Jodi Call wrote a great piece for us this summer with four excellent outings and I thought it was so great I invited Jodi to write for us more often. Jodi thought it was so great, she started her own blog; Pistols and Popcorn follows her amazing adventures around New York with her son, Roan. Here's, hopefully, one of many awesome posts from Jodi:

“What kind of thing do you want to do this week-end?” It’s the question I pose to my son, Roan. But we both know I’ve always got something in mind. This week he tried to trip me up with this: “I want to do nothing, but we can do it outside.” Oh brother, mister. You’ve no idea who you’re messing with.

This weekend is the 2008 Art Under the Bridge Festival. This is the 12^th year of the festival, and my 3^rd year as a devotee. After a summer full of orchestrated outings and a few weeks of structured school days, the timing couldn’t be better for an entire weekend of chaotic fun with your kids.

Want to play? Here's what's happening today.

Play:
Get free Ice Cream at Stone Cold Creameries today from 5 to 8pm. Although not required, guests are encouraged to make a donations for the Make a Wish Foundation to help terminally ill children. To find the Cold Stone Creamery location nearest you, go to www.coldstonecreamery.com.

Buy:
Kids Rx, the child-focused, alternative pharmacy is opening a new location in Park Slope. Kids Rx specializes in flavoring medications and serving them up in palatable forms that kids can, well, swallow. Rather than struggle to get the pills down, Kids Rx offers medications in lollipop, gummy bear, pudding and other kid-friendly forms. There is a $5 flavoring fee, but otherwise your prescription will cost the same as filling it at any other drug store, and they do take insurance.

Still haven't signed up for any kid-classes? Whether you are dragging your feet cause you're feeling the money pinch or your just can't commit, here is an incentive to get you going. We reached out to some great NYC programs and asked them to give our readers a deal on fall 2008 classes and they delivered.

Keep reading to get special discount codes for tons of programs including: !Hola¡ Playgroup in Spanish (pictured above), Elf Tennis, The Little Gym, Kids at Work, Play Together NYC, 92nd St Y, TADA! and more.

We've got a family portrait session with amazing photographer Jeff Cassuto, a Jeep Overland Limited Jogging Stroller and a Baby Gift Package from Giggle, plus more and we want to give them to you.

Share your pictures and win! Click to read more, or upload your photos here.

The Guide
The best Halloween Parades for kids, the top places to Trick or Treat in NYC, (not too scary) Haunted Houses, and more. Find it all out in our Halloween Fun Guide.

All that bad news last week has me totally burned out on politics and the economy right now so keep reading for a lighter take on this week's news (with the exception of the school report cards, but hey, thats something that is pretty near to all our hearts).

Report Cards for Schools. If you haven't already checked, take a look at the results of the 2007-08 NYC Department of Education report cards for every school in the city. The letter grades which range from A to F are based on the school environment, student performance and student progress. Then check out the inside schools blogs to read up on the debate on the report cards.

Mo' Joe.  Trader Joe's is coming to Brooklyn with a store opening

[UPDATED: 9/21/08]

Growing up in New York City, one of our family traditions was going apple picking in the Hudson Valley every Fall. It's a tradition I've enjoying continuing with my own kids because it's a great day out in the country, it's economical (considering the price of apples from FreshDirect), and it's even trendy (if you're into the locavore thing). It's a great activity for Columbus Day Weekend, but there are also a bunch of free Apple Festivals right here in NYC if you don't feel like taking the kids traveling.

September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (but really, can't Pirates pretty much just board and take over any day they want?) and to celebrate we thought we'd share a really cool program we just heard about. The Striking Viking Story Pirates are a terrific comedy troop that have nothing to do with pirates except that they steal their ideas from kids stories, comics or barely-legible sentences, and turn them into ridiculous shows performed by puppets and costumed grown ups who wish they were kids, or puppets, or both. Jon Stewart raved about it on Larry King (You know, that crazy, fun kid show) and I'm raving now, in piratese. So avast, me hearties, go smartly and purview the Striking Viking Story Pirates 'ere I slap your bung hole with a hornpipe, aye!