This Week: Great Day Trip Destinations, Free Off Broadway Kids' Show, New Bronx Playgrounds

Even though this summer seems to be flying by we're trying to hold on to all the great memories we've been making. Last weekend, after catching Theatreworks USA's brand-new free kids' musical, Skippyjon Jones, we hit Washington Square Park where my daughter and her pal were attacked by the biggest bubble we've ever seen (just look at the photo). Afterward, the girls romped in the play fountain. It's definitely going down in our list of greatest summer days, ever.

Our bloggers outside the city have been enjoying awesome summer days, too, and a lot of their destinations make for great day trips. Check out all of the fun to be had in harborside village of Stony Brook, Long Island or go zip-lining, rock climbing, wakeboarding or scuba diving at Connecticut's water-filled Brownstone Exploration & Discovery Parks. Prefer to visit a traditional amusement park? Our New Jersey site has a list of theme parks that offer discounted admission in the late afternoon.

Over on our Travel site, we continued our series of posts about the best travel apps for families with a roundup of apps to help you find your way around and out of problems. And if we can take a moment to brag (hey, we don't do it too often), we got a lovely mention in Thirteen's online magazine MetroFocus for our Fun off the Ferry pamphlet, which lists 101 cool things to do with kids along the East River Ferry route. You can pick one up at any of the ferry stations.

Here's what else we shared this week on our NYC site.

We kicked off the week with a post about two new playgrounds in the Bronx's Tremont Park.

Our month-long focus on Williamsburg continued with a roundup of the best places to shop with kids in the nabe.

This month's New York Public Library book list is a roundup of the best activity books for kids, from origami to cooking to unplugged play.

We love a good candy store but the interactive chocolate fun at Chocolate Works on the Upper West Side is even sweeter.

This week's notable news includes the scoop on a cool new sprinkler park in Queens, the groundbreaking for the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling in Harlem and a hipster makeover for Chuck E. Cheese.

We loved Theatreworks USA's free summer musical, Skippyjon Jones, which is based on Judith Schachner's popular children's book series.

Was your child born in 2008? Then you'll want to know about a new law that makes kindergarten mandatory for all NYC five-year-olds.

Best bets for the weekend include SummerStage Queens Family Day, Lincoln Center Out of Doors Family Day, a Muppet Movie sing-along in Prospect Park and the annual sandcastle competition in Rockaway Beach.