Saturday, October 3rd, Mar Vista park holds its annual Fall Festival, and this year’s theme is Green!

The festival runs from 10am to 4pm, and there will be bouncy houses, face painting, games, prizes, an art show, a Kidz Go Green Zone, booths with Eco solutions, products and info, and live entertainment all day long. Food and drinks will be sold, or you can bring your own picnic.

Mar Vista Park, 11430 Woodbine Street, LA 90066. For more information, check out their website, MarVistaGoesGreen.

Our LA City parks are a tremendous resource, and here in Mar Vista, we make great use of ours. Saturdays are all about soccer, with games starting at 8am and running all day long. This Saturday marked Mar Vista Mom’s debut as a Soccer Mom after all these years, and I must say, it went very well. Lots of kids enjoying the beautiful day and getting some exercise.Best part? The 6-year-olds’ division doesn’t keep score.

Looking for something to do Saturday night with the whole family? Try the free screening of Finding Nemo at Mar Vista park. Show starts at dusk, or 8pm ish. Bring a blanket or beach chairs to sit on. Call 310-398-5982 for more information. Mar Vista park, 11430 Woodbine Ave.

On the other hand, if the grown-ups are out sans kids, the comedy at the Fanatic Salon might be just the ticket. The current show is called Trans4merz, and it starts at 8pm. Only $10!

The Fanatic Salon, 3815 Sawtelle Blvd. Call 310-795-7469 for more information.

Hotel for Dogs will start at dusk Saturday night, August 1st, in Mar Vista park, which is probably around 8:15pm these days. Bring a blanket and maybe some beach chairs to sit on. There will be bouncy castles for the kids and refreshments will be sold, unless you want to bring your own. Come out early for the Doggone Funny Dog Show!

Next show August 15th: Finding Nemo!

Bring your blankets and beach chairs and come on out for a summer movie experience! The show starts at dusk, which is around 8:00pm, so it’s best to arrive a little earlier to get a good spot.

Factoid: The movie came out 27 years ago, and in the original version, during the famous bike chase scene, the “government agents” who are chasing the kids are brandishing weapons, like big shotguns, at the little kids. But those weapons have been magically, digitally removed from the version you’ll see tonight at the park — or the one you may rent from Blockbuster. Apparently it was deemed inappropriate for our times. If anyone knows what year they were taken out, I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Right in our own Mar Vista park! Ahnjel Ali teaches a class on Saturday mornings, and let me tell you, it’s a butt-kicker. Here are the pertinent details:

• Classes are on Saturday mornings, and start promptly at 7 — that’s AM.

• meet on the south side of the park, near the roller blading rink.

• bring a mat, 2-lb dumbells, and 5-lb dumbells,

• be ready to rumble!

There’s a lot of fast walking and the dumbells are put to good use! I was tired but not so much that I couldn’t walk after; what’s the point of that? There’s also good conversation along the way. 

The class costs $20 for a drop-in, or $10/class if you buy a 6-session series. A new session started today, but the summer schedule is a little crazy, what with 4th of July and vacation travel, so the next class will be on July 11th, then the 18th, 25th, then August 22 and 29th.

(Disclaimer: Contact Ahnjel to confirm the class schedule as the summer goes on — just in case — or to check on the Fall sessions: Majid.Ahnjel@yahoo.com.)