I think I love being out in nature in the Fall better even than in the summer. The smell of the damp leaves on the ground, the crisp autumn air, it's very relaxing and great being outdoors with the kids at this time of year.

But you don't need to hop in the car to get your walk in the woods. There are woods all around us and the NYC Parks Department has tons of programs to help families enjoy them and teach NYC kids about nature. There are too many in one weekend to even list, but here's the top ones in every borough.

Staten Island: Haunted Hike
Explore the haunted history of Conference House Park, which was once a Native American burial ground. 7PM Friday, Nov 2.

Manhattan:Inwood Park Nature Walk
How would you like a guided nature walk by no less than the chief naturalist of the NYC Parks Department? Spot songbirds and learn about the ecosystems of Manhattan's last natural forest and salt marsh. Sat., Nov. 3. 8-10AM, Inwood Park

Queens: Fall Migration
Help Rangers count raptors as they pass by on their Fall Migration. Raptors are always cool and kids will love that they are helping the Rangers. Flushing Meadows Corona Park, 10AM Sat, Nov. 3.

Brooklyn: Backyard Ecology Walk
A kid-friendly introduction to Fort Greene's wildlife will teach NYC kids about the nature that lives right in their own backyards. Sure to open city kids' eyes to the world of nature around them. Sat., Nov. 3, 1PM, Fort Greene Park.

Bronx: Fall Foliage Walk
Enjoy some of the most exquisite fall foliage in the city on a guided walk through an oak, hickory and sweet-gum forest and search for the special 400 year old white oak. Pelham Bay Park, 2 PM. Sunday, Nov. 4.

Want more NYC nature walks?

Check out trails.com. A member fee is required, but it gives you unlimited access to detailed guides for hiking, biking, kayaking and more all over the US. There's tons of guides for NYC and the surrounding areas and even ideas for hikes with kids. You can try it out with their 14 day free trial.

Gorp is free site that has lots of hiking and other outdoor activity ideas around NYC and the country. The information is less detailed than what you'll find on trails.com or in a book, but it's a good starting place.

Best Hikes with Children in the Catskills and Hudson River Valley

is a book that features 51 easy hikes to enjoy with your kids in the area.

Halloween Costume Pics from Lower Manhattan

Do you look forward to your daily dose of Mommy Poppins? Would you miss it if it were gone? Do you wish you could get even more? More posts, more features–like an event calendar, classifieds and meet-ups?

In order to keep bringing you excellent content and add features, I need to grow readership. I'm pleased to say there's now over 300 subscribers plus about that many readers on the site every day. You are a growing club of great parents, but my goal is to double readership by the end of the year. To do that I need to draw on the amazing power of you. If you love the site, tell your friends. It's not spam if you know they'll love it.

To make it more fun, next week I'm doing a Subscription Drive Giveaway-a-Thon. There's going to be some really fantastic prizes, including TWO WEEKS of free gourmet, meals cooked in your own home by the chefs of The Dishes Dishes. And that's just one of many great prizes we're giving away every day next week. So be sure to check in each day so you don't miss out on anything.

And tell your friends!

Ugly Doll

Below I've listed some other ways you can help support Mommy Poppins. If you feel like giving back, it's always appreciated and everything will go right back into the site.

Last month, I announced the Mommy Poppins Reader Survey. I am still collecting responses and if you haven't done it yet, I strongly urge you to take the survey. I'm getting great feedback that I think is really going to help make the site better.

Happily, one of the main thrusts of the responses have been that people are loving the site and just want more. I'm working on bringing you more, but to get there I need to grow readership and start generating some income so I can add features. To help get there, next week I am doing an awesome Subscriber-Drive-Give-away-A-Thon. More on that tomorrow, but if you don't normally check in every day, I suggest you make an exception for the next week. It's going to be a lot of fun.

After the Top Posts, I will share some of the Reader Survey results and answer some of the questions that have come up so far.

Top Posts for October 2007:

10 Halloween Parades for NYC Kids

Free Swap for Kids Halloween Costumes

Five Food Hacks: Getting kids to eat vegetables and love it

Sensory savvy snacks help kids do better in school

Columbus Day Weekend Apple Picking and Festivals

Congratulations to Izzy's Mom who won the Great Green Giveaway. She'll receive free tickets to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a copy of the BBG Gardening with Children book and a Tree in a Box.

It's not over yet, folks. Halloween is tomorrow and there's still time to check out some of the coolest and most fun Halloween ideas and resources I've found around the web.

You know the main thing I worry my kids are missing out on in their education in New York? It's not so much math, social studies or reading. It's Creativity. I don't mean art. I mean just random, wacky NYC Creativity. This post is about a really cool new preschool, a hot educational philosophy, and a preschool parenting talk that are all aimed at putting more of that big C type of creativity back into childhood.

Due to technical difficulties, yesterday's post did not go out to subscribers. If you would like to read yesterday's post about Zipcar, click here.

I've put together a list of some great sites that promote environmentalism. Some are kid sites with games, activities and projects to get kids involved in the environment. Some are cool sites to help parents become more environmental with information and must-have products. Check 'em out.

If you watch An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's environmental exposГѓВ©, it is quite likely that you followed the exact pattern of behavior we did immediately after watching the film. For, in the final credits, there is a URL for a website which allows you to measure your personal household carbon footprint. If you do that you can not only see how much carbon you are adding to the earth every year, but what are the biggest behaviors which create the most carbon in your life. I was surprised to see that eating beef is a big one. I never really though about the environmental impact of eating beef. But the one that really got me thinking was our car. We had an old hand-me-down Volvo station wagon which was quite handy for toting stuff around town and the occasional trip to grandma's. By the next morning after watching An Inconvenient Truth our car was listed on Craigslist. We're not usually that reactionary or decisive, but this was an easy decision because we knew we had a great alternative to owning a car in NYC. Zipcar is this really cool service that lets you share cars with other drivers. You can basically rent one of several models by the hour. I'll tell you why I like it better than owning a car:

Hot off the press! I just got this email from Kate over at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. They are looking for lots of parents and kids to come out tomorrow, Thursday October 25th to be on Good Morning New York to promote their Ghouls and Ghords Halloween event. It sounds like a lot of fun. Giant puppets, Audra Rox and everyone who shows up gets free tickets to return to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden another time. It's never too early to start your child''s television career! Here's the info and then check out our Great Green Giveaway below. Just leave a comment on this post and you'll be automatically entered.