Do you know that Connecticut has its very own fortress? Gillette Castle in East Haddam looks like a decoration from a fairy tale book, a real medieval castle. Its robust, dark gray stone walls, bastions and towers hide an eccentric and surprising fantasy world of hidden doorways, tricky pieces of furniture and quirky installation. Once a property of Sherlock Holmes actor, William Gillette, the fortress is now open to the public. Its generous park mirrors the castle: its winding trails lead through arched bridges and little tunnels along the path of the castle's private 3-mile long railroad with its own Grand Central Station. So if you are ready to share something extravagantly out-of-the-ordinary with your family, plan a trip to East Haddam's Seven Sisters Hills.

[UPDATED: July 18, 2012]

As September approaches, New York City families are signing up their kids for extracurricular classes. As an Upper West Side mom of a very energetic two-year-old, I've spent countless hours trying out various kids' classes in our neighborhood. We've sampled quite a few, everything from music to gymnastics to art. I call it our "toddler class crawl," and it's been a great way to figure out which programs work for my son without making a major time and financial commitment to a class he ends up hating.

Here's the scoop on how our toddler class crawl came to be, and two Upper West Side tot spots that, in my opinion, stand out from the rest.

The first day of kindergarten for Boston Public School students is September 12, and the organization Countdown to Kindergarten has plenty of information to help kids and families make the transition a smooth one. Highlights from its website include:

Kindergarten Days Parties - Celebrations are going on in each Boston neighborhood from now through September 9th.  They are a great way to meet other students and families from your community. Check the calendar to find a Kindergarten Days Party in your neighborhood.

Countdown to Kindergarten Celebration at the Boston Children's Museum - Join Mayor Menino, Superintendent Carol Johnson, and others at the 12th annual citywide kindergarten celebration at the Boston Children's Museum on Tuesday, August 30th from 4:30 to 7:30.

Volunteer at a local Boston Public School on the first day of kindergarten.  The first day of school is exciting and fun, but sometimes scary and overwhelming for young children.  School staff welcome volunteers to help provide additional support to new students and families as they start kindergarten. To sign up, contact Sonia Gomez-Banrey at sgomezbanrey@boston.k12.ma.us.
 

For a long time, New York City seemed to forget that it was made up of islands. But over the past few years, we've been remedying this situation by reclaiming our waterfronts with riverside parks, and creating new opportunities to get out on the water, whether for transportation or pleasure.

The newest addition to NYC's waterfront culture is the East River Ferry, operated by NY Waterway. With stops in Midtown, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Dumbo, the Financial District and Governors Island (and Atlantic Avenue and Red Hook on summer Fridays), the East River Ferry is a great way to visit lots of fun spots for a full day out with the kids.

With an all-day pass ($12 for anyone over age 5), you can hop on and off the ferry at any of the stops throughout the day, so you can hit different attractions in multiple boroughs. My family and I tried it, and we discovered 20 great things to do with kids along the East River Ferry route.

[UPDATED: August 10, 2012]

Did you know that the typical American family generates 4,320 pieces of trash annually during lunchtime? Yikes! If we all do our part we can change that number significantly. Besides helping the environment, you can keep your children safe by choosing products that reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals such as BPA, phthalates and lead in lunch bags. Using plastic wrap and baggies, individually packaged food items and plastic water bottles are all no-no's. With a simple change you can eliminate these Earth killers and pass on an awareness for the environment to your kids. I love all of the cool choices out on the market now. You can even get pencils made from recycled blue jeans!

Since it's the beginning of the school year it's the perfect opportunity to start back-to-school off on the right foot. Here's a few resources to help you out when purchasing eco-friendly back to school supplies. There are tons out there and I'm not going to pretend to know them all but these few should help a bit.

Sleep-training books are all well and good, but sometimes a sleep-deprived parent needs an actual person to swoop in and save the day. Natalie Nevares, founder of the of family-coaching service Mommywise, did that for my family.

When I initially called Natalie, I was planning on writing a post rounding up multiple sleep-training specialists in New York City. However, Natalie alleviated my family's sleeping issues so easily and quickly, I didn't feel right recommending anyone else. Plus, she travels, so no matter where you are in the five boroughs, she'll bring her skills to you.

We were so happy to wake up to (almost) blue skies today. Although rain may return tomorrow, we're looking at a gorgeous (and not-too-hot) weekend. Let's hope the weather holds out for the final few weeks of summer break. There's so much we haven't done yet—we haven't even gotten to all of the activities on our Hot List.

That's because we've been busy running all over Van Cortlandt Park, researching film classes and browsing used book stores that sell kid lit. Plus we're still working on our upcoming sister sites in Boston, Los Angeles and Orlando, now tentatively scheduled to debut in September. To make sure you're notified when they launch, sign up for the newsletters now.

And that's just a bit of what's going on. Here's what we covered this week on Mommy Poppins in NYC, New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut.

Here we are, the second to last weekend in August. School days are right around the corner so savor these last days of summer while you can. There's plenty of fun to be had this weekend including one of the largest annual festivals in CT: Annual Milford Oyster Festival. In Hartford the Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival looks like a great cultural event and the Peach Festival at Lyman Orchards gets me craving warm peach pie just thinking about it.

PS Don't miss out on our $50 Give Away at Three Monkeys & Me Children's Boutique and Toy Store. Drawing ends Thursday night.

Here's our list of best bets for the weekend. You can always check for more on our calendar.