You're in Central Park with the kids and haven't packed a lunch.  What are your food options when hunger strikes?  It used to be tough to find much in the park other than pretzels, hot dogs and ice cream.  City food staples?  Yes.  Healthy or yummy? Not so much.  Now, thankfully, there are some better, and healthier, places to grab a bite and refuel in between your playground hopping.  Here's a look at some food stops now open around Central Park and some that are coming soon.

Thanks to a reader tip, we recently left the city and traveled back in time to wilds of Eastern Connecticut to spend the day at The Dinosaur Place at Nature’s Art, where kids can explore a family friendly Jurassic Park style attraction.  Encounter thirty life-sized cretaceous creatures while trekking the wooded nature trails around Raptor Bay, a seven acre lake complete with its own erupting volcano.  A giant playground, an amazing maze, a super cool water play area along with exciting indoor activities (panning for gold and gem mining to name two) round out the offerings. Dinosaur Place is minutes away from Mystic, Connecticut and Rhode Island's beaches making for a perfect day trip destination or part of a weekend away.  Here’s the inside scoop on this fun prehistoric park, and tips to make the most of your time there.

Labor Day Weekend is the official start of apple picking season, but even though there's no such thing as global warming the season is well underway and many orchards are open early this year. We've rounded up some of the most fun apple farms to pick your own apples. Every apple farm offers a unique experience whether you're looking for the hay rides, apple fests, or just a day out in the country, the most important thing to remember is to go early before all the apples are gone!

Some kids take so many extra curricular activities after school they barely have time to play, but for other kids, after school classes can be a real challenge. Whether they have a developmental challenge, delay, disability or disorder, or they just struggle with all things organized, many kids can not partake in the slew of general after school activities. Luckily, no matter how small or great a child's challenges might be, here in NYC there are a number of options for children of every ability when it comes to the exciting activities, sports, and amusements that their typical peers enjoy.

We hope that having some extra-curricular options will make it easier for you to offer your children more fun activities. And don't forget to ask about summer and holiday mini-camps. Many of these programs do offer them.

What's the best baby shower gift for a friend who is having a baby? In my opinion, skip the cute onesie and BRING FOOD.  A healthy, home-cooked meal delivered to a new mom's door, ready to eat, is an amazing gift any time, but especially when you’re trying to adjust to one of life’s curve balls. I remember my mother bringing foil-covered lasagnas to neighbors after a birth or death in the family.  Now our generation is continuing that awesome tradition with the help of a modern resource: online meal registries which make organizing deliveries amongst friends much easier.

It is a good weekend to be a kid in the Big Apple!  In one weekend they can choose from a kite flying festival, a South East Asian Festival, a classic Volkswagen show and even an Ice Cream Fair.  This is the  last weekend that  kids can ride, walk, scooter or stroll their way through Manhattan uninhibited by traffic at Summer Streets.  They can also hit up a new playground, try a family friendly high-tech scavenger hunt game and take a trip to the beach on an old time subway and bus during the season’s last vintage train ride.  How lucky are they?

Adults, don’t forget about our Awesome Days Flip Camera contest. Simply tell us what you have been doing with your kids this summer and you can be entered to win! If you need some inspiration check out our events calendar, The Mommy Poppins Summer Fun Guide or our post on 100 free things to do this summer (there is still plenty of summer left!)

We have everything you need to know for a fun weekend. Hope it is great.

Once upon a time, Saratoga County was a magnet for famous and infamous New Yorkers, from the Vanderbilts, Whitneys and Rockefellers to the bootleggers and gamblers that took up residence during prohibition. Thankfully, Saratoga County's offerings are now more family-friendly than booze and bookies. A three hour drive from Midtown Manhattan will pay off well with a visit to the historic racetrack, hiking and fishing or even a quiet stroll down Saratoga Spring's quaint Main Street. Rainy day activities can be found at the Saratoga Children's museum or the local library, which offers a great children's room. Here are just a few of the things you can do in and around Saratoga Springs:

Not so long ago, we ran an article about our favorite little mom-and-pop amusement parks in NJ and oops! we missed a few. Thanks to our faithful readers for catching our oversights! And here they are, ladies and gents, for your roller-coaster and cotton-candy enjoyment.

We've asked our readers to share their awesome outings with us this summer. We'll be posting the best ones on the blog and one lucky winner will win a Flip Video Camera. Find out more details in our Summer Fun Activity Guide . Read this submission by Ellen K. Schmidt about her fun day on Goveror's Island.

Most playgrounds in New York City have the same stuff in them – climbing things, swings, places to run, a slide or two and maybe a water feature or a sandbox.  And there are some playgrounds that have all these things – but they are just a little cooler, more fun or different – with features not usually seen at most other playgrounds.  The playground in Nelson A. Rockefeller Park (the big park in the northern part of Battery Park City) is one of these playgrounds.  Whenever I take my son to play here I want to move to the area, it is such a fun playground in a beautiful park, but it is always a huge ordeal to get home with my exhausted son.  Even so it is still worth the trip.