With all the free activities going on in Balboa Park this summer, including free concerts, cultural fairs, and access to acres of parkland and gardens to frolic in, I can safely bury all the bones I earn writing this blog and save them for a rainy day.

That’s partly because for the 10th consecutive year, the San Diego Museum of Art is presenting the dog-friendliest free film fest this side of Cannes. If you aren’t familiar with SDMA’s Screen on the Green film series, imagine picnicking on a grassy lawn in a picturesque park setting under the stars with dozens of your friends and neighbors, while classic films are projected on a giant screen.

As with previous summers, each film highlights works currently on display in the museum’s galleries. For instance, this Friday, August 23, Jason and the Argonauts (1963) will bring to life the epic Greek adventures depicted on vases and sculptures in the exhibition Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece. Then on August 6, the colorful Chinese film, The King of Masks (1996) provides the cultural context for many of the paintings, costumes, and decorative objects in SDMA’s Asian galleries.

Concluding the series on August 20, the original, Oscar-winning version of Moulin Rouge (1952) presents the life and times of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec whose posters, paintings, and drawings of the belle époque are featured in the blockbuster exhibition Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Paris.

Now if I could only figure out a way to earn interest on my bones.

Maddie Writes: Dear Cosmos, With the dog days of summer just around the corner, how can my family avoid the summertime blues?

Cosmos: First of all, I should point out that if the dog days of summer were really that bad, they wouldn’t be referred to as “dog days,” they’d be called “cat days.” And secondly, when you live in or are visiting San Diego, there is no such thing as “dog days of summer.”

For instance, just to pick a random day, August 10, a Tuesday, residents can visit free of charge select museums in Balboa Park, including the Museum of Photographic Arts, which is currently featuring Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash.

They can also pick up a Stay-for-the-Day Pass for $35 and add visits to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Viva Mexico at the Mingei, Toulouse-Lautrec’s Paris at the San Diego Museum of Art, along with two other museum visits.

Your family members have day jobs, you say? Fortunately the evenings are when Balboa Park really gets its groove on as Mariachi Chula Vista will be performing a free Twilight in the Park concert on August 10 in the pet-friendly Organ Pavilion. Also that night the Reuben H. Fleet is screening the new IMAX film Ultimate Wave Tahiti (included with the Day Pass) and the Old Globe is presenting the Broadway-bound Robin and 7 Hoods as well as the Shakespeare classic, King Lear.

These are of course just the highlights from one day, as I didn’t even mention all the gardens, walking tours, hiking trails, athletic facilities, or the three all-important dog parks. In fact, by the time I told you everything there is to do in Balboa Park, summer would be over.

As a patriotic pooch, I find so much to be grateful for as America celebrates its 234th Independence Day. I’m also thankful that our nation’s birthday gives us all the freedom to enjoy a three-day holiday weekend in Balboa Park. Here are just a few places to catch the Park’s special brand of cultural fireworks:

Earth Exposed at the Reuben H. Fleet Space Center. Just opened last week, this interactive display of 25 hands-on exhibits explores nature’s powerful forces, like tornados, geysers, and volcanoes, that are continuously re-shaping the world we see around us.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Museum of Photographic Arts. This screening of the classic family flick starring Dick van Dyke and Edison the Dog on July 3 at 1pm will be preceded by a most entertaining performance by Scott Paulson’s Teeny Tiny Pit Orchestra.

SUDS: The Rocking 60s Musical at the Starlight Bowl. This bubbly musical, featuring American 60s classics, ends its run with a bang on July 2–3 at 8pm. The uplifting story of a teenage girl who seeks true love with the help of two guardian angels promises good clean, laugh-out-loud fun.

House of U.S.A. Lawn Program. The annual Sunday celebration actually falls on July 4 this year. No need to fight fellow beach goers for a fire ring when you can enjoy a small town-style Fourth of July celebration, complete with live bands playing patriotic tunes, costumed Uncle Sams, and an all-American picnic menu of hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and apple pie. Dog Bless America!

Active duty military and their families are being thrown a much-deserved bone this summer as over a dozen museums in San Diego County offer them free admission now through Labor Day (September 6). Part of the Blue Star Museums program, the seven participating museums in Balboa Park are:

-Japanese Friendship Garden
-Mingei International Museum
-Museum of Photographic Arts
-San Diego Hall of Champions
-San Diego History Center
-San Diego Museum of Art
-Timken Museum of Art

The National Endowment for the Arts teamed up with Blue Star Families, a prominent military support organization, and hundreds of cultural institutions across the country to give military families an opportunity to bond during or following deployments while discovering the rich cultural resources available to them.

Of course summertime is always an ideal time to go museum hopping in Balboa Park. In addition to each participating museum’s regular collections, military families can also see for free Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash at the Museum of Photographic Arts, the San Diego Museum of Art’s Heroes: Mortals and Myth in Ancient Greece, and ¡VIVA MÉXICO! — Heroes and Artisans at the Mingei, among other great exhibitions.

This is also a great opportunity for non-military families to show their own support for men and women in uniform by visiting these participating museums throughout the summer.

As if there weren’t enough reasons to spend part of your Memorial Day weekend in Balboa Park, the good folks at the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages have graciously scheduled the Ethnic Food Fair for this Sunday, May 30.

One of my favorite annual events, for obvious reasons, the Ethnic Food Fair allows prolific eaters like me to sample the culinary treats of 32 different cultures. Where else can you gobble up French pastries, shepherd’s pie, tamales, egg rolls, bratwurst, falafels, pasta, Norwegian waffles, pierogis, paella, and more in one location?

No, the Horton Plaza food court doesn’t count! Especially since the Ethnic Food Fair accompanies these great eats with a smorgasbord of music and dance performances from various countries throughout the day, along with friendly folks wearing authentic costumes and displaying traditional arts and crafts.

Once you’ve had your fill, I suggest heading to the Casa de Balboa to catch two very different photography exhibitions that close June 6: Faces of the Frontier: Photographic Portraits from the American West, 1845–1924, organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, at the San Diego History Center; and State of Mind: A California Invitational, featuring contemporary work of the last decade, at the Museum of Photographic Arts.

Also ending a long run on June 6, Motion Mania: Move Your Mind at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center presents 30 fun activities that explore basic principles of the physics of motion some people take for granted, such as the optimal angle to throw a tennis ball for maximum distance.