News and Announcements

We really liked Seattle-based songwriter, performer, and music educator Brian Vogan's CD Little Songs. Filled with well-crafted songs for both children, it had a great indie-rock/folk vibe that appealed to parents as well.

We recently received a review copy of Brian's latest effort, Sing a Little Song, in which he performs with his band, his Good Buddies (who just happen to be a number of noteworthy Seattle-area musicians). A worthy successor to Little Songs, Sing a Little Song features a dozen cheerful tracks that share the previous album's nods to indie rock, world music, folk, jazz, and, well, just about any musical style you can think of. The CD's themes of course deal with subjects that children care about—including frogs, dinosaurs, vehicles, and space travel—but the catchy songs definitely appeal to music lovers of all ages.

Corte Madera's new family-friendly Brick & Bottle restaurant is offering Marin Mommies readers a free dessert for the table! Just mention that you heard about Brick & Bottle on Marin Mommies.

Read our review of Brick & Bottle here.

Our back-to-school Yubo lunchbox kit giveaway is over! Congratulations to Melissa D. of San Rafael, who chose the blue lunchbox with the cool shark faceplates (those are the ones that my son likes, too).

We’re giving away a free Yubo Deluxe Kit lunchbox of your choice (choose color and faceplates—not personalized) to a lucky Marin Mommies reader! Send an e-mail with "Yubo lunchbox" in the subject line to contests@marinmommies.com by midnight (Pacific time) this Sunday, August 15, 2010.

One winner will be selected at random, and we'll announce the winner on Monday, August 16. Good luck!

Read our review of the Yubo lunchbox here.

Congratulations to Karen R., winner of our 2010 back-to-school BusyBodyBook giveaway!

School's about to start and getting organized both for yourself and the kids is a must. Our favorite way to get organized is with the BusyBodyBook! The BusyBodyBook is a stylish and easy-to-use family organizer designed specifically for families. It allows you to keep track of the entire family's schedules at a glance, and it's something I can't live without. BusyBodyBooks are available for both 2010–2011 school year (August 2010–August 2011) and traditional January–December, 2010 calendar year versions. This year, they have some really new cool designs.

To help you get organized, we're giving away a free BusyBodyBook to a lucky Marin Mommies reader! Send an e-mail with BUSYBODYBOOK in the subject line to contests@marinmommies.com by midnight (Pacific time) this Friday, August 6, 2010 One winner will be selected at random, and we'll announce the winner on Saturday, August 7. Good luck!

Our friends at Camp Galileo are offering a special discount for Marin Mommies readers! Take $15 off your total purchase at Camp Galileo by using the coupon code GALILEOMM by April 30, 2010. Camp Galileo offers a mix of art, science, and outdoor fun, with two Marin locations: Corte Madera and San Rafael.

For more information or to sign up, visit them at www.galileo-learning.com or call (800) 854-3684.

Got a question about children's health? Ask the pediatrician in our new feature here on Marin Mommies! Submit your medical questions to us via email and we'll choose some every month to be answered by our frequent guest contributors, pediatricians Dr. Steven Martel and Dr. Oded Herbsman.

Drs. Martel and Herbsman are the founders of Child’s Light Pediatrics, Inc., an innovative, house-call based pediatric practice that serves Marin County and San Francisco. For more information, please visit them at www.childslightpediatrics.com.

It's that time of year again—time to sign the kids up for summer camp! Sign-ups are starting now, and we felt it was a great time to launch the new Marin Summer Camp Guide. Browse camps by location, age level, and camp activities. You can also rate your favorite camps and share your experiences with other Marin parents.

We're continually adding more camps, so check back often. If you don't see your favorite camp (or your camp, if you run one), make sure you let us know and we'll add it to the list. We're also offering some great specials on advertising in this section, so if you want to get your summer camp noticed by thousands of Marin families, consider placing an ad with us.

Update: We've just been given another 10 family packs (4 tickets each) for this screening! The last 10 went really fast, so if you want them, make sure you redeem the RSVP code below as soon as possible.

We're giving away more movie stuff! Ten lucky winners will win a family four pack of passes to attend an advance screening of the family action movie The Spy Next Door in San Francisco on Tuesday, December 29 at 7 pm. Simply visit www.gofobo.com and enter the RSVP code 4HF0N6 to win. The first ten people to enter the code will get a set of passes. Easy, right? If you win, please note that the screening is overbooked to ensure full attendance, so please arrive early.