Because our emails did not go out last week, we are extending our big ticket giveaway by one day to give everyone a chance to enter to win these great ticket prizes. All entries must be in by tonight at 8pm in order to qualify. We will announce the winner tomorrow, June 16th. Good Luck!

We would also like to announce that we have added classified ads to the site. You can post ads in many categories, including childcare, toys, gear and real estate for sale or wanted. Postings have already started even before we announced them. Find our classified listings in the green tab at the top of the page. It's totally free.

It can be hard to wow! a NYC kid. They've seen it all and can be too cool to be impressed with much. But we're giving away tickets for two shows, Xanadu, and Walking with Dinosaurs , that will make a big impression even on the most jaded New York City kid, or maybe even especially a jaded NY kid.

Xanadu, a little piece of musical heaven

During Xanadu, Melpomene, in just one of several meta comments throughout the production which make fun of the show and other Broadway hits, states that "it's like kiddie theater for 40 year old gays." Xanadu, the remake of the tragically bad 80s flick starring Olivia Newton-John, isn't made for kids, but it will appeal to them greatly.

Read on to find out the ten reasons you should go see Xanadu and find out about our giveaway for Xanadu and Walking with Dinosaurs tickets.

Look at this recipe of fun for kids:

Today we are launching a new page on the site, The Mommy Poppins New York City Neighborhood Guide for Families. This guide is a NYC neighborhood guide specifically written for families. In its pages you will find the best toy stores, parks, shopping, family friendly dining and tons of fun places to visit in each neighborhood. You'll find that each post covers its neighborhood with a unique voice that reflects the style of the community. That's because each post in this guide has been written by a NYC neighborhood blogger, parent blogger or other prominent community member who lives and breathes their neighborhood. We figured, who knows the ins and outs of each community better than them?

Whether you are looking for a fun new place to explore for the afternoon, or new digs to settle for good, we hope our neighborhood guide will excite you to explore some of the amazing neighborhoods of New York and the best places in NYC for kids.

Audra Rox

Outside of the Father's Day selections, these are the events that I thought were the most interesting and worth heading out to this weekend:

The Museum of Natural History hosts an Identification Day. Like a natural history Antiques Roadshow, bring in your backyard finds (shells, rocks, insects, arrowheads, feathers, fossils, bones, pottery, textiles) and have museum scientists tell you what it really is. FREE with museum admission.*

New York City Police Museum is hosting its 4th Annual Family Fair, a fun-filled day of activities including visits by members of NYPD Special Units such as the Mounted Unit and the Emergency Services Unit, games and prizes, face painting, and special appearances by McGruff the Crime Dog and PC the Patrol Car. Children and adults can pose for pictures in police uniforms. And, younger children can practice calling 9-1-1 on the Museum’s emergency simulator. Plus balloons, a Super Slide, hot dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy! FREE.

Reader, Brigette, who won our Mother and Child Portrait Session Giveaway and got all spoiled wants us to equally hook her up for Father's Day.

Brigette says:

I need help coming up with ideas of what to do with my kids for my husband on Father's Day. I can come up with gift ideas, but seem to have lost all creative ability to come up with something to do with/for dad that day.

Since I don't know what kind of Baby Daddy Brigette rolls with I figured I'd cover all the bases. Here's our suggestions for Father's Day activities for dads of every stripe. A bunch of these activities are this weekend, in case you actually just want to let dad chill on the day of, as many of our commenters suggested.

Father's Day Activities for NYC Dads of Every Stripe:

Last summer we posted a great list of the best free and cheap swimming pools in New York City for kids and toddlers. That post is one of our all time most popular posts and it's still a great list. But, there are some new pool options this year and we wanted to share them with you. Find out where the floating barge swimming pool will be docked this summer and two other beautiful brand new places to swim in New York this summer:

Experience Random Acts of Fun at this street game festival. Come Out & Play, the all-free event which runs from June 6-8 turns the city into a playground with everything from massive multi-player scavenger hunts to real life video games to competitive picnicking. Their call is to rediscover the city through play and their lineup is wacky and really fun to read.

This would definitely make a memorable early Father's Day activity for any New York City dad. But, since some games start at 9pm and others include skills you may not be ready to have your kid learn, we have some suggestions for the kid friendly games:

Mom in New Nest

This year, as Mother’s Day dawned I awoke with a sense of anxiety. The red-tail hawk babies had not been seen in the nest for 2 days. I received email after email Saturday afternoon and evening from hawk-watching friends that the parents were bringing food into the nest, but no little white heads popped up; no perfect little hawk-shaped beaks opened. I emailed my friends Lincoln Karim and Beth Bergman, both professional photographers and passionate hawk and nature watchers, saying that I would run to the nest early Sunday morning. At 7am I raced out of the boat with my binoculars and up to Riverside Park to the nest tree, a honey locust standing along the on-ramp to the northbound West Side Highway. There I ran into Cal Vornberger, a renowned urban wildlife photographer (The Birds of Central Park). Together we looked up and saw the mother hawk but no babies.