Wow. Another fabulous night out with my fellow SV Moms bloggers and what FUN it was! I'm truly grateful and amazed at the sorts of unique experiences I've had as a contributor to SVMoms Blog - meeting Maria Shriver and a night with Disney and a few of its most well-known characters among them. This time, it was a LeapFrog-sponsored event reaching out to us mommy bloggers. I can't tell you how much I anticipated this particular meeting.
Sure, the goody bag would be fantastic (more on that later) but it was the discussion in the beginning that intrigued and engaged me. Dr. Anne Cunningham of UC Berkeley whose focus is on early childhood led a discussion focused mostly on how children learn and how they learn to read (and serves on the advisory staff for LeapFrog). Of course, this is a subject near and dear to every mommy's heart and we quickly dove into a conversation about local school systems. Truly, we could have spent hours on the subject but broke off after 1/2 hour because of the limited time we had in the room...and we certainly needed time to simply hang out with fellow mommies.
I've been to several Silicon Valley Moms events now and each time it's become 
a nice reunion when we meet up. We keep in touch through our blog posts but seeing each other is an entirely different thing and a welcome one. And in addition to the nice appetizers and wine, the one thing we all love to have - free goodies, especially ones that are educational and for our children - makes these getaway times particularly special.
I've been eyeing LeapFrog's new TAG reading system for my girls ever since the BlogHer Conference in San Francisco earlier this year and I had decided that 
this was going to be their Christmas present. So when I received a couple of the newest LeapFrog Leapsters, I was quite grateful but thinking of the one we already had at home. The plus was that the girls would no longer have to share the one we had but that TAG system...well, that would have been grrrrrrrrrreat! And in the end, it was. The very generous LeapFrog staff let us moms take home not only the goody bags they had so considerately prepared for each of us but also the sample products they had on the tables in the back of the room. And yes, I did get a TAG reading system. Now, I only need to get one more which, in this family of twins, is always helpful.
So, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the LeapFrog staff. I'd heard about their company and their products before though I didn't really know all that much. Believe me, I will certainly make myself much more aware of the sorts of educational "toys" they come up with as my girls grow older.
p.s. A big thank you to my friend, Linsey, for the photos to brighten up this post. :-)
An original It's Never Easy But It's Always Fun blog post. MommyTwinGirls can also be found at Solheim Photography posting favorites from her latest photo shoots, recounting the joys and challenges of raising twins on Mad About Multiples and contributing stories of her foibles and triumphs in mommyhood at Silicon Valley Moms Blog.
