In the News

Guests can sing, clap and dance along to classic and original songs while partying with their favorite characters as they join the cast in the ultimate interactive show — SeaWorld® San Diego is pleased to announce the premiere of Madagascar Live! Operation: Vacation, an original live musical show featuring the characters from DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: DWA) beloved “Madagascar” franchise, Saturday, June 15, 2013, at the park’s renovated Mission Bay Theater.

“SeaWorld San Diego will be one of only two theme parks in the United States where fans can see this incredibly funny and engaging new show,” said Rick Schuiteman, vice president of entertainment. “In addition to our park, our sister park Busch Gardens Tampa will open its show May 18. We welcome these characters to our family.”

The 20-minute musical show follows the antics of Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, King Julien, Mort and the Penguins during a vacation adventure. The production will feature rock/pop music performed by a live band and include classic and original songs. Guests will even get the chance to be part of the party! The stage production will run year-round and will feature up to eight shows per day. The characters also will conduct meet and greets with park guests.

Mission Bay Theater is currently under renovation. Modern theater modifications include a new stage, screen, lighting, scenery, special effects and more than 700 theater-style seats.

Madagascar Live! Operation: Vacation replaces the park’s popular 4-D movies, which have included Sesame Street presents Lights, Camera, Imagination! in 4-D, which ran from 2008 to 2012; R.L. Stine’s Haunted Lighthouse, from 2003 to 2008; and Pirates 4-D, which ran 2000 to 2003.

“Madagascar” is one of the most successful CG animated move franchises of all time, grossing more than $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office. In 2012, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” grossed more than $740 million at the global box office, becoming the highest grossing film of the series.

SeaWorld San Diego is open year-round, including holidays. Park admission is $78 for ages 10 and older; $70 for ages 3 to 9. For more information, visit www.seaworldsandiego.com.

Images courtesy of SeaWorld San Diego.

SoCal Kids San Diego now accepts guest posts on a wide variety of family-related topics including (but not limited to): books, music, technology, education, travel, nature, healthy living, crafts, holidays, DIY, photography, decor, San Diego, food/recipes, and more.

I would love to share your passion with my readers! Please read the guidelines and contact me should you have any questions.

Guidelines:

• Must be family and/or kid-related.
• Must be original and include at least one image (with copyright info).
• Must not read like an ad for your business.
• Can include information about the author as well as a link to the author’s website.

In addition to exposure on the SoCal Kids San Diego website, I will also promote guest posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and in my e-newsletter (should the timing work out).

Please visit the SoCal Kids San Diego link “Submit Your Article” for more information and to access the submission form.

A photograph is a moment forever frozen in time. All those snap shots taken with our phones that get messaged, emailed, posted, and/or downloaded. We can share quickly with family and friends – and do so often!

A professional photographer gives us a certain style and completeness that we can’t get ourselves. The lighting, the angle, the background – all precisely calibrated by a professional photographer. The ability to find the magic of each subject is what sets them apart. Is the art of photography in the set-up of the shot? Or is it in the editing?

When I asked photographer Leigh Castelli that very same question, she said:

For me, the art of photography can come in many different forms. For some photographers, it’s in the shooting that their passion shines. For others, it’s all about the creative edits that make their photos come alive. For me, it is EVERYTHING!  I love working with new families and I enjoy every step of the process. From finding new and exciting locations to setting up the shoots and working with individual personalities, it’s all part of the creative process. I love the thrill of snapping spontaneous shots while working together with all of my clients to create wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

Leigh, a mother of two, began her career in Philadelphia working on TLC’s A Wedding Story and A Makeover Story. Moving to Chicago, she spent seven years as Associate Producer on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Now in San Diego, Leigh is busy photographing people, products, places, events, and nature. Capturing those moments in her own unique style.

 GIVEAWAY

This giveaway is for one session for up to five people with Leigh Castelli Photography. Five digital images are also included! The shoot can take place either at Balboa Park, Pacific Beach, Carlsbad, or Oceanside Beach.

Please read the terms and conditions before submitting your entry.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!

Terms and Conditions

1. You MUST be a SoCal Kids San Diego e-newsletter subscriber to enter this giveaway.
2. Entry deadline is Saturday, May 11, 2013 at 7 p.m.
3. Winner will be notified by email. Please make sure to add [email protected] to your address book to ensure you receive notification should you be the lucky winner.
4. Winner must respond within 24 hours of email notification or forfeit prize.
5. This is a random drawing using randomizer.org.
6. No purchase necessary.
7. Must be a U.S. resident 18 years of age and older to enter.
8. ONE entry per person/household, please.
9. Session will take place at one of the following areas: Balboa Park, Pacific Beach, Carlsbad, or Oceanside Beach.
10. If you opt to “like” Leigh’s Facebook page as a bonus entry, please email me and let me know. Otherwise, it won’t count.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!

All images courtesy of Leigh Castelli Photography.

Leigh Castelli Photography is an advertiser with SoCal Kids San Diego.

Connect with Leigh on Facebook and Pinterest!

The San Diego Zoo’s Discovery Days: Garden Festival will celebrate the Zoo’s fabulous “Shades of Green” foliage with displays, horticulture talks, tours and tastings over Mother’s Day weekend, May 9 – 12, 2013.

You can check out the Zoo’s eight accredited gardens: bamboo, ficus, acacia, orchids, palms, cycads, coral and aloe (that can all be seen on a walking tour) and visit the Zoo’s stunning orchid house, open all four days of the event.

Display booths will feature information including composting, carnivorous plant bogs, and making your home garden more beautiful and bountiful. Guests can enjoy self-guided walking tours, a scavenger hunt and kids activities. They can chat with a Zoo horticulturalist or insect keeper and may meet a researcher from the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research who is working to save plant species around the world and in our own backyards.

Discovery Days is included with the price of admission or Zoo membership. For more information, visit www.sandiegozoo.org.

Join the City of Oceanside for its Fifth Annual Green Week Celebration from April 22-28, 2013.  Green Week offers a week full of free community events to celebrate Earth Day and raise environmental awareness. Some of this year’s events include the 3rd Annual Environmental Film Festival on April 25th, and Green Fair, Loma Alta Creek and Beach Cleanup on April 27th and an Electronic and Data Destruction Event on April 27th.

On the evening of Thursday, April 25, the Green Oceanside team will partner with the Oceanside Museum of Art to present the 3rd Annual Environmental Film Festival. San Diego is one of the only three cities in the US to debut the groundbreaking film Trashed  starring Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons. This film will examine the extent and effects of the global waste problem. This evening will also be honored with an appearance from Captain Charles Moore, one of the stars of Trashed  as well as the Founder of the Algalita Marine Research Institute. Besides Trashed, guests will be able to enjoy some environmental films made by Oceanside students as well as view OMA’s limited exhibition Enviroscapes: Jen Trute Retrospective. In addition, Pier View Way, immediately in front of OMA, will be closed for the evening to accommodate food vendors. Enjoy a variety of dinner and desert options while enjoying a free outdoor film and museum event.

On Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Loma Alta Creek and Beach Cleanup will be held. There will be three sites along Loma Alta Creek and two beach locations. For more information and to register, www.creektobay.org.

The Green Fair, also taking place on Saturday, will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jr. Seau Beach Amphitheater. This is North County’s largest Earth Day celebration and will be loaded with engaging activities for all ages including dozens of booths with vendors selling eco-friendly products, local nonprofits educating attendees on environmental issues and a resale corner with items from some of Oceanside’s most fashionable apparel resale stores. Additionally, there will be a mobile bike repair company available to perform repairs on the spot. Plus, community performances and demonstrations, live entertainment, delicious local eateries and the final judging and award ceremony for the Oceanside Student Create to Educate Contest make this a fun, family friendly event.

For more information and a complete list of Green Week events, visit www.oceansiderecycles.org.

The 4th annual Your Natural Baby Fair has expanded this year with a bigger venue, more vendors, and an outdoor kids zone!  Taking place at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina on Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., this is not your traditional baby fair.

Hosted by Natural Baby Pros and Nature’s Whisper, Your Natural Baby Fair focuses on natural supports and holistic health from before your baby is born through childhood. Classes are geared towards parents, babies, and health care/birthing professionals, and are open to the public.

This year, the keynote speaker is Dr. Sears, MD FAAP, author of the newly revised and updated The Vaccine Book. Dr. Sears will be speaking on the topic of ‘Vaccine Decisions for Pregnant Women, Infants, and Families.’

For the kids, Hullabaloo will be performing at 11:30 a.m. and Kid Ventures will be hosting the Kid Zone with all sorts of fun activities.

The Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina is located at 1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego 92102. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Natural Baby Pros website.

GIVEAWAY

My friends over at EZ Squeezees are one of the sponsors of Your Natural Baby Fair. They were kind enough to drop me a couple tickets to give away. Don’t you just love friends like that?! They are the masterminds behind refillable, resealable, dishwasher and freezer safe food pouches for kids – and mom and dad, too! Put in soups, smoothies, or favorite pureed food for a healthy meal on the go.

Please read the terms and conditions BEFORE entering this giveaway.

Terms and Conditions

1. You MUST be a SoCal Kids San Diego e-newsletter subscriber to enter this giveaway.
2. Entry deadline is Friday, April 19, 2013 at 6 p.m.
3. Winner will be notified by email. Please make sure to add [email protected] to your address book to ensure you receive notification should you be the lucky winner.
4. Winner must respond within 24 hours of email notification or forfeit prize.
5. This is a random drawing using randomizer.org.
6. No purchase necessary.
7. Must be a U.S. resident 18 years of age and older to enter.
8. ONE entry per person/household, please.
9. Two tickets will me mailed to the winner.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAD ENDED.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for this giveaway. I am not a sponsor nor do I endorse any event or product. Opinions are my own.

As part of the national Great American Cleanup, I Love A Clean San Diego’s signature event, the Creek to Bay Cleanup, will take place on Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 9:00am to 12noon at 92 cleanup sites countywide. Participants will help preserve the local environment by cleaning up local outdoor areas, including beaches, bays, creeks, canyons, parks and urban areas. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to participate.

The Creek to Bay Cleanup is one of a handful of community engagement projects coordinated by I Love A Clean San Diego each year. The organization has been mobilizing volunteers around beautification and pollution prevention projects since 1954. Just last year, ILACSD engaged 31,000 volunteers to remove 180 tons of debris from our local environment.

A complete list of cleanup sites, of which 25 are coastal and 67 are inland, is available on the event website, www.CreektoBay.org.

 Images courtesy of I Love A Clean San Diego.

A chalk wall for kids.

Project Wildlife, San Diego’s primary resource for wildlife rehabilitation and education, invites the public to view their life-saving work at their 4th Annual Wildlife Baby Shower event. The shower will be held Saturday, April 6, 2013 from 10 am to 2 pm at their Central Triage Center in Linda Vista.

This family-friendly event happens only one day each year during the beginning of the bustling and exciting baby season.  Attendees will have an inside look at Project Wildlife’s Central Triage Center, observe the triage team in action, view a wide variety of Animal Ambassadors and also participate in a fun wildlife festival full of fascinating booths, entertainment, games and food.

“Each spring and summer, Project Wildlife receives and cares for thousands of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife babies that are brought to our Triage Centers by San Diegans for medical attention and care,” Project Wildlife CEO Lisa Culver said. “Our annual Baby Shower is a great way to engage with the public and teach them what to do if they happen upon wildlife in need, and how they can contribute to Project Wildlife’s efforts.”

Established in 1972, Project Wildlife works with purpose and passion on behalf of wild animals in Southern California, encouraging sustainable solutions through resolution of wildlife conflicts, volunteerism, animal rehabilitation, and conservation education. Project Wildlife performs 16% of all wildlife rehabilitation in the state of California with a release rate that is 12% higher than the national average.

Shower attendees are encouraged to bring monetary donations or gifts of food, medications and other supplies to the event. A shower Wish List and Amazon.com gift registry can be found at www.projectwildlife.org. The event will be held at Project Wildlife’s Central Triage Center at 887 ½ Sherman Street, San Diego, CA 92110.

For more information on Project Wildlife, their annual Baby Shower and how to help, please visit www.projectwildlife.org or call 858-866-0555, ext. 201.

Images courtesy of Project Wildlife.