It's Mother's Day weekend and we wish every mother in the universe loads of love, peace and compassion this Sunday, May 13th. If you plan to celebrate the day there are plenty of Mother's Day activities, events and places to brunch in our Fairfield County and Hartford County posts. In Litchfield we love to celebrate by heading out to the Mayflower Inn, the Winvian or Community Table for a nice meal and beautiful atmosphere. Pricey, but well worth the splurge. We've also listed even more events happening for Mother's day in our events calendar so be sure to check that out too. For Mother's Day we wanted to give our readers some extra love so we have a giveaway currently running. It ends this Saturday, May 12th and the winner will receive their choice of either a $50 gift cert for Three Monkeys and Me, a children's boutique situated in lovely Kent, or 2 tickets to see a documentary or foreign film at the Avon Theatre. There's also a little discount in there for any reader in the market for comfy and stylish maternity and lounge wear. And now, here's the weekend scoop!

Happy Mother’s Day!

We’re all about Mother’s Day in Boston this week, with a full calendar of special events that kids and families can do together. From the Watch City Festival that runs Saturday and Sunday, the Spring Open House at the Blue Hill Observatory and concert with Karen K on Saturday to Lilac Sunday and the Duckling Day Parade on Sunday, families can find plenty of things to do. Read on for weekend highlights, and see our calendar for more events.

Our Mother’s Day weekend coverage continued this week with some ideas for Mother’s Day day trips, and some special crafts kids can make for their moms, plus some great places to find crafts for your own projects. And for new moms - a roundup of Boston-area new mothers groups.

Enjoy!

We continue our month-long focus on Chelsea with a look at the neighborhood's best places to play indoors and take kids' classes.

Although Chelsea is filled with wonderful parks and playground like the elevated High Line and community hub Seal Park, it's also home to large number of indoor romping spots. From drop-in play spaces to members-only kid gyms, the Rubin Museum of Art's Education Center to theater, art and cooking programs, here are 17 places for kids to play and learn in Chelsea.

Yesterday, we shared some of our favorite train museums and other places for little choo-choo lovers in and near NYC. But hold on to your conductor hats: Today we've got details on a big bash in honor of National Train Day. This Saturday, May 12, families can head to New York City's most famous and fabulous station, Grand Central Terminal, to mark the 143rd anniversary of the creation of the nation's first transcontinental railroad with exhibits, hands-on activities and interactive displays. If your kid's into trains, you'll want to chug on by to this totally FREE event.

If our 4 Homemade Mother's Day Gifts ideas have given your kids the crafting bug, or if you have your own ideas for making Mother's Day gifts with kids, read on for five great places to get the arts and crafts supplies you need to make something special.

As mothers we experience the essence of life on a daily basis. We care for, nurture, dream, create, feed, dress, bandage, mourn, love, teach and protect our babies (no matter what age they may really be). We learn and grow and fight and love. Hopefully we become better people. Celebrate your mother, your mother's mother, your friends who are mothers and especially celebrate all that you do every day in your role as a mother. It's well deserved and oh so worthwhile! Our CT readers love the great giveaways we do so we thought we'd surprise you with 2 giveaways in one post! And since you ALL are winners, you get a special reader discount for comfy and stylish maternity and lounge outfits by belabumbum.

No, the kids in the picture aren't caught in a net. They're playing in the new Ernesto Neto exhibit down in Chelsea, one of the cool things we posted about this week. Speaking of Chelsea, we'll be exploring this super-family-friendly area throughout May and we kicked off our coverage with our top 50 things to do with kids in the neighborhood. We also rounded up the best outdoor festivals and street fairs going on throughout the month, and we profiled the Queens County Farm Museum, one of 40 historic NYC sites vying for grants from Partners in Preservation. You can help pick the winners by voting for your favorite spot on our Facebook page.

Outside NYC, our New Jersey site has lists of the best family-friendly biking routes and hiking trails in case you're looking for an active day trip. Our Boston site has suggestions for easy-to-make homemade Mother's Day gifts. And our Travel site has a review of the Malibu Dude Ranch in Milford, Pennsylvania.

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

There's nothing as priceless as family photographs that capture your beautiful children before they grow up. It's one thing that can't be put off until later; you've got to grab those cherubic faces before they change. Professional family portraits are a wonderfully special gift for family members. With Mother's Day and Father's Day right around the corner, we asked some of NYC's top professional photographers who specialize in family portraits to offer deals just for our readers.