Hey, it's October. Are you ready for Halloween?  Yeah, me too.  Totes ready, with, um, all the pumpkins I need, like, I must have a dozen pumpkins already, and costumes, too. In fact, I have two dozen costumes. Admittedly, they're all in sizes way too small since my daughter grows like a weed.  But it oughta count for something, right?  I don't suppose you know anywhere I could trade a newborn banana costume for an adult  5T Sofia the First?

Of course, it's not all Halloween yet, not in a big cosmopolitan city like LA. There's plenty else going on. Like, we were thinking of hitting Knott's Berry Farm this weekend, where we can ride the rides and wear our costumes for the Camp Spooky Halloween celebration... Okay, there's that, but how about a really cool folk music festival... at a giant pumpkin patch. Well, surely the new exhibit opening at the Discovery Science Center is all sciency and academic and creepy crawly spidery...I give up. Trick or Treat.

Keep reading for some of our spookiest picks for the weekend…

Back in my carefree, pre-child days The Huntington was a favorite weekend destination. I would tour the galleries and stroll the grounds, admiring sculptures and snapping artistic pics; I usually planned my trip around a posh-feeling high tea.

When it came time to share the Gardens with my daughter, I wasn’t sure how well she would fit into this bastion of gentility. Turns out The Huntington is a child’s paradise. The Huntington Botanical Garden is particularly kid friendly. Read on for the top spots when visiting The Huntington with kids and when you can go for free. 

Sorry, rest of LA, but the Westside is putting y'all to shame this weekend. The "there's-no-other-way-to-describe-it-besides awesome"  Glow returns to Santa Monica after a three year hiatus, with one-of-a-kind art installations that will blow your mind with the power of light and sound. But don't get too carried away because the next day is the Abbot Kinney Fest, the mile-long street fair and community festival that features a jam-packed KidsQuad, beer gardens for the over 21s, non-stop live music on two stages, local artisans, gourmet food, and approximately 150,000 of your friends and neighbors.

Sure, Hollywood is putting its money where your mouth is, with the Feast of San Gennaro, as Jimmy Kimmel leads the way to some fine Italian feasting and festivity-ing. Plus Disney Junior's Pirate & Princess Adventure makes its enchanted way to the Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards. Are Jake and Sofia soon to find themselves some Oscar gold? Not if Hook gets to it first!

And then there's Moorpark's own Underwood Farms, ushering in autumn with its Fall Harvest Festival, arguably the most talked about pumpkin destination of the season. And Watts has the Day of the Drum, for some serious percussion action. Mustn't forget Costa Mesa's Orange County Children's Book Festival, only the largest children's book festival ...in the country.

Okay, okay, I guess there are some worthy activities to be found in all corners of the Southland this weekend. (Did I mention the garage sale being thrown by the entire city of Santa Monica?)

Keep reading for some of our favorite picks for the weekend, both on the Westside and elsewhere…

Aarr, mateys, methinks we're not in Kansas anymore! Thar be three Oz events if thar be one, with new sea shanties, and them scalawags the flying monkeys comin' at ye larger than life. Repeat after me: thar be no place like home.

Especially when the home ye speak of belongs to the many legged beasties of the clan arachnid. The Spider Pavilion opens this weekend, and ye best take care lest the scurvy critters send ye to Davey Jones locker!

But ye need not abandon all hope! If ye have mastered the art of speaking in pirate's tongue, ye shall be rewarded with a doughy morsel fit for a king. Dress like a pirate, and ye can feed yer entire crew!

Keep reading for some of aarrr favorite picks for the weekend…

So how's the whole back-to-school thing working out for you? Are you totally in the zone, got your rhythm for morning up-and-at-'ems down pat? Neither missing a beat nor heading out the door a moment late? Seriously? Not one moment? Like, who are you and what have you done with the Mommy we knew and loved? Could you at least admit to being a millisecond behind schedule so the rest of us don't feel bad? Please? Fine. Be that way. Bravo for you. (Slow. Clap.) As for the rest of us, maybe we need a little help. Like our Fall Guide. Points us in the right direction for all things autumnal, like apple picking, pumpkin patches, and fun in the sun. (This is Southern California, after all. Fall looks a lot like summer!)

If the calendar totally got away from you, and you suddenly realize, hey, I never got High Holy Day tickets, and even if I did, whoops, no sitter, we can help you there too. What if we told you that you could attend services ... without even leaving your house! (Yeah, that's the kind of magic we do around here.)

The clock is ticking on our Swagapalooza Giveaways, but you still have a chance to snag some awesome back-to-school swag. Act fast for your shot at a Target gift card, KRE-O CityVille Invasion building sets, or a boy's or girl's Schwinn bike.

Keep reading for some of our favorite picks for the weekend…

It happens every year. I whine and moan about the end of summer, and the incomprehensibly early start of school. Finally Labor Day comes and even I have to admit, it’s time for Back to School. And then I realize: no one in my house is in school yet. We're still at the pre-school phase. September, Shmeptember, it's all the same to us. Yay, problem solved. But then this year I realized, this is our last year pre school.  Our last chance to enjoy weekday activities (free museum days! Kids clubs at the malls!)  Time is ticking on free entry to museums and theme parks and the Metro. 

It’s not just about getting in free, it’s also about buying into the magic. Right now, my child truly believes that costumed character in front of her is the same animated friend she loves on TV. And this month alone I can take her to see the Octonauts, Doc McStuffins,  the Wiggles, and for the pièce de résistance Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Sofia the First in one show. (Seriously, if you’re bucking for Mommy of the Year, get your kids tickets to this one.)

Lucky you, no matter how old your kid is, you can still enter to win awesome back-to-school bootie in our Swagapalooza Giveaway. A few of the drawings have closed already (you snooze, you lose) but there’s still plenty of time to enter for a Target gift card, a Motorola MBP26 Baby Monitor and a $250 Sears Optical Gift Certificate, to name a few.

Keep reading for some of our favorite picks for the weekend…

Here's what we do: we give. We give and give and then give some more. We're givers. Day in, day out, we give you our best. We find fun things for you to do. Free things. Cute things. Super things. Disney things. Dancey things. We find the most thank-you-mommy-for-bringing-me-here activities for you and yours because we're like that. We want you to be happy.

But every so often we want to go even further in our giving. We think about you guys and what you've got going on and we ask ourselves, "Selves?  How can we help these folk? How can we make their lives just that much brighter?" Now, for example. You're all wrapped in up Back-to-School-a-rama, and we'd like to help. By giving. Actual stuff. Stuff like, oh, I don't know, two Schwinn Kids' Bikes, $150 worth of personalized school supplies from My Chronical Books, a Disney Junior package that includes Disney bedding and a backpack, $100 off at Famous Footwear, and a year's supply of French Toast School Uniforms. That kind of stuff. Awesome stuff.

Want to know how to get your hands on this booty? And while you're at it, want the scoop on getting a discount for the upcoming show that's so out of this world that it's over the rainbow?  We'd be glad to give it to you. Just keep reading for the 411, and for some of our favorite picks for this weekend as well...

Summer Sounds concerts offer younger kids an introduction to music at the Hollywood Bowl in a lively and engaging format without the logistical challenges of evening shows. The concerts have an international flare, introducing little ears to sounds from around the world.

The Hollywood Bowl has always been one of my favorite venues in LA: the finest music offered in an open air, festive environment.  But as a parent, I began to see the scope of the Bowl in a different way. The size of the crowds could be overwhelming, the hour past little ones’ bedtimes, the length of the show beyond little ones’ attention spans. How then to instill in my child the same excitement I feel for this most beloved institution?