Ah toddlers, so full of energy and always on the go, much like our beloved NYC!  I've been getting a unique new view of my neighborhood on the Upper West Side through a toddler's eyes with my one-and-a-half-year-old.  It's a very child-friendly area from Columbus Circle at 59th Street Columbus all the way up to 100th Street.   You're sandwiched between two amazing parks, but there are loads of other places to explore as well.  So we're taking you and your toddler on a tour of the Upper West Side, 10 fun-filled blocks at a time. There will be lots of child-friendly play spaces and food options,  and a little something for the adults to enjoy along the way too.  In this first part of the series we tackle the West 60's. Here we go! 

You might have heard that there’s a cool Toy Theater Festival in town until June 13th, but betcha didn’t know about the terrific and virtually un-advertised Temporary Toy Theater Museum that accompanies the festival or, better yet, that it’s totally free to see and well worth taking the kids!

Visit a Greek festival for a taste of Greek food, Greek music, Greek culture, Greek dancing, great family fun and entertainment. At Greek Festivals, you will typically find ethnic Greek foods, traditional Greek folk music performed by a live band, and cultural presentations, such as dancers performing in costume. 
 
Additionally, there are usually carnival rides, raffles and shopping for Greek jewelry, books, music, spices, etc.  Some festivals even include a display of fireworks.  A Greek Festival is an event that you should not miss!

Photo of the Week: This guy was waiting for the bus with us on Randall's Island last weekend and was dyin to show us the colassal striped bass he caught out of the East River. Believe me, it wasn't the worst smelling thing on the bus that day.

Woohoo, long Weekend! Memorial Day Weekend unofficially kicks off the summer season, meaning the beaches, sprinklers and swimming pools are all opening starting this weekend. Also opening this weekend is the new Luna Park amusement park at Coney Island.

[UPDATED: May 27, 2013] I'm sure I'm not the only one who has visited the New York Transit Museum and wished for a chance to ride on one of the old trains or buses on display. It would really be something to go back to an era when New Yorkers rode the tiny rattan seats on the BMT or held onto the leather straps of the IRT as the subways noisily bumped and jostled their way through the tubes.

Well time travel isn’t possible, but you can hop on some of New York City’s old trains and buses when the Transit Museum pulls out some of its vintage fleet for three special, all-day summer excursions. The trips each have different destinations and sound like a lot of fun. In fact they're filling up fast! If you have a little train fan in your house, don't miss this.

We love New York City as much as the next guy (maybe more), but, as they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder—so we love getting out of the city too. As Memorial Day Weekend rolls around we get pretty excited about summer day trips and weekend getaways and hopefully plans for a longer summer family vacation too.

In order to get organized for all those family travel plans, we've created our new Family Travel Guide, a page dedicated to all our posts about family travel destinations, family-friendly resorts, car-free day trips and some frugal family travel tips, including our great lists of 30 Family Friendly Day Trips From NYC and 75 Best Family Vacation Destinations to get you started.

One of the urban legends spread to NYC parents is that you have to sign your children up for preschool while they're still in the womb. This isn't true. In fact, preschool is optional and there are lots of options out there from full day preschools to half day, preschool alternatives and enriching and nurturing day cares.

Our family decided to do something completely different and join some friends as part of a parent-led preschool co-op with our 2-year-old. I recently met with other moms who've done it before to hear their experience and tips on making it a success. 

In the past few years the DOE has implemented many new standardized assessments for NYC public schools. Internally, there has been some grumbling, particularly from school administrators who have felt like these reviews do not paint accurate portraits of their schools and are unfair assessments, but are these reports useful for parents? What can you learn from these reviews when looking to choose a school for your child? And what other tools are available for parents?

Below find an overview of the different DOE school report cards, what each one will tell you and other useful tools in researching the best NYC Public Schools for your child.