Here are our picks for great events and activities for children and families this weekend. Find more events for the whole week in Marin and beyond in our Family Events Calendar.

Friday, February 21

• LEGO Play Day
  Mill Valley Library
  Friday, 2:30–4 pm
  Get in touch with your inner engineer! Free play with Lego supports creativity, problem solving, and reading skills. Age 5 and up. No sign-up needed. Location: Creekside Room, Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue. For more info, call (415) 389-4292 x4741 or visit their website.
• Parents' Night Out
  Marinwood Community Center, San Rafael
  Friday, 5–10 pm
  Drop off the kids and enjoy a night out! While you relax, the kids will be having fun with the Marinwood camp staff playing games, park time, arts, crafts, snacks & more! This event often sells out—register early! For ages 2–10. Cost: $20; $18 sibling discount. For more info and registration call (415) 479-0775 or visit their website.
• Young Performers Theatre: Fantastic Mr. Fox
  Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
  Friday, 6:30 pm, Saturday, 1 pm & 3:30 pm, Sunday, 2:30 pm
  Roald Dahl’s much-loved story follows the vain attempts of three farmers, Boggis, Bunce, and Bean, one fat, one short, one lean, to get rid of the fox who regularly steals food from their farms. Outwitted at every turn, the farmer’s ploys backfire. Fantastic Mr. Fox devises a plan, which will ensure full stomachs for not only his family but all his friends, who celebrate with a sumptuous feast. Tickets: $10. Purchase tickets here. For more info, visit their website.

Saturday, February 22

• Stafford Bass Derby
  Stafford Lake County Park, Novato
  Saturday, 8 am–noon
  Join rangers for this annual fishing contest! Prizes will be awarded for the first fish, biggest fish, and total combined stringer weight of fish caught. A limited number of fishing poles and bait will be provided first-come, first-served to beginner fishermen thanks to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A fishing license is required. No pets (except service animals) are allowed at this park. Meet at Stafford Lake Park, 3549 Novato Boulevard in Novato. Park entrance is $5 per vehicle. For more info, contact ranger Josh Gilmore at (415) 446-4424 or visit their website.
• Marin Country Mart Farmers Market
  Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing
  Saturday, 9 am–2 pm
  Enjoy the best local and organic produce, flowers, pastured meats, seafood, organic cheeses, yogurt and milk, breads, baked goods, pasta, confections, olive oil, and brunch and lunch offerings! Kids can take a pony ride and visit the petting zoo (10 am–2 pm), try out some arts and crafts (9 am–2 pm) and listen to music (9:30–10:30 am). For more info, visit their website.
• Free Performance: Little Beats Music Program
  Mill Valley Community Center
  Saturday, 9–11 am
  Get a taste of the new Little Beats early childhood music education program this Saturday with a free musical performance. Popular Bay Area children's musicians essence and Rachel will perform, joined by the Little Beats music program staff. Location: Mill Valley Community Center lobby, 180 Camino Alto. For more information, call (415) 383-1370 or visit their website.
• Wildcare Family Adventures: Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds
  San Rafael
  Saturday, 10 am
  Take a family stroll led by Wildcare naturalists around Las Gallinas Ponds and learn about the family life of the waterfowl that overwinter in this area. We’ll talk about nesting habits, mating displays, baby bird foods, and what it takes to raise a bird family every year! It is not all about birds. We’ll also look for river otters who are often seeing swimming in the ponds. Meet at Las Gallinas Ponds trailhead. For more info, visit their website.
• Free Day at Charles M. Schulz Museum
  Santa Rosa
  Saturday, 10 am–5 pm
  Enjoy free admission to the museum all day and a special constellation wall as part of the Starry, Starry Night exhibition. Check out the museum in our article here. Location: 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa. For more info, call (707) 579-4452 or visit their website.
continue reading »

This time of year always has a way of making us ready for the warm days of spring and summer. And of course with those thoughts of warm months come dreams of our spring and summer vegetable garden! For the last few years, we've really made an effort to put in a substantial vegetable garden in our backyard. The children love to help pick out the seeds, plant them, water the plants, and pick the vegetables (and eat them, too), so it's a fun, educational, and tasty, experience for them.

Our first task of the season is always to go get our seeds. We always go the heirloom route—they're so much more fun than your plain old (ahem) garden variety vegetables—and we buy our seeds at the Petaluma Seed Bank, the West Coast outpost of the fantastic Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Mansfield, Missouri. They stock a vast array of seeds for a wide variety of vegetables, many of which you probably didn't know existed.

One of our favorite Bay Area destinations for hand-on science fun Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science. Located in the hills high above the UC Berkeley campus, this science center has entertained and educated generations of kids, and continues to offer fun science exhibits and activities. We visited this week to check out their awesome new exhibit Xtreme Bugs and had a great time.

Xtreme Bugs, on view at the Lawrence Hall of Science through September 1, 2014, allows visitors to get an up-close view of the fascinating world of bugs through giant insect and arthropod models that move and buzz. You'll find over 100 of these enormous animatronic bugs situated throughout the museum and even outside, and you'll encounter such critters as an orchid mantis, a monarch butterfly, a tarantula, honeybees, and a 15-foot-long Japanese hornet.

Not only can you examine these big bugs up close, but you can listen to the sounds they make, watch them move and learn how they play a critical role in our environment. My kids loved the extreme size and realistic look of these amazing bugs. It's truly fascinating and engaging for kids and grownups of all ages. Some of the bugs were accompanied by an interactive iPad component, too. This part of the exhibit is located in one of the rooms in the back of the building on the first floor. You can visit some of the giant robotic bugs' real-life counterparts in the Backyard Zoo, which features a tarantula, a scorpion, a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach, and an Argentine ant colony.

Families looking for an easy, scenic, and educational hike should check out Shollenberger Park in Petaluma. Located just a short drive from Marin, the 165-acre Shollenberger Park lies alongside the Petaluma River, and offers miles of hiking trails that run through the wetlands and hook up to other trail systems in the area.

Park in the lot off Cader Lane in an industrial park off Lakeville Highway in southern Petaluma. While it seems a little odd that this outdoor recreation spot is located in the middle of an office park, it definitely feels a world away once you hit the trail. Trails are flat and even and hikers, cyclists, and walkers of on-leash dogs are all welcome.

Being in the middle of a wetland area, expect to see a ton of waterfowl and other birds on your walk. We saw Canada geese (of course), several diffferent kinds of ducks, coots, Red Tailed Hawks, and even a pair of Northern Harriers. If you have binoculars, definitely bring them along on your walk. You'll also enjoy sweeping views of the Petaluma River as well as Mount Burdell to the south.

I love it when I find a dish that everyone in the family loves and that's healthy, economical, and easy to make, too. This Chinese-inspired chicken and broccoli stir fry is all of those things. Serve it with some plain rice or Asian noodles and it's a complete dinner that comes together quickly.

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

This summer, the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito offers a variety of exciting summer Discovery Camps for children ages 3 to 8. Weekly camps start June 2 and run through August 22. Kids can sign up for a different camp each week and enjoy guided exploration and open-ended creative play. The museum's experienced educators and camp counselors will be on hand to help provide direction and guidance for the campers. General registration starts Tuesday, February 18, 2014.

New offerings for 2014 include a Junior Counselor program for kids ages 9–12 and a new camp theme, Inventing with Art. There's also an additional extended care hours for morning sessions, as well as the an option to order lunch for your child from the museum's Bean Sprouts Cafe & Cooking School.

The museum's 2014 camps include an expanded Big Discovery Camp for three-year-olds, an afternoon Summer Camp Sampler featuring some of the most popular camp themes, and a multiple week discount—get an extra $25 off when you sign up for four weeks, $50 off or five weeks, $75 off for six weeks, and $100 off for seven or more weeks.

Gung hay fat choy! Sausalito's Bay Area Discovery Museum opens on a Monday (something that happens rarely) for its annual Chinese New Year Festival. The festivities take place today, February 17 (Presidents' Day) from 9 am to 5 pm. At the this celebration of the Year of the Horse, the whole family can find something to do. Try your hand at traditional Chinese calligraphy, construct a kite, see a vibrant performance by the Chinese Performing Arts of America Youth Group, dine on delicious Chinese food, or make your own sweet wonton (they’ll even cook them for you).

You can also learn about the Chinese zodiac and enjoy an exciting performance by the Dragon Horse Lion Dance Team (10 am) and the lion dancers of the Marin Chinese Cultural Group (2 pm). Lion dance performances take place in the museum's Festival Plaza (performances will be in the Discovery Theater if it's raining).

Are you a new mom in Marin looking for some emotional support? Awakening into Motherhood is a new group in San Anselmo that helps new moms to navigate the full range of motherhood in a safe, non-judgemental space. The group seeks to provide a nurturing environment of connection and support that helps each mom find more power, pleasure, and balance in her life.

The group begins on March 1, 2014 and runs for six weeks. The cost is $65 per group. Sessions are held on Saturdays from 10 am to noon at the Essex Center, 412 Red Hill Avenue, 2nd Floor, Suite 17 in San Anselmo.

Awakening into Motherhood is facilitated by Sophie Darch McEntee, MA, LMFT, a Marin mother and psychotherapist with over a decade of experience helping women connect more deeply with themselves.

For more information on this workshop, contact Sophie Darch McEntee at sophiedmcentee@gmail.com or (415) 816-7086.

Whether you're heading up to Lake Tahoe or hanging around home for "Ski Week", there are plenty of fun things to do with the kids during their time off! Check out our list of 10 fun family activities and outings in Marin and beyond for mid-winter break.

• Take your future olympians skating at Snoopy's Home Ice (call first for skating hours) in Santa Rosa (check out the Charles M. Schulz Museum across the street for even more fun).
• Tour the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield for a sweet treat.
• Go have some fun and play in the snow.
• Hike the Tomales Bay Trail in Point Reyes.