If after these last few drippy days, you’re ready to wring out your clothes, dry your shoes, and get on with a great (hopefully) dry family weekend, we’ve got the goods!  There’s potatoes to be harvested in Lambertville; Blues to be sung in Morristown; bikes to be raced in North Caldwell; open-air theater to watch in Titusville; and metal to be made at Cooper Gristmill!  If you’re looking to just wander in the long-lost sunshine, head to Augusta for a sunflower maze, or Ringwood for a family botanical walk.  Any way you go, wish for the sun.  We’re right there with you.

Fairy houses, turtles and town fairs are just part of the fun we have lined up for you this weekend! Did we forget to mention pony rides? Read on to see where you and your kids can have fun this weekend. Happy Weekend!

These rainy summer days have been a real drag, especially since the back-to-school countdown is on. As of now, it looks like this weekend won't be a washout (like last Sunday, which was awful). So if the weather holds up, we plan to make the most of this second to last weekend of August.

There's plenty of outdoor fun: Explore international vegetables and herbs at the Global Gardens Harvest Celebration, fly a kite at FlyNY, enjoy the last installment of Summer Streets or party uptown at the annual Harlem Day festival.

And that's just a bit of what's going on. All of our best bets for the weekend are below. You can find additional seasonal fun in our Summer Fun Guide and our Event Calendar.

This week it's all about sex, bags and Sesame Street! (Yes, quite a far cry from sex, drugs and rock and roll.)

As summer draws to a close, we turn our attention back to school. There's so much to do... and even more to buy. We've got info on how to choose the right backpack, the scoop on sex education in NYC public schools and the 411 on a brand-new doctor hotline just for parents.

And the seasons, they go 'round and 'round, and the painted ponies go up and down... Your children can travel back in time to a simpler day on one of several carousels in the area.

It's time to start the annual back to school supplies and clothing shopping ritual. To help you out with that, one lucky reader will win a $50 Give-Away from Three Monkeys and Me for anything in the store. Three Monkeys and Me, a boutique in Kent, Litchfield County, specializes in fun contemporary clothing, gifts and cool toys for children (newborn to size 12/14 kids).  Wati, Pink Chicken and Patagonia are just some of the great brands they carry. Owner Liz Devos has impeccable taste and you'll love the store space she has created as well as everything in it. They've just added an entire toy section with unique high quality selections. Three Monkeys & Me's latest news can be found on their Facebook page.

By Sheila Hageman

Farmington River Tubing
92 Main Street
New Hartford CT 06057
860-693-6465

This was one of my favorite special summer activities my father used to take my sister and our friends to. You load into specially designed river tubes for a 2.5 mile ride down the scenic Farmington River. You travel over three sets of rapids and splash through the very cold white water. At the end of the ride, you board a bus for a drive back up to your car. This is definitely a great activity for a hot day with kids at least ten years old.

Be prepared that the river can get pretty rough, which is what makes it so fun, but your kids need to be able to swim. The river ride is unattended, except for an assistant at the 2nd rapid. Be sure to call on the day you plan to go tubing for current river conditions and times of operations. Days and hours of operation may change due to weather or river conditions.

As a novelist myself, I’m all for people supporting authors by purchasing brand-new copies of their books. However, as a budget conscious mom who has watched her two small children spill/drool/color all over expensive picture books, I know that sometimes buying used titles makes a lot more sense.

While there are lots of ways to snag second-hand kid-lit online—I see tons of kids' stuff up for grabs on sites like freecycle.org and paperbackswap.com—I really enjoy browsing used books in person. I always end up finding wonderful, weird vintage tomes, and I don't have to wade through all of the branded characters stocked by big box bookstores.

Here are my top shops in New York City to find used children's books.