Hard to believe, but it's been twenty years since Jack and Annie first rode their Magic Treehouse to adventure. In this case, it was some dinosaurs before dark, but our young friends have traveled everywhere from outer space to Hawaii to the deck of the Titanic. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the beloved and award-winning book series, author Mary Pope Osborne, recently made a wonderful donation to Newark-area schoolchildren.

You can’t blame this weekend for feeling insignificant: it’s being overshadowed by a Wednesday of all things. A Wednesday! Well, in its defense, it is a rather big deal Wednesday. Birth of our country and all that. Fireworks, festivals, parades, Barry Manilow, and more fireworks.  It’s hard for simple weekend to measure up, even if it's got movies under the stars, a super-sized rock and Shakespeare in the park. Maybe a free blowout would help boost its self-esteem. 

But let's keep it real. Independence Day is the main event; you're gonna want to see fireworks. That's why you come to us. Not only do we have well over a dozen fireworks displays listed on our daily events calendar,  we've even compiled them for you in a single handy-dandy post. You're welcome. Guess we've earned that free blowout, too bad it doesn't start until after the 4th...

Keep reading for some of our favorite picks for this weekend, and to find out about that free blowout...

Long Island is beginning its Fourth of July celebrations this weekend. (According to the people outside my window, who've been setting off their amateur fireworks every night for the last week or so, much to my dog's chagrin, the official celebrations are late!) Eisenhower Park's got its world-class fireworks show Saturday night, and check out our Fourth of July Fireworks guide for more fireworks displays going on this weekend. There's also the North Sea Fireman's Carnival, a Water Fest at the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum, and a great show for the little ones at the Long Island Children's Museum. Happy weekend!

From the time my first son was born, I have spent many days at my local library having fun with him and enjoying watching him grow and learn. As the years went on, and I expanded my family by two more children, we have continued to discover and enjoy all the resources the library offers.

As Alice Cooper says, "School's out for the summer!" and you can kick off break with lots of awesome (and mostly free) activities. This weekend's offerings include some Independence Day-themed celebrations like Prospect Park's Freedom Strut and Tribeca's Historic Ship Festival. Outdoor fun includes the West Harlem Piers Fishing Festival, Bayswater Park’s annual School's Out for the Summer Fest and a jam-packed lineup of cool kids' entertainment at SummerStage's Bronx Family Day.

If you've just got to stay air-conditioned, try the Brooklyn Children's Museum’s Kiddies Caribbean Fiesta, a free indoor concert by the Pop Ups or take a ride on a nostalgia train to the Brooklyn Museum courtesy of the New York Transit Museum.

Our best bets for the weekend are below. Remember, you can find additional suggestions in our Summer Fun Guide—including a list of free things to do every day through the end of August—and our Event Calendar.

For our second dedicated news post, we're taking a look at some new information about the possible causes of autism. With Playmate Jenny McCarthy getting press coverage for saying she knows what triggers the disease while various medical experts argue about its causes, it can be tough for parents to figure out who to listen to. While Time magazine recently reiterated that the study linking childhood vaccines to autism has been repeatedly debunked, its definitive cause remains a mystery.

However, some leading experts on autism, ADHD and learning disabilities have now published a list in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives of chemicals and heavy metals that they believe are more likely than even a genetic predisposition to trigger the onset of these diseases.

Wait!  It’s already July this weekend?! Now that summer is in full swing it's time to get out and catch up on some REAL NJ summer fun! This weekend there’s a Jazz Festival in Asbury Park, a Jump and Jive Carnival at the NJ Children's Museum and an historic baseball game in Princeton; you can even get a jump start on your Independence Day in Avalon. It's all good, and it's ALL summery! Read on for our top picks and remember, you can find a listing of all NJ activities for kids in our Event Calendar.

Outdoor fun seems to be the theme of this week's links roundup: Two new Brooklyn pools are set to open this summer, a pair of brand-new NYC skateparks also recently debuted and there's soon to be a zip line strung across Foley Square.

We've got all that plus the scoop on a new anti-bullying state law and my take on the mission to muzzle Cosmo because it's damaging to girls (as the dad of two young daughters, I have a strong opinion about it).