Rachel's Day in the Garden-Yoga For Kids

 

 

I remember when my son was a baby he would watch me doing Yoga and try to imitate me.  His downward dog was so cute and funny.  Then when he was a toddler his teacher taught his class Yoga.  They would do Yoga right before nap time.

Benefits of yoga for kids:

·        increases strength and flexibility

·        helps them relax, unwind, and calm down to reduce stress and anxiety

·        helps them sleep better

·        promotes interaction between adult and child, and between multiple children

·        improves their fine and gross motor skills, as well as their coordination

·        develops self-confidence, self-expression, and body awareness

·        promotes a healthy, active lifestyle

My son is now 11 years old and taller than me.  So, I asked my 9 year old daughter to give me a quick review of  Rachel's Day in the Garden.  She said she loved the pictures and enjoyed trying to do the different Yoga poses. I agreed with my daughter.  I loved the illustrations and I think this is a fun book to introduce children to Yoga.

 

 

Book Synopsis

Join Rachel as she and her adorable puppy look for signs of spring in the garden. Crawl like a caterpillar, buzz like a bee, and flutter like a butterfly. Discover spring, explore movement, and learn the colors of the rainbow! Age group: Preschoolers ages 3-6.

Giselle Shardlow

Author Bio  

Giselle Shardlow is the author of Kids Yoga Stories. Her yoga books for kids get children learning, moving, and having fun. Giselle draws from her experiences as a teacher,traveler, yogi, and mom to write the yoga stories found at www.kidsyogastories.com/store or on Amazon(amazon.com/author/giselleshardlow) worldwide. The purpose of her yoga books is to foster happy, healthy, and globally educated children. She lives in Boston with her husband and daughter.

Where to find the book:

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24873899-rachel-s-day-in-the-garden (It helps so very much just to get in front of readers' eyes, so it would mean so much to me if you could add Rachel’s Garden to your "Want to Read" Goodreads shelf.)

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/1RzYXCK

Book Sales Page: http://www.kidsyogastories.com/product/rachels-day-in-the-garden/

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book to read and review.  I was under no obligation to write a positive review.  I received no monetary compensation for this review. There are affiliate links in this post.

Chicago is my Favorite City in the World

Cloudgate aka The Bean

Yes, Chicago is my favorite city in the world.  I have lived in Brooklyn, NY, Cambridge, England, Vancouver, Canada and now we are in Toronto.  I grew up and lived in Chicago for 40 years of my life.

Beautiful Skyline

No matter where we live, we must visit Chicago at least once a year.  That is the deal I made with my husband.  He gets to live outside of Chicago and I get to go home during the summer for several weeks to visit.

Yes, when I'm in Chicago, I feel energized and relaxed at the same time.  We spent Easter weekend there this year. 

The Agora Sculptures in Grant Park

We stayed at the Palmer House Hotel.  The Palmer House has been in downtown Chicago for decades.  As a native Chicagoan, I have always wanted to stay there.  The Palmer House has a beautiful lobby and dining area, but the room we stayed in definitely needed renovation.  But I can now cross it off my bucket list.

The Elevators in the lower level of the Palmer House

Ceiling in the dining area

Near the Wabash entrance of the Palmer House

We had a a couple of must-sees while in Chicago. The first was The Greeks exhibit at The Field Museum.  We've been trying to see this exhibition for a while in other cities, but just couldn't make it.  We decided that we couldn't miss this chance and finally got to see it in Chicago.

The Field Museum

The Brachiosaurus Outside The Field Museum.

The Greeks

The Greeks

We learned quite a lot about ancient Greece and got to see some beautiful artifacts. So glad we had the opportunity to see it!

Then we met up with my parents. We ate lunch at Macy's and then attended the flower show.

The next day we went to the Van Gogh's Bedrooms exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago.  The exhibit was fantastic and gave us a look into the one of the most famous bedrooms of all-time and why it was so special to Van Gogh. The Van Gogh's Bedrooms exhibit runs through May 10, 2016.

This was a short trip and we didn't get to some of my favorite restaurants this time.  We didn't even get any deep dish pizza! *gasp* But, we'll be back in August and I have plans to visit all of my favorites then.  Until then here are some of my previous blog posts about my favorite restaurants in Chicago!

The Promontory-Chicago
Batter & Berries 
Batter & Berries Part Deux 
Protein Bar 
Honey Butter Fried Chicken 
Brown Sugar Bakery 

Also please be sure to check out my Summer In Chicago post I wrote last year. We know how to do Summer in Chicago! 

Have you been to Chicago?!  What are your favorite things to do?! Please tell me in the comments section!

All of The Amazing Sights & Flavors of New York

 

Entrance to the Empire State Building. We didn't go up because it was a cloudy, rainy day.

Our trip to New York was fun!  My husband and I lived Brooklyn for two years 2000-2002.  We had not been back there to visit since 2005 when our son was one years old. 

@travelsetgo spent most of the day in #Brooklyn. #twitter #travelsetgo #prospectpark #travel #sightseeing #NYC

A photo posted by Kelly (@kellym7609) on Mar 13, 2016 at 3:54pm PDT

Times Square

We were there for 4 days and got to see a lot. I wish we had a little more time there because I didn't get to see everything I wanted.  But we took in many of the sights and flavors of New York City!

We stayed at the Doubletree in Manhattan.  It's in a great location.  The room was clean and the service great, but the room was incredibly small for 4 people.  We were tripping all over each other.  Luckily we weren't in the room much.

 

30 Rock

 The Sights

Some highlights of our trip were walking down Fifth Avenue and stopping at 30 Rockefeller Center, visiting the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the American Museum of History. And of course we went to Central Park!

@travelsetgo Spending our morning at the #americannaturalhistorymuseum! #travelsetgo #twitter #traveltuesday #dinosaurs #instatravel #history #familyjaunts

A photo posted by Kelly (@kellym7609) on Mar 15, 2016 at 8:47am PDT

@travelsetgo It was very crowded at #MOMA today, but I was able to see one of my favorite #VanGogh paintings, #TheStarryNight. #twitter #travelsetgo #instaart #instatravel #NYC #art

A photo posted by Kelly (@kellym7609) on Mar 14, 2016 at 12:58pm PDT

Central Park

 The Flavors

In Brooklyn and visited with relatives and my best friend, Faith.  Faith and I had a wonderful meal at Shane's Brooklyn and we shopped local at Brooklyn Flavors. Brooklyn Flavors has soaps, candles, skin care, etc. with the scents of the different neighborhoods in Brooklyn.  I bought a soap with the essence of Prospect Park.

Soap from Brooklyn Flavors- Prospect Park Scent

Shane's Shrimp and Grits

We also enjoyed our first taste of Shake Shack!  Like I said earlier, there was so much to see and do.  I wish I read this blog post from World of Wanderlust before our trip.   This post is a weekend guide to New York City.  She's a lot better at seeing a lot for a short period of time than we are.  You can read her post here.  

Shake Shack

If you're thinking about a trip to NYC or anywhere else and want to save on your hotel, check out Travel Set Go.  There are at least 400,000 hotels to choose from. You can find out more information in my review here.
 

How to Travel the World and Save Money

Traveling nowadays has become very expensive.  You have to really think about how much you are willing to spend and if it's worth it.  Searching for a bargain can be a full-time job.  During our recent travels in the US were able to save some money on our hotel in Boston with Travel Set Go.

 

With Travel Set Go you can get wholesale prices on over 400,000 hotels all around the world.  It's very easy to start saving.  There's a free membership and a VIP membership for only $8.25 a month.  

With the VIP membership, you not only save on hotels, but you also get:

• Car Rentals
• Cruises
• Vacation Condominiums
• Activities and Excursions
• Complimentary Travel Concierge (live travel agent) to book your trip

Boston

I am a Travel Set Go Ambassador.  As an Ambassador I take photos from my travels and get compensated with Travel Set Go Savings Dollars for each photo I post on Instagram.  They start you off with $100 and for every two pictures you take you get $100.  When we booked the hotel in Boston, we saved $257.00. I had $300 in my savings and it went towards the $257.00 in savings, not the balance of  $358.04.

You don't have to be an Ambassador to get the savings.  It has basically helped me to get some exposure for my Instagram account and I've gained more followers. 

@travelsetgo Good Morning from #Boston! This is our last day here. Ready to get back to #Toronto. #twitter #travelsetgo #statehouse #traveling #travelingram

A photo posted by Kelly (@kellym7609) on Mar 18, 2016 at 4:10am PDT

 

Midtown Hotel in Boston

 

Midtown Hotel in Boston

 There are no blackout dates and all of the prices include taxes.  

For a 3 Day/2 Night Stay at the Midtown Hotel

Take a look at my balance after our trips to New York, Boston and Chicago!



I took a lot of photos.  It's fun being an Ambassador and sharing my photos.  Also, I want to work as a social media marketer/consultant in the travel industry.  So, I thought this would be a good start.

Remember, you don't have to be an Ambassador to get the deep discounts. To find out more about Travel Set Go, go here! 

You can also connect with them on Twitter,  Facebook,  and Instagram.

Disclaimer:  I am a Travel Set Go Ambassador.  If you sign up for a membership or to become an Ambassador, I will receive compensation.  I am under no obligation to post a positive review.  The opinions are my own and results may vary.