Last weekend, my daughter and I went to see Karen K and the Jitterbugs on stage at the Regent Theatre. After the show, we waited as Karen’s adoring pint-sized fans came up one by one for a post-show hug, then we sat  down with her for a chat about music and community. After spending minutes with Karen Kalafatas (that’s what the K is short for), you can’t help but like her unique blend of city savvy and southern charm, even if you are determined to disrelish her for being talented, witty, pretty, and great with kids.

Karen K and the Jitterbugs cut their kindie music chops in Brooklyn, NY, where Karen and her family moved from last June, but she is no stranger to Beantown. She and her husband have roots in this area – he grew up here and they both have family nearby. They actually met here years ago, while both were working with City Year. That passion for building community has stayed with Karen and is evident in her shows, her music and her classes.

It's time to grab those hiking shoes or a good pair of sneakers and prepare to go a little wild this week, as we show you plenty of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors in and around Oyster Bay. You and your family can hike at Muttontown Preserve, where you'll likely see people on horseback as you visit the ruins of King Zog, the last Albanian monarch's castle. Shu Swamp (try saying that three times fast!) has a lovely toddler-friendly loop trail with a pond where you can feed the brown trout, sticklebacks and other fish. Plant lovers will enjoy the grounds at Planting Fields with two indoor greenhouses and outdoor specimen plantings. Birds of prey, snakes, and lizards, both captive and wild can be seen up close at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary. Enjoy!  

Coming up next week; we'll show you some exceptional places to sign the kids up for classes in Oyster Bay.

If you've got a kid in elementary school, happy parent-teacher conference week! Of course the students aren't the only ones being evaluated. In this edition of our biweekly links roundup, we highlight one teacher's reaction to his rating and a really cool op-ed that makes the case against testing by quoting a beloved E.B. White book.

We've also got the scoop on a cool new public art exhibition, a new baby movie matinee, the first day of school in September and what's blooming at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Last week, I took my kids to the Boston Children’s Museum for an afternoon. It had been a while, and the kids acted like they were visiting old friends: “Let’s go to the beauty parlor in Boston Black. There she is! Oh, it looks like she has lost a lot of hair since we last saw her.” “Let’s go climb in the Construction Zone! Remember that time we hid from you up in the top?” That was the sort of thing I heard for most of the afternoon, as we hit all our favorites. But we also made some new discoveries, and I think my kids now have some new old friends they would like to go back and see again. There are three new exhibits at the Boston Children’s Museum, and they are definitely worth a visit: Big and Little, OddAnimals, and Native Voices.

[UPDATED: February 18, 2013]  We realize the number of summer camps in NYC can feel overwhelming. There are literally hundreds of day camps to choose from in the five boroughs, and it seems like new ones pop up every year.

All of these notable NYC summer day camps debuted in summer 2012 with innovative and enriching programs, and they're back this summer, too. Kids can create awesome robots, make like Jeremy Lin on the basketball court, start on the great American novel, commune with nature, or grab a hammer and nails and start building. These camps sound so awesome we want to go!

We're always adding new bloggers to our Mommy Poppins team, and we're thrilled to welcome NYC schools and education expert Blythe Grossberg to the fold. Blythe will be writing posts about NYC schools. For her first post, Blythe shares info about one of the hidden gems of the New York City public school system: dual language programs.

Available at all grade levels from pre-K to 12th grade, dual language programs are open to English language learners (ELL) and students whose first language is English. A bilingual education can help kids succeed in our multicultural world.

Learn more about how dual language programs work and some of the best bilingual programs in NYC public schools. 

Seems like we were just talking about the Polar Express, and here it is already time for Easter Bunny trains rides! Times flies, and so does childhood, so we’d like to give your NJ kids a special treat: a free trip on the Easter Bunny Train and an Easter Egg Hunt with the family on a Delaware River Railroad Excursion out of Phillipsburg, NJ. Read on for how to enter this fun springtime contest.

It’s not often that first-run movies and crying, sleeping, or just-waking babies are mentioned in the same sentence. But at several local cinemas, it’s a regularly scheduled event. These theaters offer baby-friendly matinees - special programs that give moms, dads, grandparents, and caretakers the chance to see a new, top-rated film – crying babies welcome!

A comfortable and early daytime setting and a baby-friendly environment where parents can park their strollers and socialize with other parents with infants are common among these theaters. Lights are kept brighter and the volume lower, and no “shush”ing required.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show - with your baby.