If you were following our Facebook page last weekend, then you know the Mommy Poppins gang had a pretty jam-packed schedule. We posted pictures from our adventures at the Dumbo Arts Festival, Maker Faire and the Morningside Lights illuminated cityscape parade (see the attached photo). And we're not slowing down this Columbus Day weekend: OpenHouseNewYork, the Historic House Festival and the Blessing of the Animals are all on our must-do list.

Halloween festivities are picking up, too. The New York Botanical Garden opens its annual Haunted Pumpkin Garden this weekend—we're giving away tickets to the jack-o'-lantern display in our newsletter this week so make sure you're subscribed. And of course pumpkin picking is in full swing at pumpkin patches near NYC and even a few right here in the city.

The three-day weekend is the perfect time to take a day trip and our Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut sites all highlight the best things going on in their respective regions. Columbus Day weekend is also a great time to plan your next big out-of-town vacation (or just fantasize about one). Over on our Travel site we just finished a series of posts about Clearwater Beach, Florida, including our visits to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and the nearby Dali Museum, a review of the Hilton Clearwater Beach and our list of the best things to do with kids in the resort town .

Here's what else we covered on the NYC site this week:

We're just saying goodbye to September and already the Halloween season seems to be upon us. (As any kid can tell you, you can never start celebrating too early.) We've already begun updating our NYC Halloween Fun Guide since lots of big seasonal favorites are about to start, like the Bronx Zoo's Boo at the Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden's Haunted Pumpkin Garden and Historic Hudson Valley's Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze.

Speaking of jack-o'-lanterns, pumpkin picking season has arrived. Find out where to grab great gourds less than an hour from midtown Manhattan or check our Farm Guide for other pumpkin places on Long Island, in New Jersey and Western Connecticut. Pumpkin picking is a wonderful activity for next week's Columbus Day holiday weekend.

If you're still trying to plan your activities for this weekend, you have a bunch of truly exceptional events to choose from, including World Maker Faire, the Dumbo Arts Festival and the Morningside Lights Illuminated City Parade. That's my daughter and her friends in the photo, beaming proudly about the wire skeleton they made for a clock tower lantern in one of the free preparatory art workshops. We can't wait to see it lit up on Saturday night! Here's what else we covered this week on our NYC site:

Sadly, the Dumbo Arts Fest was discontinued in 2014 after 18 years. Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood is full of funky, family-friendly art experiences all year-round. But every September, the area's creative spirit explodes onto the streets as part of the three-day Dumbo Arts Festival. Although this free fest isn't specifically aimed at families, most of it is kid-friendly, and over the past few years the organizers have added a bunch of hands-on activities for children to the lineup, making it even more enticing.

This year, the fest takes place Friday, September 28 to Sunday, September 30 (yes, the same weekend as the equally awesome World Maker Faire. Terrible timing!) and there are a lot of new attractions for families. We're particularly excited to check out the brand-new Art Village, a section of interactive projects being curated by the Children's Museum of the Arts. We've got the scoop on this new attraction and all of the other cool things to do with kids at this year's Dumbo Arts Festival.

Fall has officially arrived, which means cooler weather, colorful foliage and our seasonal class deals post. We've got awesome discounts on some really popular programs, like 25% off classes at the Central Park, Prospect Park and Queens Zoos, and up to 61% off at Chess NYC. Speaking of classes, we also updated our list of free kids' enrichment programs with info about a new no-cost art class at Upstairs on the Lower East Side. Every time we hear about a new free class, we add it to the post, so it's a good one to bookmark.

Fall also brings Columbus Day, and our Travel site has a wonderful roundup of family travel deals for the holiday weekend and beyond, plus lots of great suggestions for where to go. You don't necessarily need to travel far: Our New Jersey site has a list of 25 fun and mostly free things to do in Hoboken, and we just shared our favorite apple picking places in Eastern Connecticut and Hartford County. You can find posts about apple orchards throughout the tri-state area in our Pick-Your-Own Guide.

We also added a new culture post to our Fall Fun Guide: The best new museum exhibits for kids opening this autumn, including interactive installations at three of NYC's children's museums. Here's what else we covered this week on our NYC site:

We've been working hard on our Classes Guide, updating old posts and adding new ones. Reading about awesome and enriching kids' classes is always fun... until you get to the prices. That's why we reached out to some of our favorite programs and asked them to extend deals to our readers. The result is seven excellent offers for kids that you won't want to miss, from babies through tweens. Save big on classes like chess, music, animals, animation and more. Act fast! These deals are too hot to hang around long.

Back in July, we wrote a post about Summer Play Streets, blocks that are temporarily closed to traffic and opened to fun in neighborhoods throughout New York City. Play Streets are a great way for kids to get out there and run around, especially in communities that don't have easy access to high-quality parks and playgrounds.

Play Streets are sponsored by various nonprofits like the Police Athletic League and the NYC Parks Department. Transportation Alternatives—an organization dedicated to reclaiming urban streets from cars for cycling, walking and playing—helps residents request Play Streets for their communities. This week, T.A. is holding free info sessions with everything you need to know to get a Play Street in your area for summer 2013.

We spent the week filling up our Fall Culture Guide and we're very excited about the season ahead of us. In addition to our roundup of the best family concerts that we published last week, we added posts about cool kids' shows and awesome harvest festivals right here in NYC.

Of course, if you want a truly authentic fall experience, considering hitting one of these huge harvest fests in New Jersey. Combine it with a trip to a NJ pumpkin patch and you've got the makings of a great fall day trip. If you're planning on going apple picking this season, we shared some easy apple recipes and crafts (better than letting them rot in your fridge).

With a four-day weekend because of the Jewish New Year and Columbus Day weekend on the horizon, be sure to check our Travel site, which just launched a comprehensive Family Guide to the Poconos with posts about the best restaurants, attractions and things to do in the area. Or how about Long Branch, New Jersey? Our NJ site posted about this often overlooked beach town that boasts lots of fun for families.

Here's what else happened this week on the NYC site.

Most NYC kids went back to school this week, including all of ours (that's my daughter and her long-time pal in the pic, both going into second grade). The energy in our schoolyard was palpable today. We hope your kid's first day was equally exciting.

Although quality family time is harder to find in the fall, there are still lots of great ways to come together on the weekends. Autumn brings fun festivals, cool kids' concerts and apple picking outings. We recently updated our roundups of the best pick-your-own-apple places on Long Island, in New Jersey and Connecticut, and we even have a post about low-spray apple farms.

Even though school has started, we continue to add handy posts to our Back-to-School Guide, like money-saving supply tips and more do-it-yourself fashion and supply ideas, perfect projects for a rainy day.

And if you're already planning your next family getaway (hey, NYC public school kids have a four-day holiday coming up next weekend!), our Travel site is doing a series of posts on the Poconos in Pennsylvania, including a Bushkill Falls Waterfalls Hike, a slide show of the adorable residents of Claws "N" Paws Animal Park and a look at the lovely Skytop Lodge.

Here's what else happened this week on the NYC site.