Monster Trucks are smashing, crashing, and monster-mashing their way through Dodger Stadium Presidents Day weekend, in a high-flying, car-crushing explosive event of demolition, speed and, powerful stunts. In short, Monster Jam is coming to town!

The arrival of the Monster Truck stampede is pretty darn exciting on its own - but get ready to rev your engines, because we've added the excitement of a give-away! One truck-lovin' Mommy Poppins family is going to win a free family four pack of tickets, with great seats to see Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam on February 18, 2012 at Dodger Stadium!

   I have to admit that motocross really isn't my thing. I'm much more likely to get excited by the idea of spending an evening curled up with a copy of Pride and Prejudice than sitting in an arena watching motorcycles fly through the air to heavy metal music. But I'm always up for trying something new—especially when the prospect makes my kids go wild. So when we were invited to check out Nuclear Cowboyz, the FMX (freestyle motocross) extravaganza, I put on my best tweeds and went to see what surprises a pyrotechnic motocross show might hold for us.

After watching the promo video, I became intrigued. The footage promised daring tricks, fire and lasers. Is Nuclear Cowboyz the Cirque du Soleil of motocross?

I love making lists in the first few months of the New Year!  And here’s a great list to start tackling: 30 Things to do with your Kids in and around Fairfield County before They Grow up.

Moving with kids is challenging from start to finish.  Surprisingly, 2 year olds are not that helpful with packing.  And while they are infinitely more helpful with unpacking (paper everywhere), sometimes they can be a little too helpful (broken china everywhere…). On the up side, moving with kids is never dull!  If you’re moving to Connecticut from out of state, or even from within the state, there are a lot of ways to make the transition easier for both you and your kids.

Where can you watch Monster sized trucks (12 feet tall and 12 feet wide) fly 35 feel up into the air and over 14 lined up cars? Monster Jam is a three hour show meant to wow and thrill you and the kids. Trucks can go up to 100 mph on top of 66 inch tires! A lucky Mommy Poppins CT subscriber will take a family of 4 to the show of their choice Feb 11th or 12th for FREE!

Go Chuck! The Staten Island Zoo's famous weather-predicting groundhog didn't see his shadow, which allegedly means we'll have an early spring. (Not like we needed him to tell us that.) If your kids are worried they won't get a chance to play in the show this winter, we've written about a bunch of nearby resorts that make their own so families can go skiing or snow tubing.

Of course the weather doesn't need to cooperate for you to enjoy winter culture. This week we did a post on kids' stage shows we're excited about, and we also have roundups of cool kids' concerts and family film festivals like BAMkids, which takes place this weekend.

Outside the city, our Connecticut site followed in NYC's and LA's footsteps by sharing a list of 30 things to do in Hartford County with kids. If you're taking a trip up that way, it's worthy of printing out. Speaking of traveling, NYC public school midwinter break is coming up. We've got lots of great day trip ideas in our Winter Fun Guide, including indoor water parks and no-car destinations.

If you want to stay on top of everything that's going on in New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, Boston or Los Angeles, you can subscribe to our free newsletters. Read on for everything we covered on Mommy Poppins NYC this week.

Besides being the first weekend in February (and another weekend closer to Spring), it's also a big weekend for football fans since the Giants are in the Superbowl! Although many will be getting ready for the game, there is still lots of fun to be had prior to Sunday's main event. This weekend's activities include maple sugaring, mozzarella making, Mad Science, and a winter day on the farm. Read on for all of our picks and you can always find additional weekend events in our Event Calendar.

This unusually warm weather has definitely thrown us for a loop. Instead of sledding, snow shoeing and snowboarding we are hiking, skateboarding and riding bicycles this winter. Not to complain, however it's a bit strange not to have a blanket of snow over everything now that it is February! Speaking of February, there's lots of fun stuff to do this weekend. Feel like a show? The Cinderella Marionette show is sure to be a fun and entertaining outing as is Oliver at the Ridgefield Playhouse. Learn how to survive the winter outdoors at the New Canaan Nature Center or go on a bear hunt at the Roaring Brook Nature Center. Check the events below for more fun things to do this weekend.