You know the expression about the “early bird”? Well, beginning this month my bipedal friends get more than just worms in Balboa Park. That’s because the Museum of Man, Museum of Photographic Arts, Museum of San Diego History, and the Mingei International Museum are all offering great admission discounts to featherless early birds on weekends (and you don’t even need to be up at the crack of light to take advantage!).

From now through May 31, 2010, the Museum of Man, Museum of San Diego History, and the Mingei International Museum are half-price on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The Museum of Photographic Arts is half-price on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. until noon only through the end of October, and then again from January 2 through May 31, 2010.

So after taking Fido or Fifi for their morning walk, do yourself a favor and get “caught up” on the latest exhibitions at these four diverse museums, including Beloved Daughters: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh at MoPA, a showcase of 100 Years of Art in San Diego at the Museum of San Diego History, The Art of Andean Retablos at the Museum of Man, and of course the Mingei’s exhibitions of fine crafts by June Schwarcz and Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman.

If you need any more incentive than that to be up before lunchtime on weekends, then I’m afraid I can’t help you.

If you’ve been following this blog, it’s probably not too difficult to guess where one of the world’s first dedicated disc (a.k.a. Frisbee) golf courses is located. That’s right, Morley Field, on the northeast end along Pershing Drive to be exact. Established in 1978 by disc golf legend Snapper Pierson, the Morley Field Disc Golf Course is noted worldwide for its challenging holes laid out over well-maintained woody and hilly terrain.

While I know many of my fellow pack members are quite adept at making acrobatic catches of flying discs, it’s important to resist the urge while out on these links, where leashed dogs are permitted. For only $2.50 ($3.00 on weekends) each of your bipedal companions can enjoy a complete round on the 18-hole course, and discs (if your own has become a favorite chew toy) can be rented for $1.50 at the pro shop.

If you hear someone yell “Fore!” it’s a really good idea to keep an eye out for errant discs headed straight for your noggin, as some of the course’s fairways crisscross. Another quirky, but in a good way, feature of Morley Field is that each hole’s pin is moved to one of several locations every Monday. This means that a hole’s straightaway open fairway one week can turn into a tough dog leg through a thicket of trees the next, making each round a new experience.

For information on all the course’s tricky dog legs and more, visit www.morleyfield.com.

As a native San Diegan, I often hear transplanted bipeds complain that the seasons don’t really change here. While that may be true for some, Balboa Park’s gardens and vast grounds display ample seasonal colors that even a semi-colorblind canine can see. In fact, this time of year my usual ground-level attentions are often pulled skyward by the colorful foliage and flowers that are now emerging throughout the Park.

For instance, strolling along Sixth Avenue near Quince St. this week, I noticed the leaves in a grove of American Sweetgum trees already undergoing their fall transformation to red and orange. Heading back south on Balboa Drive (toward Nate’s Point Dog Park, of course), my eyes and nose were diverted into the Trees for Health Garden. Here I caught a glimpse of new fall hues in the Pecan Tree, the graceful Idaho Locust Tree, and the Weeping Willow.

Fortunately I don’t have to strain my neck as much to see brilliant fall colors in Balboa Park’s many gardens. For example, right now there are multiple varieties of sage blooming in the Zoro and Alcazar Gardens. Also lighting up the Alcazar is the “Golden Delicious” sage with its lime green foliage and bright red tubular flowers. In addition, the Alcazar’s African Tulip Tree (pictured) is now producing dazzling blooms to create an amazing photo-op with the California Tower in the background.

Heck, even the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden is still bursting with vibrant roses thanks to San Diego’s “lack of seasons.”

I can’t tell you how pleased I am to finally see such an important chapter in U.S. space exploration history given its just due in a major travelling exhibition. To the Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA at the San Diego Air & Space Museum chronicles the pivotal moment in the race to the moon when my idol Snoopy joined the Apollo 10 mission.

It all started back in 1968 when the Silver Snoopy Award program was instituted to reward NASA employees and contractors for important contributions to the safety of space flight missions. Snoopy has faithfully been on the job ever since, 40-plus years and counting, as NASA’s official safety mascot.

Just as significant was the honor NASA bestowed on Snoopy when it named the Apollo 10 lunar module after the world’s most famous beagle. On May 22, 1969, “Snoopy” flew within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface to scout an ideal landing site for the Apollo 11 astronauts, who arrived two months later.

A family-friendly exhibition, Snoopy Soars with NASA brings together a vast array of photographs, memorabilia, artifacts, and models to tell the story of Snoopy’s role in making one giant step for animal-kind possible. It even includes a Peanuts comic-strip series from March 1969 that reveals Snoopy was in fact the very first earthling to reach the moon. Now that’s what I call out of this world!

Don’t you just love it when Halloween falls on a weekend? In addition to dressing up the kiddies in their cute costumes for the usual evening trick-or-treat excursion, you can now max out your camera batteries by having them in costume throughout the day as well.

All dressed up and nowhere to go, you say? Thankfully this year, Balboa Park is presenting a park-wide Family Day on Saturday, October 31, chocked full of safe, kid-friendly treats offered by dozens of park attractions.

Headlining the festivities are 15 different museums that will open their doors free to children 17 and under with a paid adult admission. Each museum will also present a variety of hands-on activities and special programs to keep tails wagging throughout the day. For example, at the Air & Space Museum, children can build paper pumpkins with parachutes and visit the Snoopy Soars with NASA exhibition. Meanwhile, the Museum of Photographic Arts will show films in conjunction with the San Diego Children’s Film Festival.

Outside the museums, there will be no shortage of short-attention-filling fun either. On the Spanish Village Art Center patio, for instance, artists will turn pumpkins into magical Jack O’ Lanterns, while the nearby Village Grill churns out free ice cream to anyone presenting proof of a paid museum admission.

I know where I’ll be on October 31, and now you know where you should be as well!