Many in Marin were excited last summer when the new San Rafael Pacifics minor league baseball team started its first season in Albert Park. They're back for 2013, and this year young sports fans can hold their birthday parties with the Pacifics at Kirby Cove in Albert Park!

Kirby Cove is perfect spot for children's birthdays, and can accommodate anywhere from 10 to 50 participants. Party guests will enjoy activities like Wiffle Ball games, ping pong, a basketball hoop, and more! Pacifics players and team mascot Sir Francis the Drake will also drop in and visit parties to say hello and sign autographs, too!

Game tickets, menu packages, and a variety of party add-on options are available. Albert Park is located near downtown San Rafael at Andersen Drive, Lindaro Street, and Albert Park Lane.

The San Rafael Pacifics minor league baseball team's opening game is on June 11. Check their game schedule here.

For more information on Pacifics birthday parties, or to reserve your spot, email kbiss@pacificsbaseball.com or call (415) 485-1563. Visit the Pacifics online at  www.pacificsbaseball.com.

Photo courtesy San Rafael Pacifics

Remember those days at the roller skating rink back when you were a kid? The disco ball, the DJ, and doing that arm thing when they played YMCA by the Village People? (Am I dating myself here?) If you're nostalgic for the days of skating gone by, head up to Cal Skate in Rohnert Park, which hasn't changed all that much since I used to skate here when I was a kid.

We visited Cal Skate a few months ago, and had a blast—my daughter keeps asking me when we can go back. The kids loved the music, the lighting, and the disco ball, as well as skating, of course. They definitely picked roller skating up faster than ice skating, which they also love to do.

Lace up your skates—you can rent them or bring your own, if you have them—and hit the rink. Cal Skate offers special Kids' Skate sessions for families during the week, on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 11:30 am. These sessions for children ages 2 to 10 cost $6 and include instruction and quad skate rental, and parents can walk out onto the rink to lend a hand. They also offer a family night on Saturday evenigs from 6-8:30 pm and public skating during the week (times vary). Check out their weekly schdule here.

If you want to go ice skating, you have to head to Santa Rosa or San Francisco, right? Wrong! This fall and winter, Marin on Ice comes to San Rafael's Northgate Mall. Open November 10, 2012 through January 13, 2013, Marin County's only holiday ice skating rink features 5,000 square feet of real ice and will be open daily for outdoor skating.

Special sessions at Marin on Ice include Wednesday "Mommy and Me" skating time geared toward young children and their parents, "Family Night" on Tuesday, and "Rock the Rink" on Friday evenings. Skating is $15 per person, which includes skate rental. Private ice cabanas will also be available for rental, and "Skate Buddies" will be on hand to assist beginnners.

Marin on Ice will also offer birthday parties during public skating hours. The cost is $300 for up to 10 skaters, and two-hour parties include a private ice cabana, skate rental for everyone, chairs, a special birthday announcment on Rink Radio, and a ride for the birthday boy or girl on the rink's mini zamboni. The rink's three ice cabanas can be combined so parties can be for 10, 20, or 30 people. Private rink rentals are also available for your group, organization, or business.

It's been a while since we've been to TrainTown, the fun and fantastic miniature railroad located in the town of Sonoma, so we decided recently that it was time for a return trip. It's been around since before I was a kid, and it's the kind of place that takes you back to a simpler time.

Sonoma Train Town offers train-related activities that are fun for everyone from toddlers to gradeschool kids (and adults, too), as well as a selection of carnival-style rides. It's also a short drive from pretty much anywhere in Marin, which makes TrainTown a must-visit attraction for North Bay families.