If you invested in a pair of eclipse viewing glasses or welder's glass last week for the solar eclipse, we have great news: you're about to get to use them again! As unlikely as it seems, we are to be treated to yet another once-in-a-lifetime celestial event in the sky over southern California, on the afternoon and evening of June 5, 2012. This time instead of the moon passing between us and the sun, our neighbor planet Venus makes a far rarer shadowy appearance known as the Transit of Venus - viewable in LA for the first time since 1882 (and the last until 2117!).

[UPDATED: December 1, 2012]

For our final post about visiting Chelsea with kids, we're taking a look at family shopping in the area. While there are a lot of popular chain stores on Sixth and Seventh Avenues like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and infant emporium Buy Buy Baby, you'll find homey children's toy and clothing boutiques on the side streets filled with eclectic wears and playthings, and in one case a perpetually busy train table. Chelsea is also home to one of New York City's best bookstores for kids, Books of Wonder, which hosts free storytimes and author readings every single week. Here are our top stores for families in Chelsea, NYC.

This week we have a few school tidbits (including one piece of news that should thrill students if not working parents), plus info on Summer Reading 2012, Lemonade Day and Dan Zanes' new line of dishware. And while we're sad one of our favorite water play areas will be dry this summer, we're psyched to see one of the South Street Seaport Museum's long-grounded historic boats back out on the water.

There’s nothing like a summer movie to give families refuge from the heat, a break from the beach, or the opportunity to just sit still for two whole hours. Summer schedules afford us the opportunity to catch all of the latest flicks, but let’s face it, a trip to the theater and the concession stand really adds up. We’ve rounded up Long Island movie theaters with affordable movie programs for the whole family. Whether it’s just mommy and baby or the entire family, there are baby-friendly theaters, matinees screening the biggest blockbusters of the summer, and theaters showing some oldies but goodies. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show,

Announcing the Sizzling Summer Camp Sale! Last year we hosted a big camp sale on our Poppins Perks site and it was so popular, many people asked us if we were going to do it again. Not only did we help hundreds of families save big on summer camps, we also raised enough money to help send five underprivileged teenagers to a week of sleepaway camp in the Catskills with Manhattan Youth.

This year's camp sale is just as great. We've got 15 summer camp programs offering deals of up to 66% off. We have lots of options, whether you're looking for a half-day preschool program, a week of full-day camp or several weeks of full-day day camp. There are even programs for those tricky weeks after school ends in June and those last few weeks of August before school starts again.

Californians are always talking about this proposition or that, trying to make sense of the way we do politics out here. Proposition 39, because it has to do with school and space for all children, can elicit intense feelings of fear, competition, and defensiveness in parents - and confusion in everyone else. What is Prop 39 and why do public school parents get so worked up about it? We'll attempt to explain the whats and whys of Prop 39, in order to help readers consider how we, as adults, can address an issue we emphasize with our children: how to share and be fair.

Looks like it's going to be a monster of a holiday! The Memorial Day weekend is the main event on all of our sites. Lots of summer attractions open for the season this Saturday, including beaches, Governors Island and tri-state area amusement parks, including Victorian Gardens in Central Park.

There are some big openings outside NYC as well. Right across the Hudson in Secaucus, New Jersey, Field Station: Dinosaurs is poised to make a roar with more than 30 animatronic dino robots. Interestingly, Boston's Franklin Park Zoo is opening a similar prehistoric wonderland Zoorassic Park this holiday weekend, in case you're looking for a last-minute getaway. Other great day or weekend trips include strawberry picking at farms on Long Island, in New Jersey and Connecticut, and hitting a suburban beach. You can find even more inspiration on our Travel site.

Of course Memorial Day weekend marks summer's unofficial start. If you haven't figured out summer camp yet, you're in luck: We're running deals on a bunch of NYC summer camps. What you see is just a preview, so be sure to check back next week for additional deals.

Here's what else we shared this week on our NYC site.