Swimming lakes in Westchester and the Hudson Valley are ideal destinations for cooling off in the great outdoors. While you'll only find a few local swimming lakes and rivers in Westchester County, the greater Hudson Valley region offers plenty of places for freshwater swimming. 

Here, we've rounded up several lakes and rivers perfect for swimming with kids this summer.

Looking for even more fun in the sun? Check out our Summer Fun Guide.

The super-popular Bethpage Air Show returns to Jones Beach this Memorial Day weekend, featuring show-stopping aviation acrobatics. Hundreds of thousands of visitors attend this unofficial kick-off to summer, so we've put together the guide below to help make your visit to the Jones Beach Air Show as smooth as possible. 

For other open-air cultural offerings, check out our rundown of the best beaches and pools in the area, and bookmark our comprehensive Guide to Summer Activities.

New Jersey has some of the best swimming lakes in the Northeast, so make a plan to dive into one this summer. From Cheesequake to High Point, most of these lakes are on the grounds of majestic state parks that offer other recreation opportunities, like hiking trails. Some, like Sunrise Lake, are even outfitted with incredible inflatable water parks.

If you're looking for other ways to cool off on hot summer days, check out our rundown of the best NJ pools that offer day passes or our look at the Garden State's top water parks. 

All of my three children have gone through a train-loving phase around 2 years old, and while we are lucky enough to live on a train line where we can watch the trains zoom by all day long, I've been known to go out of my way to feed our kids’ love of choo-choos. From local train rides to seasonal Polar Express train rides, train museums, and model train displays, families in the tri-state area have plenty of options to entertain pint-sized train lovers.

Read on for our top picks for train-inspired day trips, including all the best things to do with train-obsessed kids in NYC and beyond.

English is a weird language! When kids are mastering it, there are loads of commonly mispronounced words, or words that kids use instead of the real name because they make more sense. On our Mommy Poppins Instagram and Facebook pages recently, we had a hilarious discussion about the funny words our kids mispronounce.

Some are sweet letter slip-ups, some are sound-alike mistakes, and some make lots of sense (a bra really is a "boobie mask" right? and "stunk" perfectly describes a skunk!).

We rounded up the funniest responses below. Reading them brings back some sweet memories! Can you add to it? Join the conversation!

Check out our Parenting Guide for more parent talk, from funny animal parenting memes to parenting tips from dads.

Indoor birthday party places in Westchester come in clutch when it isn't park or pool weather, and luckily for us, there's no shortage of places for Westchester kids to get their party on. 

Local venues offer parties centered around bouncing and trampolines, scaling rock walls, practicing yoga, racing go-carts, and more. 

We’ve put together a list of indoor birthday party places suitable for a variety of ages, from preschoolers to tweens and teens. Looking for even more options? Check out our full Party Planning Guide for Westchester Families.

Browse our Mother’s Day card ideas for lots of creative ways to make Mom’s day a memorable one.

What’s cuter than homemade Mother’s Day cards? Those tiny handprints, adorable spelling mistakes, and well-intentioned portraits that totally look JUST like Mom are made with so much love. Find some inspiration for this year’s Mother’s Day cards with our list of sweet and simple Mother’s Day card ideas that will make the kids beam with pride as Mom wipes her eyes.

For more ways to make Mom’s day, check out our top 50 Mother’s Day gifts that moms actually want, or make her something delish from our favorite kid-friendly Mother’s Day brunch recipes. Don’t forget to check your local Mommy Poppins site for all the awesome Mother’s Day things to do.

The Bronx Zoo is celebrating a big birthday in 2024—it turns 125 years old—and it's planned a whole season of celebrations. Festivities kicked off last weekend with the debut of Animal Chronicles, a brand-new eco trail exhibit.