My little girl is a Beast and my oldest daughter is a Funny Bug.  It sounds silly, but it’s a lot of fun.  We’ve become a Little Gym family.

If you’ve never been - the Little Gym is a gymnastics like facility where kids can learn and enhance motor skills in a non-competitive environment. The classes are broken up by age or as they get older and more skilled - by capability.

I’ve only taken my kids to the Little Gym in Exton.  We’ve visited other “gymnastics” type facilities though and this one has some great features that I didnt’ find elsewhere.

The facility is gorgeous and well-maintained.  This facility is new - so that goes a long way - but in addition to that it’s comfortable for parents and great for the kids!  All the equipment is well maintained and safe - safety is first!  The parents watch from behind a glass window (for the classes where the children participate alone) and the kids can see you the entire time - reducing the where did Mommy/Daddy go anxiety.

More than a great facility though - the teachers are awesome.  The Program Director - Heather - has a lot of experience working with children and clearly has a special gift for working with the little ones.  She’s dedicated and committed to the program.  From the moment you walk in - she’s engaged your child and is ready to go.  The other teachers that I’ve interacted with the most - Danielle, Laura and Laura are also fantastic with the kids.  My daughters light up when they walk into the gym and they can’t wait to follow their teachers anywhere!

One of the things I personally like the most about this Little Gym is that it is working parent friendly.  They have classes at night and on weekends - something that is surprisingly hard to find in this area.  We love their 6:30pm classes and their Saturday morning classes.  Can’t make it to a session?  Don’t worry - just make it up in a different class - no stress.

Finally, the gym is owned and managed by a working mom.  A former corporate attorney and Mom to 2, Paige is excited and passionate about her venture.   She’s on hand most days to talk to and interact with - so moms and dads with questions about the program never have to wonder how to find her.

The biggest reason why The Little Gym of Exton is so great - when I tell my girls it’s LIttle Gym time - they run to the door giggling and screeching (in that cute little girl excitement way).  You can’t beat it.

Do you have a special gym for your kids?  Tell us about it!

Ever need something fun to do with your kids and don’t have a lot of time and energy to make it happen?  I was super excited to see this video from Classy Mommy with a great activity - and all you need is shaving cream and a table!

So today - after a fun morning and a good lunch - I said - let’s do a fun project while Daddy’s mowing the lawn.  The kids were super excited to see what I could come up with.  I pulled out the shaving cream, some Crayola Tadoodles a few sponges and paintbrushes and we went outside to the deck.

I reccomend putting the kids into bathing suits or their underwear for this - but if you don’t mind a mess - just let them go at it.  Spray a pile of shaving cream onto the picnic table and let them have fun.  If you have paints that they can use - they can paint the shaving cream into different colors.  My girls told me they were making a rainbow!

One key tip - have a big pot of water outside with you to let the kids dip their hands into - my little one didn’t love the sensation of the shaving cream on her hand for a long time (although she didn’t mind rubbing it all over her)…so she dipped her hands into a pot of water a few times during the activity.

They had fun - I had fun watching them and now - they’re napping!!

It’s summer - which you of course already know…but that’s besides the point.  For parents, summer means nights when it doesn’t get dark until after bedtime - that creates special challenges when it comes to putting your kids to sleep.

My kids have pretty set patterns for sleep - typically in bed before 8pm.  So, when it doesn’t get dark until 8:30 they tend to have a few problems getting down and staying down for the night.  We’ve tried everything - from putting them to bed earlier - nope that doesn’t work - they still don’t go to sleep right away and worse they are crankier when they wake up in the morning.  Putting them down later - that just leads to meltdowns of epic proportions.  Shutting the blinds - can’t do that because it covers the airconditioner and when it’s 100 degrees that’s just not a good idea.

You get the point.  So, I’m reaching out - what do you do to get your kids to sleep in the summer?  Is there anything to do or do you just bear with it and wait for fall?

I love to read.  As my mother tells the story - I used to spend a lot of time in my room and books were my only friends.  I think there might be some truth to that…but that’s a different story.  During this past 4th of July I was lucky enough to be able to visit my family on Martha’s Vineyard.  We’ve been there before - and while the island was gorgeous and getting to spend time with family was awesome - one of the key highlights was getting to talk to the owner of Riley Reads.

Riley Reads is a small children’s book store on the island.  Zoe - the owner is a former nanny and book lover who loves to find just the right book for everybody who walks through her doors.  The store is a fantasy land for book lovers. Bright colors with books everywhere.  Nooks and crannies where kids can curl up with a book, cushions and pillows scattered on the floor for the younger set to drop onto with a book of their choice.

I got to talk with Zoe while I was there and her enthusiasm for books was undeniable.  She was able to give me some good tips on books that I can share with my daughters over the next few years.  If you’re ever in the Martha’s Vineyard area - be sure to check out the store!

Although Zoe is an expert at finding the right books (just give her a call or shoot her a note (zoe@rileysreads.com) and ask her to create a gift basket for you and you’ll see what I mean) - she’s new to blogging.  So stop by her blog and give her some love - and while you’re at it - check out her Facebook page - because if you love to read - you’ll love Riley’s Reads!

If you’re ever in the Martha’s Vineyard area - be sure to check out the store!

Note:  This post was not compensated in any way - I simply love the store, loved talking with Zoe and love to read - so I wanted to be sure to share it with all of you!

For me, the 4th of July signals summer. Regardless of how hot it has been leading up to it, or how many ears of corn we’ve cooked and eaten, the 4th is the day. I love it - there is something electric about celebrating the birth of a nation, wearing the read, white and blue - but most of all, the kids love it.

This year, we’re planning on taking my daughter the parade and letting her watch the kids on their bikes and trikes ride by. We’ll bring hers, but the chances that she is actually going to get on it and ride down the street are slim, so we’ll keep the expectations low this year!

I know she’ll talk about it for days afterward. She’ll talk about which bike she liked the best and other more random thoughts. We’ll come home, have a small cookout here at the house, play outside, go to the pool and unfortunately - put the kids to bed before the fireworks.

The fireworks are the best part of the 4th of July for me, but unfortunately, my kids are just to young to 1) stay up until they start and 2) to enjoy them. Knowing my 2yo, she would be scared to death of the loud noises and wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beautiful colors and shapes exploding into the air. I’m waiting for the day that she will look up at the colors and shapes and open her mouth in amazement. I hope that next year, she’ll be ready…I know I am!

When we had to buy car seats for baby number one, we didn’t have an issue. We were very generously given the infant car seat as well as the convertible car seat as shower gifts. We had registered for what we read was the safest car seat on the market - Britax. We did have to buy 2 more car seats, one for our other car and one for my mother-in-laws car, but that didn’t seem so bad.

Now, with baby number two, we’ve reused the infant seat, but clearly, my 2yo is still in her convertible. So, we have to buy 3 new car seats. One for each car, and one for my mother-in-laws car. We can probably do without buying one for her car - do some switching of cars when she has both, which would be rare, but we do need 2 for each of our cars because we have schedules that don’t always allow us to know who is going to be picking up the kids.

I want to buy the Britax because I do think they are the safest, but they are so expensive. I have been doing my research. I’ve checked out Car&Caboodle, Consumer Reports, the Baby Bargains book, etc. Everything points to Britax still having the safest seats due to their side impact protection, but I’m not sure I can afford to buy 2 of them. But if I don’t won’t I be short changing baby girl - we bought her big sister the best, shouldn’t we do it for the little one? Of course…so, what to do? What should I do? Any advice? Are there other car seats that rank with the Britax? Please let me know!

Music is always in the background.  When you’re watching television or a movie it’s playing in the background. When you have children, you sing songs to them at night, they have toys with music built in, you play songs for them in the car, before bed, etc.

Music is everywhere and not all of it is good.  (Self admittedly, since I am tone deaf, any song I sing isn’t good)  I must admit that I don’t really enjoy the song “The Wheels on the Bus”, but my daughter does.  She has all of the movements down, she can sing most of the song.  She loves when we sing about the windshield wipers going “swish, swish, swish”.  So, we sing it.

But there are good songs out there.  There are bands that make music specifically for kids that is actually fun and interesting to listen to.  One of my favorite CD’s is The Philadelphia Chickens.  It’s got a great rythym to it and my baby girl really likes it.  “Cows, we’re remarkable cows…” great song!

There are also a whole set of new albums from established bands that you wouldn’t consider to be kids musicians.  There is the Rockabye Lullabye series that includes music from ColdPlay, the Beatles, U2, Bob Marley and more.  Bands like They May Be Giants, have created kids CD’s and The BareNaked Ladies have too!

The newest issue of Classic Play from Ellie Bellie Kids is all about music.  They have a great selection of CD’s that you might want to add to your kids collection!  Take a look - there’s something there for everyone from “A day at the Farm with Farmer Jason” to “The Johnny Cash Children’s Album“.

What are your favorite songs to sing with your kids?  What albums do you play for them?  Share with everyone so we can all broaden our musical horizons!

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about how today’s children are over scheduled.  Of course there is always the other side to every argument and the same is true with this one.  Some people are saying that our children are doing just fine, they’re simply engaging in different kinds of play than we did.  I don’t know if it’s really one way or the other, but I do know that my daughter loves interacting with other kids, and the classes we’ve enrolled her in, she’s enjoyed.

We’ve done swimming and Gymboree.  She loves to swim, and while Gymboree was fun, it wasn’t for us (see my review).  I want to enroll her in Ballet this year and another swimming class.  She’s in pre-school too, and they do Yoga with the kids, so I think she’s pretty well rounded.  I can see enrolling her in some type of music lessons next year when she’s 3 - maybe the piano.  Our town starts soccer for 3 year olds too, and she’s excited about that - she says “soccer, older!

I’m sure that there is a point where she might be over scheduled.  Maybe we won’t do piano and soccer, or maybe we will.  I think that she’ll let me know when it’s too much.  In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing her in a tutu, kicking a ball around the soccer field, and learning how to breathe when she puts her face in the water.