Bring out the beads, masks and music–it’s Mardi Gras Weekend!  No masks? No worries! Make your own at one of the cool events we’ve corralled. Or if you’re ready to get outside and mix it up instead, there’s parks to be cleaned, arboretums to be explored and mountains to be hiked.  If relaxing entertainment is more your thing, take in some classic cartoons, science films or a touching play this weekend.  With the whirlwind of activities, March is certainly coming in like a lion, not a lamb!

In my former life, I sat in on a lot of focus groups for moms and I can say with pretty good authority that one of the top fantasies of most moms is to have a personal chef. Face it, no matter how much you love cooking, making dinner for a family (not to mention lunches and breakfasts) is downright exhausting. Just thinking about what to make every night for the next 18 years is enough to make me start to shake.  

Kate's Carried Away is an in-home, Cordon Bleu trained personal chef who plans your menu, does the shopping, and then comes to your home, prepares 7-8 dishes for you for the week that you just reheat and have dinner on the table any night. Carried Away will customize your family's menu for your tastes and can make all type of dishes that you like, working within any dietary restrictions necessary.

Cheaper than having someone come to your home every day and healthier than take out, Carried Aways services might make sense for some families who don't regularly have time to cook. It is also a great idea for a baby shower gift, a Mother's Day or birthday treat, or for sudden emergencies, like extended business travel. [Or because you got it for 58% off from Poppins Perks. Read to the bottom to find out more.]

One of my daughters’ favorite exhibits at The Brooklyn Museum is the historic rooms, with recreated interiors of Dutch Colonial homes. But they were always upset that they couldn’t go inside them to play. At the new exhibit, Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains, kids can go right into a giant tipi. Read on to find out more details about this cool new exhibit.

I am notoriously cheap, I’m sorry, frugal when it comes to children’s clothing. And why shouldn’t I be? Children are messy, destructive and have growth spurts that rival The Hulk’s. They ball up their shorts and T’s and stick them under the bed and you don’t find them until Christmas. Their favorite foods are chocolate, grape juice, and spaghetti sauce. They even have the audacity to bleed on their garments. Why would I spend my hard-earned money on this sort of behavior?

Visiting the MoMA on a weekend morning is one of our family's favorite, free winter-time activities.  Usually after we have finished one of the kids' programs at the MoMA my girls are burned out and ready to go home. Not last weekend. After completing our program, we went to check out the new Material Lab, a hands-on interactive space where kids can explore and play.  During the next hour and a half my girls were so taken with the space that they forgot that they were "dying of hunger" and I practically had to drag them out the museum doors so we could have lunch before 3pm.

You might not think of a casino as a family friendly destination, but Foxwoods, near Hartford, has some surprisingly fun—and wholesome—options for kids. From Ice skating on their brand new outdoor rink, an enormous arcade with current and vintage games and a museum dedicate to Connecticut's native Americans, a trip to Foxwoods has a lot to offer.

Pregnancy is a strange and beautiful time. You get to grow an entire new human PLUS experience such joys as nausea, back pain, varicose veins, and more. Luckily, prenatal yoga can help with the various discomforts of pregnancy. It’s also a lovely way to commune with your growing child (and belly), prepare yourself for labor, and meet other expecting mamas. Here are six great prenatal yoga studios around the city.

The tail end of the Mid Winter recess finds mini New Yorkers with a lot of options for the weekend.  Families can choose from some cool nature programs, kid’s theater, music and puppet shows plus great goings on in the museums.  If you haven’t hit the rink at Bryant Park, you better move fast, it closes this weekend (the other indoor and outdoor rinks will still be open for a little while yet.) This coming Wednesday would be the 107th birthday of Dr. Seuss and you can bring the kiddies to celebrate a little early at the Fort Greene Park Visitors Center on Sunday.  

Planning parents may want to know about the wonderful International Children’s Film Festival that happens in March (tickets are on sale now - and going fast), the perfectly family friendly Philadelphia Flower Show, The Brooklyn Baby Expo and that our 2011 Summer Camp Guides are up to help busy families get a jump on summer plans.

Our best bets are below, along with information on a sweet deal from the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria , read on to find out how to get it.  Have a great weekend.