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.

As someone who really likes to get her paws dirty, I’m always happy to find family-friendly activities like this Saturday’s Mudfest at the Spanish Village Art Center willing to accommodate. The free day-long event (10am–4pm) on May 22 offers a wide variety of opportunities to learn the joys of playing with clay or to just sit back and watch the fun.

Sponsored by folks who really know their dirt from the Clay Artists of San Diego and the San Diego Potters Guild, Mudfest consists of clay games and activities for beginning, novice, and experienced potters alike. For example, the No-Hands Throw contest has participants throwing on a potter’s wheel using only their elbows, feet, or snout instead of their hands. In Siamese Tandem Throw each partner throws on the wheel using opposite hands. There will also be Blind-Folded Throw, Relay Team Throw, and Largest Thrown Vessel contests.

In the children’s area, youngsters can sculpt their own animals, paint decorative tiles, or add to a group project, like a large-scale clay dragon. There will also be short lessons on the wheel for adults and displays of finished ceramics to view and purchase.

Green Family Day at the Fleet

Once you are done playing in the clay, I recommend heading over to the big fountain in front of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center to chase, er, watch miniature solar powered cars being test driven by their makers as part of that museum’s “Green” Family Day.

Indie writes: My family’s yard needs some serious TLC. Is there some place in Balboa Park where they can get ideas on the best trees to plant for my benefit and theirs?

Cosmos: Funny you should ask. I just took advantage of one of Balboa Park’s free Offshoot Tours and gained valuable insight into some of the best types of flora that thrive in San Diego’s climate.

This particular tour, offered on the second Saturday of the month, focused on the Park’s majestic palm trees. The volunteer tour guide, Steve Wichmann, was a landscape designer by trade and served up a wealth of information on the dozens of varieties of palms around the Park’s Prado area and Botanical Building. In addition to showing us how to identify the different palm trees and their parts, he discussed growth rates, maintenance requirements, and ideal growing environments.

Though they all suit our canine purposes equally well, I can now tell the difference between a Californian and Mexican palm and a King and Queen palm, among others.

If your family would like to branch out even more, there are also Offshoot Tours that explore other types of trees in Balboa Park (third Saturday) as well as the cactus and succulents housed in the Desert Garden (fourth Saturday).

These pet-friendly tours, which meet in front of the Balboa Park Visitors Center each Saturday morning at 10am, are a great way for you to exercise your legs while your family members exercise their brains.

While I treat my mom like every day is Mother’s Day, some bipeds like to do something extra special on her special day. So if you’re looking for an exceptional champagne brunch, a fun daytime activity, and a relaxing evening concert to wind down the perfect Mother’s Day, Balboa Park has everything you’re looking for—and more!

The Prado Restaurant at Balboa Park knows how to treat moms right when it comes to the classic Mother’s Day brunch, complete with free champagne and a buffet of eggs, bacon, potatoes, seafood, antipasto, sushi, prime rib, pastries, and fruits, just to get you started. Adults are $54.95 each and kids chow for $15.95, but you better make your reservations fast!

After brunch, head to the San Diego Natural History Museum, which is honoring moms with free admission with a paid child and a 10% discount in the museum store. If giant bones are as much your thing as they are mine, then you’ll love the new exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, which will give you the scoop on the latest findings in paleontology.

The perfect conclusion to mom’s perfect day comes in the form of a free outdoor concert, Symphony in the Park, at 5:00pm in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club and performed by the talented students in the SDSU School of Music and Dance, the concert presents another quality buffet, this time of classical, folk, opera, and American theater music to put a smile on any mama dog’s face.