What's the worst thing you can do before a three-day summer weekend? Write a really long blog post. So I'm going to keep this brief since I know we're all ready to start our holiday. NYC is filled with patriotic fun in honor of July 4th from Macy's iconic fireworks to sparklers in Coney Island to a kid-friendly Independence Day parade in Harlem. If your weekend is already booked, all of our sites published July Go Lists this week so you can find out about the best things to do with kids throughout the month in NYC, Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond. Many of our tri-state area family event picks are worth traveling for, like this weekend's Hudson Valley Balloon Festival in upstate New York, the New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival on July 19 and the Ice Cream, Blueberries and Bluegrass Bash on July 20 at Connecticut's Fort Hill Farms, which is also a great place to pick your own blueberries.

If you're looking for summer vacation destinations, check out our Travel site. This week we shared brand-new posts about the best attractions for families in Yosemite, California; Richmond, Virginia's top-notch children's museums and historic Maymont mansion; and a roundup of summer family travel deals all over the country.

And no matter where you spend this July 4th weekend, be sure to share your family's playful pics on social media for a chance to win great prizes in our SUMMER OF PLAY CHALLENGE, our season-long initiative encouraging families to spend quality time playing together.

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