Family Weekend Events: Dinosaur Show, Star Show and Bowling!

Glad you clicked on our new Grab & Go Kids Planner! Each week, we'll give you the info on the five best family activities or events for the week.

You're time-pressed enough, so we're happy to do the research and find the best things to do and places to go, both locally and within reasonable striking distance.

Look for the kids’ planner each Wednesday, and help us build the planner with your own suggestions and tips — just add them to the comment box. Even if you disagree with our picks, let us know. We want to hear from you!

• A show using giant dinosaur puppets, called Mammoth Follies, is playing this week at the Wells Fargo Center, on Friday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m. This is an awesome show, including song, dance and jokes. Tickets are $17 for adults and $12 for kids. Don't miss the hour before the show, it starts with a huge art party — ideas and supplies provided, you just bring the fun! Contact the box office for more information at 707-546-3600.

• Wild Oats! With rain expected all weekend, staying indoors might be a good idea. On that note, why not check out James McLure’s Wild Oats at Spreckels Performing Arts Center? This rip roarin' old west play should be a hoot for the family. It plays on Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. and on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Tickets are $21 for full and $19 for youths and seniors.

• Crazy Fun on Sunday nights at ! Check in between 6 and 7 p.m. and you pay just $39 per lane. That gets two hours of bowling, shoes, a 12-inch pepperoni pizza and a pitcher of soda! That is a pretty sweet deal for the family to go have some fun. Have little ones with you? No problem at Double Decker. Just ask then to pop the rails up and voila: no gutter balls!

• Call it a Wooleycat good time! A musical geared for kids, presented by Dennis Hysom, begins at 10 a.m. Dennis will perform his songs, rhymes and fairy tales at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Tickets are $5 per person and $4 for arts center members.

• Looking at stars is not only fun but educational, but for the younger set, the stars and sky hold a very magical quality. So much fun can happen with a clear night and a telecope. Check out a special night observation at the Robert Ferguson Observatory Saturday, March 26, at 8 p.m., where you too can experience the magic (if the weather behaves). Cost: $3 for adults and kids 18 and under are free! The event is held at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

"Having a two year old is like having a blender that you lost the top for."      

~Jerry Seinfeld