Sports Activities

Marin Mommies is pleased to present a guest post by photographer Norm Levin, owner of Natural Portraits: Family and event photography as nature intended. He offers some valuable tips on photographing your children's soccer games (and any other sports activity). Read on to learn how to capture that perfect sports photo. You can visit Norm online at www.naturalportraits.smugmug.com

Where did the summer go?

It seems like yesterday that school was out and we were taking the little ones off on a family trip, or to camp, or swimming and baseball practices. As a parent with a camera, which eliminates practically no one, you’ve attempted with varying degrees of success to capture your child actively enjoying his or her outdoor pursuits.

Those cherished summer events are mostly behind us now, living on in our memories and stored on our digital devices.

If your refrigerator door is anything like ours, it’s already displaying your child’s fall soccer team assignment precariously held under a magnet. When the soccer season starts, which should be any minute now, you know you’ll be there digital camera in hand to get the photo goods. May the god of pixels be with you.

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One way to beat the heat this summer is to try out one of Marin's community and public pools.

College of Marin Pools

Kentfield Campus
Closed due to construction

Indian Valley Campus
1800 Ignacio Blvd., Novato
(415) 892-2269
Open: June 16 - August 7
Monday-Thursday 11:30 am-3:30 pm
Drop-in fees are $5 for adults, $4 for children and students and $3 for seniors and disabled students.
Purchase tickets at Room 100, Bldg. 9

Novato YMCA Pool at Hamilton

206 El Bonito, Novato
(415) 883-6372
Open: May 24 through September 20
(times vary from May 24-June 15 and August 25-September 1, so call for swim times)

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One of my son’s favorite extracurricular activities is gymnastics. It builds confidence and coordination and, above all, it’s fun! There are numerous places in Marin that offer gymnastics summer camps. Here’s our selection.

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One of my passions in life is the game of tennis. As a child, I took lessons, and I love to play with friends and family.  I love the challenge of tennis, and of course it’s great exercise at any age. It's also a great game to challenge the wee ones and a good way for them to meet new friends. Listed below are a few summer tennis camps in Marin. I will be updating the list of tennis camps as I get more information about them.

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My son recently told me that he wanted to try yoga, probably because I do a class here and there myself. I couldn’t find any kids’ classes that we could attend in town, but after a brief search online, I did come across YogaKids an award-winning series of DVDs from Gaiam.

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Check out McInnis Park off Smith Ranch Road in San Rafael. I didn't realize they had a miniature golf course until I drove by one day and noticed a little windmill and castle on the hill. With 3-year-old in tow (he plays for free!) I went back the next day and played a round. The course includes an elephant with moving feet, a snail, a castle, a lighthouse and a lot more. It's an18-hole artist-designed course with 2 bonus holes at the end. You need to keep your ball on the 18th hole and go down below to the bonus course that includes a dinosaur, which of course was my son’s favorite. The course works its way up a hill as you play and the views are spectacular. They also have a café for food and drink.
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