but the story was so brilliantly told in an intimate setting that he smiled all the way through and wasn’t the least bit scared. I loved the imaginative set-design. We’re planning to go an see Circles in the Sand (a story told with sand not words) and we’re very annoyed that we missed tickets for Penguin (adapted from the fabulous Polly Dunbar book). It is worth noting that performances can sell out quickly.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Polka Theatre:
240 The Broadway
Wimbledon
London SW19 1SB

Tickets & Information
+44 (0)20 8543 4888

We often park up at Pembroke Lodge* (a lovely canteen/tea-room which used to be the residence of our Prime Minister, Lord John Russell in 1847), and from there walk north to King Henry VIII’s mound, where on a clear day you can see 12 miles to St. Paul’s Cathedral! Or we head east across the road to the ponds. *Note: Pembroke Lodge tends to bring out freshly made (warm!) scones at around 3pm daily, served with cream and jam. There is nothing nicer than a sweet-treat after a bout of fresh air, I find.

On the other side of the park we love the Isabella Plantation which blooms with majestical (excuse the flamboyant language but if you’ve seen it you’ll understand) rhododendrons in May and is full of secret lakes and coves (perfect for treasure hunting and exploring). There is so much space and things to climb up and over that my son just can’t get enough of it.

Of course any big park is going to have a big playground and Richmond Park’s playground just so happens to be a hop, skip and jump from Petersham Nurseries, which as Courtney mentioned is a fantastic restaurant. You can drop in to the cafe for a slab of cake and a cuppa without booking, which makes for the perfect treat after a long spell on the swings (my love of cake may become a bit of a feature in my posts).

If visiting the Park for the first time then the Royal Parks website has some great tips for planning where to go and what to see and do.

Kew Bridge Steam Museum is on Green Dragon Lane, TW8 OEN. Nearest Train Station is Kew Bridge.