I hear from so many people who make overly ambitious New Year’s resolutions, only to discover by mid-January how difficult they are to keep. Well, I’m here to tell you that Balboa Park not only makes it easy to keep your resolutions, but fun too! Here’s how:

Common Resolution #1: Take a Daily Walk/Run

Balboa Park’s new marked trail system offers a range of paths for all fitness levels that encompass a wide variety of scenery and terrain. Track your progress using the handy mile markers.

Common Resolution #2: Spend More Quality Time with My Kids

Between playground and picnic areas and dozens of cultural institutions that present kid-centric activities, you will never run out of things to do. Just click the Just for Kids tab on each organization’s main page at www.balboapark.org to learn more.

Common Resolution #3: Exercise My Dog More

In addition to taking your best friend on your daily walk, three leash-free dog parks in Balboa Park provide ample grounds for running, fetching, and frolicking with new friends.

Common Resolution #4: Start a New Fitness Program or Sport

Balboa Park boasts the entire gamut of athletic facilities, including a swimming pool, tennis courts, softball fields, an archery range, a velodrome, an 18-hole golf course, a gymnasium … the list goes on.

Common Resolution #5: Spend More Time in Nature

Not only does Balboa Park have miles of hiking and biking trails through its canyons and landscaped grounds, it also features over a dozen beautifully maintained gardens.

Whether you are hosting out-of-town guests, got pups at home for the school holiday, or are in town for the big bowl game, Balboa Park offers plenty of diversions to keep you from chasing your tail around all week. For quick reference, I have listed in no particular order the five must-sees for the week spanning Christmas Day to New Year’s Day. (Click here for a schedule of special holiday hours and closures.)

1.   1. Star Trek: The Exhibition. Original sets, costumes, and props from all series and movies. The exhibition is in its final weeks, and admission grants access to all other Air and Space Museum exhibits, including the Bonnie and Clyde car.

2.   Poinsettia Display. The Botanical Building’s annual holiday gift features over 500 poinsettias festively arranged to nicely complement an already staggering collection of botanical wonders from around the world. Oh, and it’s free.

3.   The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. A single ticket gets you into one of the three new IMAX films on the recently installed state-of-the-art seamless dome screen and the exhibition Animal Grossology.

4.   The San Diego Zoo. OK, this is a no brainer, but if I didn’t include it readers would be asking, “Why isn’t the zoo listed?” A word of advice: it will be very busy, so get there early and head straight for the Panda Research Station.

5.   Kimono As Art. See the main part of the exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art, and then hop over to the Timken Museum of Art to see more of these brilliantly colored, large-scale silk kimono.

Barkley writes: Dear Cosmos, I’ve noticed on rainy days like we’ve had this week that my mom and dad get a little bored and antsy. What do you recommend they do when the weather gets so gloomy?

Cosmos: Those humans! What’s a little rain? That’s what fur is for!

Well, first thing would be for them to brave the elements and take you out for a nice walk, ideally to one of Balboa Park’s three dog parks: Nate’s Point, Morley Field, and Grape Street. There you can run around and play in the rain to your heart’s content.

Once you’re home all warm and dry, your folks should head back out to Balboa Park to take advantage of some of the great indoor activities. There are over a dozen museums all clustered within easy walking distance, many accessible via covered arcaded walkways. Though they could spend almost an entire day in one of the larger museums, like the San Diego Museum of Art or Natural History Museum, they can also each pick up a Balboa Park Passport for $39 and sample all 13 museums at a savings of over 50% off regular admission prices! By the way, this is also an excellent way to get pesky out-of-town guests out of the house this holiday season.

And for great evening entertainment in the Park this time of year, there are nightly performances of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas at The Old Globe and three new IMAX films at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center’s recently renovated theater. (I recommend Animalopolis, of course.)

One of my favorite holiday treats in Balboa Park is seeing the Botanical Building bursting with red star-shaped flowers as part of the annual Poinsettia Display. More than 500 individual plants decorate the building from now through January 7, 2009, so be sure to check it out before they’re gone. Better yet, see them today, which happens to be National Poinsettia Day!

Among my fondest puppyhood holiday memories are the times I tirelessly chased model railroad trains around the Christmas tree. Fortunately human pups can still forge similar memories with a visit to the Lego Train Exhibition at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. Now in its seventh year, the elaborate and colorful display is one holiday tradition that gets better with age.

Meticulously assembled by the Southern California LEGO Train Club, the four main railroad lines encircle a microcosm of American town and country, which features skyscrapers, playgrounds, strip malls, campsites, a railroad yard, and harbor. The centerpiece of this year’s installation, however, is the 15 foot long double-decked suspension bridge, which may be the longest LEGO train bridge ever made (outside of Denmark, of course). Another novel addition is Booty Bay. No, not that kind of booty. I’m talking about a multilevel pirate village with ships and a wild assortment of LEGO characters, including trolls, elves, gnomes, and pirates.

Kids of all ages will marvel at the details, especially such quirky touches of humor as Santa Claus eating at an In-N-Out Burger, a Star Wars villain riding through town on a motorcycle, a cow tipping incident, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse enjoying the view from their penthouse suite.