Shana Tova - Happy New Year!

I want to wish all my Jewish readers a shana tova, a happy new year. I'm about to start cooking for the holiday, but wanted to share a post from the past, with some links and explanations for the holiday!

If you're not Jewish, the holiday of Rosh Hashana may be something of a mystery. It's the Jewish new year! Instead of blowing party horns, we blow the shofar, a ram's horn, to wake us all up and make us look at our lives and how we are living them. It's a time for reflection and change - for the better.

Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, we're supposed to be introspective and figure out how we want to improve ourselves. We give more charity. We ask others for their forgiveness for anything we've done wrong in the past year. We start the year with a clean slate and part of that is making sure we've worked out any issues with other humans.

What to do in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend

A few fun activities for the upcoming weekend:

-For the football and Stanford fans out there, head to Stanford for Cardinal Kids Day at Stanford Football, a day of family fun on September 12. Enjoy interactive and educational activities, the chance to meet Stanford student-athletes, and then get ready for the Stanford Football home opener against Central Florida at 7:30 p.m. All kids 8th grade and under receive free admission with advance registration - use the promotional code CDM-STANFORD when getting tickets here. More info on Cardinal Kids Day at Stanford Football here.

-Combine a farmer's market with country dancing this Saturday, September 12 at Bay Street in the East Bay. Along with the farmer's market you can take free dance lessons, which they're calling the Country Dance Hoe Down. Professional Dance Instructor Tytus Bergtrom provides country dance lessons from 11-1, while the market goes from 10-2.The farmer's market offers produce, fish, baked goods, flowers, cheese, organics and oils. It's at Bay Street Emeryville, 5616 Bay Street.

Date Night: The Middleman Economy at Kepler's Books - and Giveaway

If you're looking for a night out with or without the partner, here's one to check out. Bay Area author Marina Krakovsky will talk about her new book "The Middleman Economy: How Brokers, Agents, Dealers, and Everyday Matchmakers Create Value and Profit." Given how the internet makes it much easier to do many purchases and deals directly, why go through a middleman, like a broker, agent or dealer? For the book, Krakovsky interviews people like:

-Drew Rosenhaus, apparently the most powerful agent in the NFL who gets better deals for clients but angers team owners.
-LaJuan Stoxstill-Diggs, an appliance flipper on Craigslist who makes money by buying used washers and dryers and selling them for profit, making happy both the people who want to get rid of their junk, and those looking to buy used.

The book and lecture might get you thinking about different ways to run your life, or your business. This talk is part of the Peninsula Arts & Letters series.

And you can possibly win a free copy at a Goodreads giveaway.

Where: Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
Where: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: free, but get them here

Coming Up: Kevin Henkes comes to Kepler's in Menlo Park

Kevin Henkes is one of my favorite children's authors. Our favorites of his include Lily's Purple Plastic Purse and  Julius: Baby of the World, but he's also written Chrysanthemum, Kittens Last Full Moon, The Little White Rabbit, Owen,, Good Day and Lily's Big Day. He's a Caldecott Medalist too (I love the illustrations). Well, he's coming to Kepler's Books on October 1 and you can see him - with or without your kiddos. Ha ha! He'll be talking about his new book Waiting. Read more about the book here.

When: Thursday, October 1 at 6 p.m.
Where: Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Road, Menlo Park
Tickets: tickets are free, but RSVP here. Maybe they'll close the event if it's full.

Go to the National Parks for Free with Every Kid in a Park Program

If you have a fourth grader, you're in luck. The National Park System is offering a new Every Kid in a Park pass this year.

The program, which started September 1 and goes through this school year, allows fourth grade students to obtain a special pass good for them and their families to visit any federally managed land/water site. This includes more than 2,000 national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries. For this program, the pass allows in the fourth grader and three adults, or a car full of people for drive-in parks. This all leads up to the National Park Service's 100th birthday in 2016.

Here's where to get the Every Kid in a Park pass and more information.

What to Labor Day weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area

If you're like me, Labor Day weekend snuck up on you and you're trying to figure out what to do. Here are a few ideas!

-Bank of America's free Museums on Us program offers free museum entry per B of A (or Merrill Lynch) card on Saturday and/or Sunday. See a full list of participating Museums on Us sites here (you'll need to do a little clicking, since they don't have permalinks to regional museums).

-Chabot Space and Science Center is hosting a LEGO Laboratories event. This takes place every Sunday and has an engineering challenge focus. This quarter (through October) they're doing a space theme, a scale model of a Saturn V rocket. Challenges are based on age. The fee is $7/nonmember, $5/member plus admission.

-Go to the Cartoon Art Museum for their exhibit on Darth Vader and Friends.

-Check out the Begonia Festival in Capitola. There's a sand sculpture contest, you can help create a mural made entirely of begonias, watch a nautical parade featuring begonia covered floats, take a workshop to create wearable begonia creations, participate in a fishing derby, rowboat races, watch a film screening on the beach, do arts and crafts projects, eat, listen to music and more.

-Shakespeare in the Park is free on weekends through September 27. This year it's Romeo and Juliet.

-Outdoor movie night tonight at the Oakland Zoo at 6:30. The movie is Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Remember that BART service between San Francisco and the East Bay is halted this weekend (September 5-7) for track repairs.

Check out the calendar of events for families at SFKids.org.

Coming Up: Superhero Day at Santana Row

Santana Row is hosting a Mommy & Me and Daddies Too, event called “Superhero Day!” This kids’ club features free entertainment, interactive games, hands-on activities and educational activities designed for parents and their preschool aged children. Dress as your favorite superhero and meet other superheroes. They'll have live musical performances by Andy Z, Silicon Valley Ballet School and Action Day Primary Plus. Plus, arts and crafts, face painting, music, balloon art, story time and more. Meet at Park Valencia in front of Maggiano’s to pick up your activity sheet.

When: Tuesday, September 8, 10 a.m. to noon,
Other kids' club activities are held on the second Tuesday of every month, May-December
Where: Park Valencia at Santana Row, San Jose