Just cause the last time you sat down to read a newspaper was when "pooped out" still meant tired doesn't mean you can't stay up to date with what's going on. We've rounded up the top stories you don't want to miss from the NYC media this week.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend, caught some fireworks, ate some bbq and didn't wind up in the cab of a flat bed truck with your car towing behind on your way home like my family (seriously).  A quick reminder to all our subscribers, we changed our email system and need you to verify your subscription so you continue to get our emails.  If you are not getting emails or have questions, feel free to email us at mommy@mommypopppins.com  And now, on to the news of the week....

We love NYC in the summer, there is so much to do and it's less crowded. But, its also great to get out of town to spend some time in nature, swim in the ocean and check out new places. For all of July and August, in addition to our regular posts, we will be posting suggestions for fun day and weekend trips that you can take with kids. Here are a few quick suggestions to get you started. Any of these ideas would be great for something to do with the kids this Fourth of July Weekend.

It sounds like a lot of you are sticking around for the summer and it was great to read all the interesting ideas people have for what they will do this summer in the city. Sounds pretty chill to me actually. Lots of just cruising around the city. I like Neeta's suggestion of letting the kids play in the rain.

I was recently thinking how much I used to enjoy that and how my kids have never had the opportunity to do it. I was actually just telling my son how we used to play in rain storms in the city. We used to build paper boats and launch them in the gutter and watch them float down toward the sewer. It sounds absurd now, but that was NYC in the 70s.

I loved the city after the rain because it looked so clean (the rain washed the litter and grim away) and also you'd see rainbows in the streets made by oil residue in the gutters. Again, not sure why we don't see those any more. Maybe the oils used in cars has changed.

But I digress. What you really want to know is not what a street urchin I was as a child, but whether you will soon be riding the shark boat past those Waterfalls. So here are our winners:

We've been having a lot of problems with our emails lately. I know that the subscription form was not working for a couple of weeks. So if you tried to subscribe and never got any emails, I'm sorry. We just switched to a new email program and the subscribe by email form is fixed. If you had trouble subscribing in the past or have not been receiving emails, please try to subscribe again. And if you have any problems please feel free to email me at: mommy@mommypoppins.com .

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Just cause the last time you sat down to read a newspaper was when "pooped out" still meant tired to you doesn't mean you can't stay up to date with what's going on. We've rounded up the top stories you don't want to miss from the NYC media this week.

Lots of advice and tips this week including how to get your toddler to brush her teeth, where to see real waterfalls in Manhattan and more.

You read our post about free outdoor movie series this summer, but there are also some regular indoor movies in theaters that kids can see for free or for just $1.

The top tip for this weekend is the Governor's Island Figment 28 Festival , an incredible sounding three-day outdoor art festival with just a wild array of really fun sounding events for adults and kids.

Bring your bikes, your picnics and all your senses for a unique outdoor art experience. Hop on the free 15 minute ferry ride and it's as though you've arrived in the Berkshires at the other end, with the picturesque environment and wonderful art festival that feels a world away from NYC. I think we'll be sorry if we miss this one.

Figment 2008 Kid-Friendly highlights:

One of the most anticipated events of this summer is the New York City Waterfalls. Starting on Friday, June 26th and running through October, four spots in the East River will be morphed into 100 foot high waterfalls. It's all part of a public art project by artist Olafur Eliasson who is challenging us island dwellers to pay a bit more attention to our water.

The five 90 to 120-foot tall installations will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and will be lit after sunset, adding a striking element to New York City’s iconic skyline. One will be by the Brooklyn anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge, the other between Piers 4 and 5 at Furman and Joralemon Streets in Brooklyn. A third waterfall will be located in Lower Manhattan at Pier 35, and the fourth on the north shore of Governors Island.

The project uses only environmentally sustainable energy and they promise that the structures won't harm the fish, shoreline or aquatic life (yup, thats right, fish actually live in the East River).  And if your family gets really into it, you can follow up the waterfalls with trips to MOMA and PS1 where Eliasson currently has exhibits which incidentally are great for babies since they include lots of colored lights.

Bonus: Mommy Poppins is teaming up with Circle Line Tours to give 3 lucky readers a 4-pack of tickets to the Shark Boat speed boat tour of the waterfalls. What better way to get kids psyched to see some cool public art then by passing it at really fast speeds? And, learn after the jump about other FREE boat tours of the waterfalls that anyone can get tickets for!