Site News

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.

This holiday season, Marin Mommies has taken the trouble out of finding local Christmas tree farms and lots with our new interactive Christmas tree map!

Click on a Christmas tree marker on our customized Google map to open a popup window for that location—clicking on a link in the window will take you to a listing with location details, hours, and contact information for that tree farm or lot, as well as information about tree types and special features like gift shops, petting zoos, complimentary refreshments, and more.

The Marin and southern Sonoma County Christmas tree farms and lots currently listed on the map some of our and our readers' favorites. If we've missed one that you think should be included, please let us know and we'll consider adding it to the map.

Go to the Marin Mommies Christmas Tree Map »

Are you a Marin mom making and selling something extraordinary on Etsy? If so, tell us about it! We're looking for some local moms who sell their handcrafted products on Etsy for an upcoming feature on Marin Mommies. If you fit that description, please contact us and tell us about what you're doing.

We're specifically looking for Marin or Sonoma county residents who are creating items of interest to families, such as baby and children's clothing, toys, art, etc. Please tell us a bit about yourself, your work, and of course include a link to your home page on Etsy.

Announcing the winner of the 2009 Marin Mommies Pumpkin Patch Poll: Peter Pumpkin Patch at Spring Hill Farm! This is one of our favorite pumpkin patches and, judging by the fact that it won first place by a huge margin (41% of the total vote), is the favorite of a lot of other people as well. Second place goes to Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch (18%), and third place to the Tolay Fall Festival (13%). Congratulations to all three, and thanks to everyone who voted for in the poll.

Peter Pumpkin Patch is kind of out in the middle of nowhere (which is part of the fun) on a real working farm that normally produces the yummy Spring Hill Jersey cheese that you may have seen in farmers' markets or stores around town. The Peter Pumpkin Patch is a classic old-time pumpkin patch. We've been going there for the past six years, and it's definitely grown in size and scope to be a major autumn production.

Every parent has old Halloween costumes lying around the house, and of course they all need new ones for their children every October. To help you out, we've set up a new Halloween Costume Exchange forum where you can offer up your old ones or post what you're looking for this season. As always, you need to be a registered Marin Mommies user to participate in the forums, but registering is free and easy, so why not sign up now?

Remember, you can send private messages and email to registered Marin Mommies users through the website. Click on a member's username in their post to access their profile page, and then click on "send private message". You can also send an email by clicking on the "contact" tab at the top of the page and filling out the form.

We finally went ahead and created a Facebook page for Marin Mommies, so go ahead and become a fan! You can also reach it by clicking on the Facebook icon and link in the left sidebar. We're also on Twitter, too, in case you aren't following us yet.

We're excited to announce that Marin Mommies has won Best Local Blog in San Francisco from Nickelodeon's Parent's Picks Awards! We'd like to thank all our loyal fans and readers for their support. You can see all of the San Francisco-area winners, in categories ranging from Best Art Class to Best Toy Store, by visiting gocitykids.parentsconnects.com.