Two quick little notes:  First, thank you to everyone who’s been kind enough to comment here and encourage me–I truly appreciate it.  If this site is helpful to you, please tell your friends.  Second,  just quickly, the Colonie Town Band is holding a free holiday concert at Cohoes Music Hall tonight (Monday) from 7-8 pm.

Okay, back to how Winter Break is looming. . . . it’s a difficult time of year, at least for me.  All of the routines go out the window.  Daycare and work routines are out of whack, or if you stay home, either your spouse stays home for a change, which (yes, we love it, but it also) throws you off your game, or your spouse is working and every one of your friends is having Special Family Time.  Or if your kids are school age, let’s face it, it’s easy to just be entirely used to the kids being gone for hours.  So when they’re not, it’s a lot of time to kill.  Oh, I know–it’s beautiful family togetherness time.  But you’ve got a lot of it.   And even the littlest kids usually have the structure of a weekly playgroup or a mommy-and-me type class.  Not next week.

Are you beginning to panic yet?  Don’t worry!  There’s plenty going on.  In fact, too much for one post.  So here’s a list of activities that you must plan ahead for–everything here either requires or recommends pre-registration.  Ready?

The Steamer 10 Theatre has a Vacation Daze series, including a magician, music, puppets, and a play.  I’ve already bought my tickets to go see the Snow Queen on Wed. 12/30.  If you want to buy tickets to something, think about the Steamer 10 Pass, which is 10 tickets for $90.  We figured out that we’d save $28 on tickets just by committing to making one more family trip there within the year—yippee!

Even if your kids have lost interest in the small layer of snow by now, you can still appreciate nature with some indoor or outdoor activites.

Albany Pine Bush, on New Karner Road, is holding several free or low-cost events.  There’s a walk at 1 pm on 12/26, a talk for families at 1 pm on 12/27, birdwatching (for kids) all day on 12/29 (perhaps you can train for the big Audobon Society Christmas Bird Count?), a “Critter Scene Investigation” at 11 am on 12/30, and kids crafts from 1-2:30 pm on 12/31.  They’re asking folks to pre-register for all of these events.  Details here.

Peebles Island State Park, in Waterford (which is north of Troy), is hosting several free and/or low-cost events.  There’s a hike/snowshoe walk at 11 am on 12/28, a program about animals in winter at 2 pm on 12/29, and a celebration of New Years around the world at 11 am on 12/30.  They’re asking folks to preregister by contacting either 237-7000 x219 or amy.schachtner@oprhp.state.ny.us

If you have older kids and are willing to invest a chunk of your money and their time, there are several programs that look interesting.

The Arts Center in Troy has a Winter Break Camp for Kids that runs from Monday 12/28 to Wednesday 12/30 from 9 am to 4 pm every day.  It’s designed for 6- to 11-year-olds, and the cost for three long days o’ artsy fun is $215 to $235.  The theme is celebrating the New Year.

The Albany Institute of History & Art has a Vacation Art Break that runs from Tuesday 12/29 to Thursday 12/31/09.  Each session runs 3 hours and costs $15 or $20.  It’s designed for 6- to 13-year-olds and is particularly great for the Egyptian enthusiasts out there.  You can register online at the link above.

The Children’s Museum of Science and Technology in Troy is running a December Holiday Break Camp from 9 am to 3 pm Monday 12/28 to Thursday 12/31.  It’s about $45 to $55 per day, and there’s a brochure you can download from the site.

Northeast Gymnastics is holding a Winter Gymnastics Camp for girls 6 and older from Monday 12/28 to Thursday 12/31.  Camp can be 9 am to 12 pm or 4 pm, with prices ranging from $30 to $60 per day.

So, that’s what I’ve found so far.  How about you?  If you’ve got other December break recommendations, email me at capitaldistrictfun@yahoo.com.  I’ll be sending out the more casual drop-in activities within the week.