Summer’s in full swing, and we’re enjoying every minute of the nice weather. Besides taking our munchkin to the local pool/lake/beach when we can, here’s a cool, cheap and easy way to deal with the heat. One of our faves is making popsicles! A big hit with kids and adults alike.

There are probably a ton of recipes out there, but this is one I came up with that my son likes that doesn’t contain a lot of sugar. Popsicles are very forgiving so you don’t really need exact measurements; just taste to see if it’s to your liking.

Ingredients:

- diced or pureed fresh fruits (peaches, mangoes, strawberries*) or substitute pureed frozen fruit

- yogurt (we use whole milk yogurt)

- juice (we use pear or apple juice)

- a little bit of honey

Put ingredients — roughly 1/3 fruit, 1/3 yogurt, and 1/3 juice, plus a little bit of honey — in popsicle container (I use the KidCo popsicle container because the portions are just right for toddlers and it makes eight individual popsicles, plus it is safer plastic), stir (we use a chopstick), and stick in the freezer for a few hours. Voila! To take the popsicles out, run some room temperature water over the container and gently twist them out.

*I noticed that even the sweetest strawberries taste sour when frozen, so you’ll need to add a little bit more honey and juice than the other fruits.

Another easy one is using watermelon juice, which is pretty sweet to begin with. I just add a tad of honey, and no yogurt or other juice. It’s also a good recipe for kids who don’t eat dairy or yogurt.

Please post your own recipes in the comments section! I’m always looking for more ideas, especially yummy fruits to work with. Let me know!

Wow. Incredibly energizing, glorious, playful, strong, and charming. We’ve had so much fun creating our first movie to introduce our new collection – inspired by Japan. It’s infectious. There’s been plenty of dancing around the office.

Many, many thanks to all of the people who made this happen. Josh Tetreault from Emotive Brand is the filmmaking genius. Josh found the perfect music – “Ce Jeu” by Yelle – introducing us to the talented French singer. He was captivated by the incredible shots of our beloved, uber-talented photographer, Laurie Frankel. And Laurie was inspired by the beautiful “little citizens of the world” in our Fall 2009 photo shoot. An immense thank you goes to the children (and their parents!) in this video.

None of it would happen without our brilliant designers who make designer children clothing practical, real, and inspired. Every season they travel to a new destination to find original inspiration – bringing unique children’s apparel to the little citizens of the world.

Share the love – tell your friends!

Tomorrow, we’ll post an interview with our Chief Creative Officer – the visionary behind the brand. We ask her all about the trip to Japan – the sights and scenes that inspired the Fall Collection.

The new collection is available in stores now – and will be available online on our website by the end of the month!