I don't know about you, but I have hours of video footage of my children from birth to the present day. The problem is, it's all lying in various places around the house on tapes, discs, and computers. Marin mompreneur Caroline Kandell created Real Life movies to solve just this problem and make something moving and beautful in the process. Caroline used her extensive experience in television production to put amazing films from your families video footage and still photos. We caught up with her to ask a few questions about herself and Real Life Films.

Please tell us a little about yourself. What’s your background?

I am married to my best friend, Andrew, who constantly keeps me laughing. I am blessed to be a mom of two sweet and crazy girls! My career began in New York City, producing TV commercials. About ten years ago, I began directing longer format programming for TV. I mostly filmed high-profile celebrities, finding unique ways to tell their stories through narrative, beauty imagery, and capturing their real-life moments.

Marin Mommies is happy to present a guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear.

Are you wondering about what to make for dinner tonight? AFamilythatEatsTogether.com has just what you are looking for—meal plans. A Family that Eats Together believes that meal planning will save you time and money. How? Well, if you plan your meals each week, we believe you can cut your grocery bills in half and save you the stress of wondering what to make each night for dinner. Meal planning is simple. You pick the recipes you want to make each week and then you plan your grocery list around what you need. When you shop for only the items you need, you eliminate wasting food that isn't eaten, thus saving you money. A Family that Eats Together believes in bringing the family table back by eating together as a family. We provide you quick and easy recipes that are easily adapted to be kid-friendly by making the meals we, as adults, want to eat, kid-friendly in one dish.

One lesson we've all learned is that growing a vegetable garden requires patience—and lots of it. While you can wish and hope and plead for plants to grow and fruit to ripen, it's all going to happen on its own time. Case in point: tomatoes. We spend pretty most of July and August staring at the same hard green tomatoes, waiting for some sign that they would ripen. "Any day now" we told ourselves.

Patience, however, is rewarded. First the cherry tomatoes started to turn red, or in the case of the Black Cherry variety, purple. About a week later some color started appearing on the big boys—the Royal Hillbilly and Paul Robeson heirlooms. Now, it's a full-on tomatomania. The plants are churning out more tomatoes than we can eat, so we're giving quite a few away (which are never refused, of course), and finding creative ways to use our late-summer bounty.

Everyone's favorite variety of tomato seems to be the Black Cherry. They're sweet, but with an acidic edge. They're really really good and definitely on the list to grow next year. The Riesentraube cherry tomatoes are very tasty, too, which is a good thing since there are tons of them.

Even though school's back in session, it's still summer. In fact, September usually sees the nicest weather of the year in San Francisco and other places along the coast. Take advantage of sunny September and head over to the Park Chalet at San Francisco's Ocean Beach to catch a fantastic family performance at the free Summer JAMBand Family Festival.

This Sunday, September 11, the whimsical and exuberant Octopretzel takes the stage at 3 pm, followed by Charity and the JAMBand at 4 pm. It all takes place on the family friendly Park Chalet's expansive lawn, where they'll be serving up tasty food, house brewed beers, and cocktails for you to enjoy during the show.

Octopretzel, a group of five Bay Area musicians and educators, performs folk-inspired music that crosses genres and cultures, incorporating a wide array of styles including bluegrass, rock-and-roll, klezmer, African drumming, lullabies, and more.

The Park Chalet is located across from San Francisco's Ocean Beach at 1000 Great Highway (at John F. Kennedy Drive). For more information, visit www.parkchalet.com.

Congratulations to Katie M., winner of our Little Froglet Ultimate Year 'Round Hoodie giveaway!

Little Froglet's Ultimate Year 'Round Hoodie is available in sizes 2T to 5T retails for $45 and can be ordered online at www.littlefroglet.com.

You can read our review of the Ultimate Year 'Round Hoodie here, and our mompreneur interview with Little Froglet founder and Marin mom Nicole Cibellis here.

Photo courtesy Little Froglet

What's the best way to experience San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences? Sleep over on one of their Penguins + Pajamas events, of course. You'll get what amounts to a private viewing of the Cal Academy's favorite attractions and exhibits, as well as speciall activities and presentations, a late-night snack, and breakfast in the Academy's café. Sound like fun?

My 8-year-old son and I had a chance to check out Penguins + Pajamas on their final "Summer of Slither" sleepover at the end of August. Backpacks, sleeping bags, and other overnight essentials in hand, we trekked to Golden Gate Park on a foggy Saturday evening, and, after parking in the park's Music Concourse Garage, lined up outside the Academy entrance with the rest of our fellow campers. Check in between 6 and 7:30 pm and select your sleeping area—you can choose from the aquarium, the swamp, African Hall, or the Islands of Evolution exhibit, then stow your gear in a tent in the museum's West Garden, and you're good to go.

When we're travelling around the Bay Area, we always keep on the lookout for family-friendy (and budget-friendly) places to grab a bite to eat. We find ourselves in the west Sonoma County town of Sebastopol every fall and winter for apple picking, pumpkins, and Christmas trees, and one of our go-to places for a quick lunch or snack is Mom's Apple Pie, located on the north side of town at 4550 Gravenstein Highway North.

To be honest, the lunch part is just an excuse to go to Mom's and chow down on what she's famous for—homemade apple pies. As you might have figured out by its name, Mom's is all about the pie. Fresh baked, handmade apple pie takes center stage here. I think it's probably the best I've ever had, anywhere, and if you visit Mom's at the right time of year (August through November only) you can get apple pie that's made with Sebastopol's own Gravenstein apples. To make things even better, the Gravenstein apples come from the trees growing right behind the shop. The rest of the year the pies are made with Granny Smiths—but the Gravenstein pies are a special treat.

Starting in 2012, you need to be a member of Gabriel Farm's CSA to participate in apple picking at the farm. You can sign up for a membership at the farm; the share consists of a case of six half-gallon bottles of the farm's Asian pear juice ($35). Non-members can still visit the farm store.

Late summer and early fall are apple season, and plenty of the tasty fruits can be found north of Marin in western Sonoma County, particularly in the area around Sebastopol, which is famous for its apples. Early every September, we head up there for a visit to Gabriel Farm, a family-run, certified organic farm on fourteen acres in the Graton area on the north side of Sebastopol. Gabriel Farm is especially fun to visit at this time of year because you can head out into the orchard and pick your own apples!

Gabriel Farm is open for apple picking on weekends from late August or early September through October from 11 am to 4 pm. (They're open this Monday, Labor Day, too.) Keep in mind they close at 4, so if you want to spend some time picking apples on the farm, count on arriving no later than 3:30 pm. Gabriel Farm also offers weekday visits and school group or group tours by appointment; call them at (707) 829-0617 to make arrangements.

Marin's SingersMarin, an association of choral groups and a provider of quality musical education, is now offering a limited number of new member full tuition scholarships to young singers who show the promise of a great talent and demonstrate some financial hardship.

Scholarships are offered for SingersMarin's young women’s groups, Celestial Voices and les étoiles. These advanced level ensembles provide superior vocal and musicianship skills while teaching young women to sing at the highest level of artistic excellence. This program has been in operation since 1996 and has won several local and international awards, including the Marin County Women’s Commission Award for “excellence in serving the community and developing the extraordinary ensemble of young women.” The groups have toured overseas to perform in Austria, South Africa, and other international destinations. Many of the graduates from the program have gone on to have professional careers in the performing arts.