Fri, Sept 3 - Sun, Sept 6

1. Go back in time to the Wild West at Old Sacramento’s GOLD RUSH DAYS.
2. Be inspired and entertained at the CHALK IT UP! FESTIVAL.
3. Build a Football Display at Home Depot’s KIDS WORKSHOP.
4. Relax and enjoy STORYTIME at Barnes & Noble.
5. See YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN put on by the Fair Oaks Theatre Festival.
6. CRAFT WITH ARTWORKS at the Central Library.
7. Last weekend to pet the BARN ANIMALS and RIDE THE STEAM TRAIN at Hagan Community Park.
8. Take a GUIDED NATURE WALK at the beautiful Cosumnes River Preserve.
9. Enjoy dancing and great food at the Sacramento GREEK FESTIVAL.
10. Watch WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY at Fairytale Town’s Movie Night.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

P.S.  It is the last weekend to enjoy most of Sacramento’s Spraygrounds…so take advantage!

Fri, Aug 27th - Sun, Aug 29th

1. Picnic with your family at the HOT SUMMER NIGHTS CONCERT in Elk Grove.
2. Build a School Bus at Lowe’s BUILD AND GROW CLINIC.
3. Be entertained and eat refreshments at the Robbie Waters Library GRAND OPENING.
4. Relax and enjoy STORYTIME at Barnes & Noble.
5. Enjoy music, water, fun and sun at the CHILDREN’S MUSIC FESTIVAL.
6. Take an entertaining and history-rich UNDERGROUND TOUR in Old Sacramento.
7. Pet the cute BARN ANIMALS at Hagan Community Park.
8. Eat ice cream and travel to the Wild West at Fairytale Town’s CRYSTAL ICE CREAM DREAM.
9. Meet animals from the AMAZING AMAZON with Wild Things.
10.See YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN put on by the Fair Oaks Theatre Festival.

[April Chavez is the lucky winner of the 4-pack of tickets!  Congratulations!  Thank you to everyone who entered to win.  Stay tuned for more great giveaways in the future.]

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is roaring into town September 9th - 12th with Barnum’s FUNundrum!, a new jumbosized, un‐miss‐able event celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of legendary P.T. Barnum, the Greatest Showman on Earth!  From the moment that you arrive, the momentum explodes as The Greatest Show On Earth comes to life in a way that can only be inspired by the greatest showman who ever lived.  Featuring 130 performers from six continents, almost 100,000 pounds of performing pachyderms, cowboys, pirates, and mermaids, it is a super-sized spectacle so massive you just can’t miss it!

An All Access Pre-Show begins 1 hour before show time on the arena floor.  It is a wonderful opportunity for you and your family to interact with performers, try on costumes, and see some of the famous Ringling animals up close!

Our family considers it a special treat to go to the circus each year.  The kids look forward to it with great anticipation and are just mesmerized throughout the show!  For a look at what you can expect this year, click here.

To make it more affordable, here’s a discount offer:  4‐for‐$44 when you use the code MOM
Enter the promo code when purchasing tickets on Ticketmaster or mention it at the box office!
(No double discounts, valid on all $23, $17, and $14 tickets)
3 Ways to Purchase Tickets:
1. Visit www.ticketmaster.com and enter Promo Code MOM
2. Visit ARCO Arena Box Office and mention Promo Code MOM
3. Call (800) 745-3000 and use Promo Code MOM

We have a 4-Pack of Tickets for The Greatest Show on Earth to giveaway to one lucky Sacramento Sidetracks reader!

To enter to WIN, all you need to do is the following 2 things:

1. Click here and “Like” Sacramento Sidetracks on Facebook.
2. Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you want to win the tickets.

The giveaway will close Sunday, August 29th at midnight and the winner will be announced Monday, August 30th.  The winner will be selected at random using Random.org.  Good Luck!

Fri, August 20th - Sun, August 22nd

1. Picnic with your family at the HOT SUMMER NIGHTS CONCERT in Elk Grove.
2. Bounce and eat pizza at Bounce Spot’s FAMILY BOUNCE NIGHT.
3. Roast marshmallow’s and listen to stories at the MAIDU FAMILY CAMPFIRE EVENING.
4. Meet a Geologist and do hands-on GEOLOGY activities at the Discovery Museum.
5. Giggle at SLEEPING BEAUTY IN SPACE at Fairytale Town.
6. Take an entertaining and history-rich UNDERGROUND TOUR in Old Sacramento.
7. Pet the cute BARN ANIMALS at Hagan Community Park.
8. Take a GUIDED NATURE TOUR through Effie Yeaw’s Maidu Village.
9. Enjoy songs and stories at Central Library’s BABYSIT LAPSIT STORYTIME.
10. See how the pioneers survived Culture Shock at SUTTER’S FORT DEMONSTRATION DAY.

*You can also see details of these events on our Upcoming Events Calendar.

Happy Friday!

This is the place for hands-on science discovery!  The Explorit Science Center in Davis features interactive exhibits, a Discovery Room, and a Wet Lab.  Their mission is to “engage people in science experiments that touch all our lives.”

Whether your kids are already interested in science or you want to get them interested, there is no better place to explore.  My kids are still young and haven’t had any experience with science yet.  We walked in the door and they were instantly in engaged.  They wanted to check out every single fossil in the Discovery Room and know exactly what they were.

We moved on to the interactive exhibits and I was amazed at how Explorit has come up with such fun ways to teach important principles of science.  We learned things like:

What happens to the energy of a moving object.
Which objects fly best.
What happens to your body when you exercise.
How gears work.

To get the most out of it, be prepared to be hands-on right along with your kids.  Each experiment has step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow.  Kids that are over eight may be able to figure them out on their own, but younger kids need help understanding the how and why.  There was a friendly, knowledgeable staff on hand that helped us out when we were a little unsure of how to do something.

Upstairs, we conducted little experiments in the Wet Lab.  My four-year-old loved sending scents through a large tube with a fan and weighing the liquids.  Even as I am writing this post, he is looking at the picture and recalling that he learned “which one was heavier”!  My seven-year-old was in love with the craft room that was filled with recycled materials that she could be creative with.  My two-year-old’s favorite spot was the booth he could sit at and play with plastic molecules.  There was definitely something for everyone!

Check this place out and be prepared for a wonderful combination of fun and learning!

Hours:
Saturdays & Sundays: 11 am - 5 pm (both floors)
Tuesdays: 10 am - 5 pm (first floor only 10-2:00; both floors 2-5:00)

Admission:
General Admission $4.00, Kids 3 and under FREE
*FREE Admission Day is the 3rd Tuesday of each month!
*Admission is FREE on the first weekend of each month to individuals with Bank of America credit or debit cards through the bank’s “Museums on Us” program.

Explorit Science Center
2801 2nd Street
Davis, CA 95618
(530) 756-0191

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Fri, Aug 13th - Sun, Aug 15th

1. Picnic with your family at the HOT SUMMER NIGHTS CONCERT in Elk Grove.
2. Enjoy music, dance, art and food at the BANANA FESTIVAL.
3. BUILD A BUG BOX at the Lowe’s Build and Grow Clinic.
4. Create a BUTTERFLY RING at the Discovery Museum.
5. Enjoy SLEEPING BEAUTY IN SPACE at Fairytale Town.
6. Meet ANIMALS OF THE WORLD at the Carmichael Library.
7. Pet the cute BARN ANIMALS and RIDE THE STEAM TRAIN at Hagan Park.
8. Play games, eat treats, and sing Karaoke at the Central Library’s Summer Reading FINALE PARTY.
9. Take an entertaining and history-rich UNDERGROUND TOUR in Old Sacramento.
10. Visit any one of the NATIONAL PARKS for FREE!

Fri, July 30th - Sun, August 1st

1. Bounce, eat and play at a free FAMILY FUN DAY in Lone Tree Park.
2. Learn all about bees at Soil Born Farm’s WHAT’S ALL THE BUZZ ABOUT? class.
3.Watch THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA at the 24th Street Theatre.
4. Start a ROCK COLLECTION at the Discovery Museum.
5. Laugh along with the PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Civic Theatre West.
6. Enjoy Hawaiian music and dance with the OHANA DANCERS at Folsom Library.
7. Magic, storytelling and puppets at Central Library’s MAGIC READING BASH.
8. Learn JAPANESE COOKING at Whole Foods Market’s class for kids.
9. Play games, eat BBQ, get your face painted at free PARK GRAND OPENING.
10.Last weekend to play at the CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR.

Some of our past experiences are sitting so far back in the archives that I thought it would be fun to  start periodically highlighting some posts that you might like to see.  Here are a few of my favorites!  Click on the picture to be linked to the post.

Exploring Art Beast

Storytime in the Barn

A Funtastic Time at Indoor Playground

The California State Railroad Museum

Sat, July 10th - Sun, July 11th

1. Learn about the Maidu Indians at MAIDU MUSEUM’S FAMILY FUN DAY.
2. Admire wildfowl artworks at the WILDFOWL ART FESTIVAL.
3. Enjoy MONKEY KING: BOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR at Fairytale Town.
4. Construct a paper TRICERATOPS PILLOW at the Discovery Museum.
5. See PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Civic Theatre West.
6. Make a NATIVE AMERICAN CRAFT and learn about the Nisenan Maidu at TrailMix.Net.
7. Giggle at the FROGGY’S BIG SPLASH puppet show in the Rancho Cordova Library.
8. Watch A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM at The Shakespeare Festival.
9. SING ALONG with wild & wacky Mr. Candee in the Courtland Library.
10.Enjoy songs and stories of CYRUS THE UNSINKABLE SEA SERPENT with Francie Dillon.

Fri, June 25th - Sun, June 27th

1. Watch CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS under the stars at Laguna Community Park.
2. Laugh with a singing and juggling VENTROLOQUIST at the Courtland Library.
3. Learn all about bats at the TrailMix.net Store’s GOING BATTY!
4. Build a MONSTER TRUCK at Lowe’s Grow and Build Clinic.
5. Get ready for the 4th and create a STAR SPANGLED WAVER at the Discovery Museum.
6. Last chance to see RILEY THE WILEY RABBIT puppet show in Fairytale Town.
7. Picnic at the POPS IN THE PARK concert in McKinley Park.
8. Enjoy TOY STORY 3 in 3-D at the IMAX Theatre.
9. Splash and play at one of the AQUATIC CENTERS’ pool playgrounds.
10.Eat, ride and be entertained at the PLACER COUNTY FAIR.