Blogathon!

This year I'm participating in the WordCount Blogathon. What does that mean for you? My goal is to post on Frisco Kids every day through June. I'll be in good company, with more than 100 bloggers from around the country (possibly around the world) doing the same. By the time you read this post, I'll be in Toronto for the TBEX Travel Blogger conference, so I have a few days of posts ready to go while I'm learning more about travel blogging and networking with other bloggers and sponsors, and also seeing a wee bit of Toronto (my trip is NOT long enough!). More about that later.

Coming Up: Million Dog March

Do you have a dog? Do you love dogs? Then come to the Million Dog March in San Francisco. The event is a "fabulously large dog walk and festival of fun and games." And they're raising money for the Friends of SF Animal Care and Control, to benefit the city animal shelter. You'll be part of a group trying to break the Guinness World Record for largest dog walk. You'll walk three miles through grassy fields, by scenic lakes, by redwoods and over bridges. Then there's a festival with music, vendors, info tables and pet-friendly games and activities.

When: Saturday, June 2 from 10-2
Where: McLaren Park, SF
Cost: $25/advance, $30/that day - includes registration for one dog and its human family, plus a dog bandana and human t-shirt.
Register: here

Activity Hero: Sign up for Camp/Classes on One Site AND Easy Earn Money for Your School - Sponsored

Is your school or organization looking for an easy way to raise money, while also helping parents simplify their lives? Bay Area-based ActivityHero can help. It’s offering a program where your school or organization can get $5 for each new camp or class a parent books using ActivityHero.

ActivityHero was started by Bay Area  moms who, like all of us, found the process of finding and signing up for after-school and summer programming cumbersome, confusing and time consuming. They started a company that makes the process easy. I’ve posted a few times in the past about SignUpForCamp.com, a website that aggregates different summer camp options and allows you to learn about and plan your camp registrations on one site, and coordinate with friends if you want. With similar goals and users, Sign Up For Camp merged with ActivityHero – so now you have camps AND classes all on one website – making it useful year-round.

If you’re interested in getting your school or organization on board, you need to have your representative send the school/organization name to info@activityhero.com. Once you’re in the program, you’ll get $5 for each new class or camp registration (a minimum of two registrations needed to activate payment).

The site has a very strong presence in Palo Alto (485 camps alone within 10 miles of Palo Alto), Berkeley and San Francisco, but covers other parts of the Bay Area as well including the San Jose area. The beauty with using ActivityHero is that many of the camps/classes use the EasyEnroll form, so you only have to fill out the paperwork once . The website uses that information to help you register for multiple classes and camps, so no more filling out forms over and over with the same information. It’s all online and saved.

Disclosure: ActivityHero is sponsoring this post, though Frisco Kids is a big supporter of any website that helps us earn money for our schools, makes our lives easier and helps us find cool things for our kids to do.

Memorial Day with Kids Bay Area 2013

What are you doing for Memorial Day? We're going camping. Here are some ideas for you if you're staying local:

SF ZOO - Hullabuzoo
See the animals AND join a performing circus group. They'll have an inflatable obstacle course and climbing wall challenge. Highlights include a circus performance on Patas Lawn and inflatable bounce house plus basketball hoop in the Pacyderm building.
When: May 25-27 from 11-4
Cost: free with zoo admission; $3/person for climbing wall (though they'll donate $1 to animal conservation programs every time someone gets to the top and rings a bell.

Treasure Island Flea Market
Celebrate the Treasure Island Flea Market's 2nd birthday by visiting! They're having some festive games and activities, including magicians, hula hooping competitions, retro pinball and other things. Learn how to make goat milk soap from one of the vendors. Go for regular admission, or upgrade for the celebration package. For $20 you get admission for two, two chef's specials from the food trucks, two flight of wine samples, and discounts on additional wine tastings or purchases.
When: May 25-26 from 10-4
Cost: $3/person. Free for kids under 12. Free parking and dog friendly.

Coming Up: Maker Faire

Coming up - check out the Maker Faire. Science. Technology. Craft. Art. Creativity. As one visitor calls it: "It's a bit like a family-rated, local Burning Man but not in the desert and without naked people.'

This annual event is sponsored by Make magazine, and it's a great place to take the kids. Lots of tinkerers sharing their innovations and creations. You can admire, you can learn and you can create.

As for performances, the Coke/Mentos demonstration won't disappoint (especially since it's modeled after the Bellagio fountains!). The life-sized mousetrap game is back. There are pedal car races, and battle pond with Battleship type boats. Learn about CAD for Kids, try making your own moldy cheese, learn how to make perfect noodles, make chocolate pudding in 30 seconds or less, learn how to parent young makers, listen to a Girl Scout talk about her high school robotics experience.

Tons of things to do, see and experience.

What: Maker Faire

When: May 18-19, 2013 (Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

Where: San Mateo County Event Center (near 92 and 101). Check here for directions and info on free parking lots.

Tickets: get them at the door for $30/adult, $15/kids 4-12, $20/students 13-20.  Get them at participating stores and save $5 a ticket. Here's a link to ticket info and participating stores (which include Whole Foods. Group and military discounts area available too.

Coming Up: Plowing Play Day at Jack London State Historic Park

Jack London State Historic Park is hosting its 30th annual Plowing Play Day, which is a free family event presented by the North Coast Draft Horse and Mule Association. You'll see harnessing and plowing demonstrations, get free horse-drawn wagon rides, and medieval horseback Skill at Arms. You'll see all kinds of horses (including the famous Clydesdales). Picnic food is available.

What: Plowing Play Day
When: May 19 from 10-4
Where: Jack London State Historic Park (2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen)
Cost: free (but $10/parking)

Coming Up: Moving to Marin - Free Seminar

If you and your family have been considering a move to or within Marin County, California but want to understand about the towns, schools and communities, this seminar is for you! Given by a Marin mom and Realtor, you'll learn about:

-Marin Preschools

-Marin Schools

-Micro climates within Marin County

-Marin communities and towns

-Average home prices per town

-Marin summer camp

-Mortgage update

This informative two-hour seminar is well worth your time. Presenter, Liz McCarthy has been holding this seminar to rave reviews for over three years and continues to receive requests for the next seminar date.

Upcoming dates in Mill Valley:

5/21/13 (Tuesday) 6:45 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

6/11/13 (Tuesday) 6:45 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

Both are at 1040 Redwood Highway, Frontage Road in Mill Valley, in the McGuire Real Estate room.

There's no cost to attend, and you can RSVP here: http://www.eventbrite.com/org/501740771 

To find the upcoming seminar dates and times, go to www.MyMarinHouse.com

Questions? Please contact Liz McCarthy at (415) 250-4929 or email Liz@BayAreaRealEstateSales.com

This post is sponsored Liz McCarthy.