With cooler temperatures upon us, fall is the perfect time to spend quality time enjoying nature and the beauty of our state. 

Apple picking is a rite of fall in New England. Check out our posts on Pick-Your-Own-Apple Orchards in Eastern CT, apple picking with toddlers in Fairfield County, and Apple-Picking Orchards in Hartford County. This year's unpredictable weather has been tough on local apple crops, so get out and support the farmers by visiting them for fruit, donuts, hayrides, animals and more. Fall Fairs and Festivals abound and we've listed some great ones in Hartford County.

Saturday marks the first day of fall, and our weekend roundup offers plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy the season, from Revels' RiverSing in Cambridge on Sunday to the first weekend of Trails & Sails on the North Shore; from Captains Courageous Festival in Gloucester on Saturday to Brookline Day on Sunday. Plus, it’s a great time to plan an apple picking adventure, a trip to a corn maze, or a visit to a museum to see one of the new fall exhibits.

With our kids’ team sports season kicking into high gear, Tara delves in to what it means to be a good spectator at your children’s games. Helpful hints! And check out fun ways to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of The Boxcar Children series with Boxcar Children-related activities and happenings in the Boston area and beyond.

Our best bets for the weekend are below, and you can check our Event Calendar for lots of other options. And follow us on Facebook and Twitter for giveaways, updates and tips on family fun.

Enjoy!

Look up in the sky:  it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… well, yeah, it’s a plane.  But look at what’s on top of the plane: the Space Shuttle Endeavour. After 25 missions and more than 122 million miles, Endeavour is en route to its new home at the California Science Center. First stop LAX, but, like any good tourist, Endeavour wants to catch all the sights before it lands. Wherever you find yourself Friday morning, take a moment to look up and you might just see history flying by. And that's the beauty of Los Angeles: sometimes all you have to do is step outside to find inspiration.

Name your interest, there are a thousand ways to pursue it. Kids moved by Endeavour's salute can gaze at the stars at the Griffith Observatory or watch more earthbound flyers at Santa Monica Airport's Open House. Future poli-sci majors can rock with all 44 American presidents, or root for the underdog senator played by Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Creative hyphenates can find their muses at Pasadena Museum of California Art's birthday party, Hammer Kids' LitLab, or the art & music festival ZAMFEST. Whatever your passion, Los Angeles has you covered, and the sky's the limit!

Keep reading for our favorite picks for this weekend...

Columbus Day Weekend and Fall Getaways

With the stress-inducing routines of school just getting under way, families may be looking for Columbus Day weekend getaways that are easy to undertake.  Washington D.C. is pleasantly cool in early fall, so you can enjoy its many free attractions without overheating.  October is peak foliage season in colorful upstate New York and Vermont, both easy to reach via Amtrak.  The beach can still be glorious this time of year, perfect for walks and building sand castle even if the water is chilly.  California families can consider an overnight trip to Los Angeles, where they can catch the Cleopatra Exhibition and spend the night in a stylish downtown hotel.  If you are not quite ready to part with your flip-flops and say goodbye to summer, the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico is offering real bargains right up until Christmas Day.

Kids begging to go to an outdoor festival or fair? Well you're in luck. This weekend is packed with annual favorites like the Queens County Farm Museum's County Fair, Fort Greene's BAM Fisher Block Party, the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum's Breukelen Country Fair, the New York Botanical Garden's Edible Garden Festival and a pair of Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festivals. And no that list isn't comprehensive!

There are also a bunch of cool indoor cultural activities. The Brooklyn Children's Museum reopens after its fall spruce up with the new exhibit Global Shoes plus two Suzi Shelton concerts and lots of special guests. 92YTribeca has kiddie band Lunch Money in concert and the annual Brooklyn Book Festival offers lots of kid-lit events to please young bookworms.

Those are just a few of the great things going on this weekend. All of our best bets are below and you can find additional options in our Event Calendar and our Fall Fun Guide.

In anticipation of autumn's arrival, I celebrated with pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin coffee! As Saturday marks the Autumnal Equinox, you'll find tons of fall celebrations this weekend like Terhune Orchard's Fall Family Fun event, Crystal Spring's Oktoberfest, Jumpstart Fall at Reeves Reed Arboretum, Mid Autumn Moon Festival in Morristown, and the Bedminster Fall Fest. Read on for all our top picks and remember, you can find a listing of all NJ activities for kids in our Event Calendar.

Seems like there's an autumn chill in the air so it's finally time to start thinking about indoor activities again. Appropriately enough, this week's links post has the scoop on a bunch of inside activities, including a new cooking school for kids, the long-term benefits of musical education and a pair of kids' art contests that should eat up an afternoon or two. We've also got sad news about the closing of one of our favorite drop-in play spaces, and cute new zoo babies. They always cheer us up.