TAKE THE KIDS ///. NEW YORK CITY GUIDE - HOTELS

Finding a good hotel is usually our first step when we're planning a trip to NYC. It can take a lot of hours to find the One, but it's always a good challenge to find the right room at the right location at the right price and at the right time of the year.

Before kids, our expectations of a hotel room were different and at extremes also: uber-stylish for the full luxury trip or very low-low-key since we were out most of the day and didn't need much. But traveling with kids is different. They wake up early, they need space to run/jump/cry/scream, they want to rest during the day or get to bed early, plus you have tons of luggage and need some space for snacks and drinks so you can stop their temptation to open that mini-bar. 

All good reasons for us parents to pick a hotel room that offers comfort and function. Because after a whole day of pushing strollers and piggy-backing, you will appreciate a nice hot shower, clean hotel carpets and plush beds with extra pillows.

In the long term, we're aiming to try more boutique hotels to enjoy the design aspect of the stay. Until now, we've tried mid-range hotels and it fits perfectly our current needs. We've tried a few options in the past years and here's an overview of our experiences: 

TAKE THE KIDS ///. NEW YORK CITY

The next posts will be a fun recap of our family trip to NYC, from booking hotels to surviving the 7-hour road-trip from Montreal to NYC to actually visiting the different neighborhoods.

Like many of you, visiting NYC has become an annual tradition for our family. We like this type of trip because it offers a good balance between being in territory familiar enough to handle tantrums and feeling slightly off-balanced so that we can learn, be inspired and grow as a family. 

SUMMER LIVING

There will be less posts this summer as I've decided to live the family life to the fullest and try to have a computer disconnect. All the kids are home for the summer and I'm really enjoying just being their mum, and not thinking about work, career & performance.

Just thinking about the fact that my mat leave has an end-date makes me want to fully enjoy every minute of it, especially since everybody's home, reading about stories like this one, summers in Montreal are the best and mostly because it's my last mat-leave and baby (nobody told me this last-baby thing would bring up so many emotions. And I just read this article, it made me laugh and weep even more).

Until I get to a regular schedule, you can follow my oh-so-exciting adventures on Instagram at @wordsofwismom. You're also invited to read through our archives. Some of the readers's favourite series are The Book Club,  Travel City Guides, Before Reno House Tours, and After Reno House Tours.

Thank you and hope you are enjoying life & summer as much as we are.

xo
Kim-Anh.

THE TO-DO LIST \\\. THE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL DINING ROOM

Here's a quick snapshot of what I had on my to-do (or to-get) list while designing the new multi-functional dining room:

Short-term:

- Dining table - I reused our existing table, but I like this one;

- Dining chairs - similar to this, but we recovered ours to make it more us and kid-friendly;

- Play table that can work as a coffee table, similar to this, but I like this one too since the bottom shelves are extra storage;

- Baskets for toys & books - I bought this one and it works wonders - it's big, black and white, sturdy and cheap, a winner in my books;

- Crafts supply - I'm a big fan of the MALA collection at IKEA ;

- Mirrors - we got ours here;

Long-term:

- Plants, I'm eyeing a fiddle fig tree;

- High chair - I've used the Antilop from Ikea since baby #1 and love it, it's definitely a K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stylish) item;

Long-long-term:

- Wall-to-Wall Curtains;

- A rug under the table: with food flying everywhere at every dinner, it wouldn't be fair to the pretty rug;

FAMILY NEST IN PROGRESS \\\. THE MULTI-FUNCTIONAL DINING ROOM

A family that eats together, stays together

Our dining room is one of the most hardworking rooms in our house. 

We have dinner in this room everyday, 

but we also draw, paint, play Lego and piano, work and pay our bills here.

So when it came time to renovate this room, 
our vision was to keep it simple & stylish (my fun version of K.I.S.S.), 
and make it a versatile space as much as possible.