Another Rainy Weekend to Keep the Telly Off 2-18 to 2-25
Hey Kids! is a weekly feature looking at what’s coming up for families and kids of all ages.
Keep expecting rain, tonight, tomorrow, maybe less on Sunday, and back with a vengeance on the Monday holiday. For many parents, or at least for me, the temptation to keep our kids’ energy at bay by turning on TV for a bit of indoor sanity looms large at times like this.
The truth is, I like TV, a lot. Even in my single and cute Euro chick days in Manhattan, suitors had to schedule around my TV nights. No matter how promising, on Sunday evenings no man could hold a candle to Tony Soprano, Tuesdays were for Kiefer Sutherland and the glorious early days of 24, and it is still with a hint of embarrassment that I recall the six months in which I forfeited all preprandial drinks in favor of “Un Posto al Sole”, a delightful Neapolitan telenovella, which I would then dissect at length with my oversea mother on Saturday mornings.
More recently, the amazing Brick City is an obsession. Grey’s Anatomy has had me hooked since episode one. HBO still commandeers my Sundays with Big Love, and I was giddy during the final two episodes of The Sing Off. And has anyone seen Downtown Abbey on PBS? OMG!
So, truly, what are my grounds to tell my boy he must forfeit his crush on Miranda Cosgrove, and he cannot watch three episodes of Arthur in a row?
Thank heaven for this column and the ability it gives me to unearth activities appealing enough to stave off The Electric Companies of Curious Monkeys for another rainy weekend.
Below are picks with which I am hoping to keep Ernesto amused. We plan to dive right into them, as soon as the closing credits of the Justin Bieber’s epic start rolling….
Be well, stay dry, keep warm and enjoy your children!
Parading
The Chinese New Year Festival is at its swingiest this weekend with the parade on Saturday and the Community Fair on both Saturday and Sunday.
The parade starts at 5:15 p.m. on Market and Second Streets. Elaborate floats, lion dancers, acrobats, stilt walkers and other artists will join Gum Lung, a 250ft golden dragon along Geary, loop onto Post via Powell, then snake along Kearny all the way to Columbus.
The community fair is held along Pacific, Washington and Jackson from Kearny to Stockton and on Grant from California to Broadway. It will stay open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.to 5 p.m on Sunday. It will feature ancient and contemporary Chinese arts as well as dances and music from many Asian countries, all aimed to familiarize the public with the originality of those cultures.
Last but not least, Saturday night is the annual appointment with the great Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt. Organize a team of friends and family and head down to Justin Herman Plaza to unveil clues. The adventure goes from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and moves around the parade and community fair. Your team can sign up for different skill levels, tickets are $40 for adults and $10 for children up to 18 and can be bought on line or at the gathering site starting at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Tulips Tulips Everywhere
Saturday marks the opening of the week long Tulipmania at Pier 39. Everyday until the 27, at 10 a.m. a free tour guides you through the almost 40,000 tulips blooming along the Pier, followed by complimentary refreshments at Fog Harbor House. I suggest going on Sunday, since the weatherpeople seem to believe that it should be the one day with enough sun for outdoors activities.
Finding Bayview
In honor of Black History Month, the exhibit Bayview Hunters Point: Then and Now is opening tonight at Art94124 on Third and Evans. The show at this grassroots art organization and gallery will present the wealth of contemporary and past art to come from this vibrant community.
Just a Little Sun
And since, as I mentioned, Sunday looks like the in the open day, and this is the 3rd Sunday of the month, let the kiddies work the accumulated rainy days energy at Alemany Farm work day scheduled from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Finally, on Monday
Lastly, for the wet holiday ahead, click here for a list of indoors places which will stay open on Monday.
And Then on Tuesday
Just one more…on Tuesday afternoon, at Cherish, a lovely craft studio on Clement and 2nd, children can let their inner fashion mavens loose and create paper dolls dresses. The workshop goes from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Each child will receive 2 paper dolls to outfit for a $20 fee.