Reasons I Love NYC vol.1 Welcome to Link & Mingle!

Before you jump into the Link & Mingle, I just thought I'd share one of my favorite things about living in New York City - the chance encounters with exceptionally talented street performers.  In this case, Zion and I happened upon this duo on our way home from the MOPS group I lead near Columbus Circle.  Wish I knew who they were so I could give them the mad credit they deserve!  Enjoy!

The long of it is, the "Link and Mingle: Sisters in Blogging Social Media Linkup". The short is, the "Link & Mingle". Call it what you wish. :)

Meet our weekly hosts!

Shaylee Ann | Mother {at} Heart

Kim | Singledou[b]t
Kendra | Adventures of Brad & Kendra
Courtney | Thoughts From the Birdhouse
Britt | Yellow Umbrella
Courtney | Baxtron{Life}
April | Dimples and Delights

and for this week's co-host, we have
Joanna | Jo Finds Joy

Thank you, ladies!

The "rules" are thus:
visit/follow/like as many links as you can,

link up to as many social media sites that apply to you (please link up only links that apply - blog posts and other links that do not apply will be removed),

share, tweet, and blog about this link party if you so wish,

grab the button {below},

and have fun meeting new people!

Links are connected to each header, to show you just what you should link up. :)

We would love it if you followed all of your hosts and co-hosts, but that's not mandatory. Just have fun! :)

If you would be interested in co-hosting this party periodically, send an email to {shaylee.motheratheart@gmail.com}.

Want to have this blog hop on your site? Click the URL at the bottom of each linkup to get the code. Tweet #link&mingle if you post the hop!

Alright, ladies! Button-up, link-up, and meet-up! :)

Tweet

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<center> <a href="http://www.mother-at-heart.com/search/label/Link%20and%20Mingle" target="_blank"><img alt="Mother {at} Heart" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Bz6_3z-Jrsg/UBsXYDz8iCI/AAAAAAAABcQ/hNRvF3V2RSk/s487/button.png" width="250"/></a></center>

Thank you for linking up!

Come back next Thursday for another round of the Link & Mingle!

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Tumbling, Balancing & Charity Little Gym Grand Opening Event

Right before the craziness of BlogHer began, I was invited to a special grand opening event at the  newest The Little Gym on the Upper Westside in Manhattan.  I'm always excited to attend special events and activities in New York, especially those which offer a fun and unique experience for Zion.

Zion, now 2, is in full curiosity and exploration mode - its hard to keep her interested in any one thing for too long before she craves something new and different.  It is as if she senses the scale of the incredible world that exists and wants to taste, see, touch, feel and experience anything and everything she can.  I love this stage for that reason!

The event was really top notch.  Zion was able to experience some of the variety of activities she would participate in if enrolled in their programming, as well as just have free play in their incredible gym!  From tumbling - to swinging on bars - to walking the balance beam - she enjoyed every single moment!

While Zion and the other children were experiencing the thrill of endless mats to somersault, roll around and jump on - I had the chance to learn a about the Little Gym's philosophy, history and curriculum.  I also feel honored to be given a first look at the partnership between the Little Gym and Soles4Souls!

The Little Gym has a really cool "Three Dimensional Learning" curriculum - based on 35 years of experience, parental feedback and early childhood research.  The goal of the curriculum is to get kids moving, help them foster a love of learning, and equip them with life skills - like sharing, listening and taking turns.

The Little Gym and Soles4Souls have recently joined forces to launch their "Big Hearts, Little Shoes" campaign to collect shoes for those in need.  The Little Gym has set a goal of collecting one million pairs of shoes - and have set up special Soles4Soles drop-boxes on all of their campuses for the 2012/13 season.  What an awesome and powerful way to get the kids involved in being charitable and generous at an early age!  One of the biggest highlights to me was that any shoe could be donated - and nothing is wasted - so even heavily worn shoes will be recycled and not wasted!

The Upper Westside just got a little brighter by the addition of The Little Gym! We had an amazing time at the event, finishing it off with a nice little reception and mingling with some other New York City mamas and their little ones.  Thanks to MomCentral for inviting us to the event!

I was invited to this event by MomCentral.  A post was not required - however; this event was just such a great experience I wanted to share it! All opinions expressed in this post are my own.  :)