Starting this weekend, most events taking place for kids in NYC invite you to come in costume. So, get your Princesses and Spidermen ready and check out these fall festivals:

NYC Apple Day 2008 - the LES turns the "Big Apple" green with NYC Apple Day and  Go Green Lower East Side. Be transported back in time with the old-fashioned apple cider press, a live honey beehive plus some modern faves like

Have you noticed the new Events Calendar on Mommy Poppins lately? After a full four months of development, during which it was admittedly pretty pathetic, the calendar is now full of great activities, including over 55 Halloween activities, most of them free.

Judy Sklover, our new Events Editor, will be hand-picking the best events and activities all over NYC for kids. Expect to see only the best free activities, educational programs, and unique events for NYC kids you won't find listed anywhere else. Unlike other NYC resources, we don't just post every press release that comes across our desk. We actively seek out cool stuff and only post events we would go to ourselves.

FIND IT:
The events calendar is in our left sidebar. To see events, click on the date you're looking for to see that day's events or click on the month to see the whole month. You can also view our calendar in week or list view. I prefer list view myself because I can see upcoming events with a summary of what and where they are.

USE IT:
Another feature you'll notice is our Upcoming Events widget. Right there in the sidebar you can see the next five events at a glance. It's a great way to check what's happening that day if you need some inspiration, but be aware some days we have more than 5 events listed and you'll want to go to the main calendar view to get the complete list.

I want to thank Judy, the newest addition to the Mommy Poppins team and mommy dynamo. She was her school's PTA president for more years than anyone should sanely serve and has been a terrific community member. I'm thrilled to have her on board and I also want to thank the Wildlife Conservation Society and all our other advertisers for recognizing what a great little site this is and supporting us with their advertising dollars, making it possible to add features like this new event calendar .

Getting this calendar working was a big step for me, but it's only the first one. I want to make it even better and am going to be continuing to work on it. So email me with what you think could make it better and I'll see if I can make it happen in the next round of improvements.

Most people who visit Washington Heights or Inwood for the first time will remark to me, "This neighborhood is great! I never knew a place like this existed in Manhattan!" Well, my fellow New Yorkers, if you have never been to the northern part of Manhattan, this Sunday you have no excuses. Besides the beautiful weather, Uptown Treasures is hosting a day of free family activities and events at eight awesome northern Manhattan sites, and to make things super easy for you, it will be complete with complimentary shuttle service that will schlep you between locations.

Some of these sites should already be on your to do list:

We got lots of great reader responses in last week's Time and Money Saving Tips post with more great ideas. There's really too many to recap here, but here are my top 5 favorite, plus our giveaway winner and discount codes for everyone:

(oh, and don't forget to enter our Halloween Kiddie Cruise giveaway by Thursday).

I love three-day weekends, they should all be at least three days in my opinion.  This weeks line-up of news includes a lot of warnings and suggestions from the medical world that all parents should be aware of including a warning about Tylenol for kids.  Also, find out what forecasters are saying about the upcoming NYC winter (dust off your skis), musings on the greatest parenthood taboo of all time (liking one kid more than the other) and the latest Palin buzz (she's doing SNL).

Back in August we did a giveaway for 4 complimentary tickets to the Kiddie Cruise and it was so popular, we are doing it again but this time two lucky Mommy Poppinistas will win 4 tickets to the Halloween Kiddie Cruise.

Setting sail on Oct. 26 at noon, the Halloween Kiddie Cruise will take you on a ghoulishly fun two hour tour of the Hudson. The cruise ship is a 3 level Louisiana-Style paddle-wheel boat that is packed full of Halloween kiddie entertainment. Recommended for kids ages 2 to 8, you can expect face painting, balloon sculpting, arts and crafts, magic shows, performances, story telling, live music, raffles and yummy food for kids and adults.

Keep reading for details on how to enter...

Fall has arrived and it's time to get yourself some pumpkins! Check out our posts on the best pumpkin picking and apple picking in the area if you want to head out of town. Or, you can stock up on pumpkins and fall fun right here in NYC with the top picks of this weekend's local pumpkin events. Plus, did you know that there are lots of free kids cooking classes available this weekend? Keep reading for the full scoop...

Fall brings lots of things with it: cool mornings and chilly nights, great colors and foliage, plenty of Holidays, and, it's a great time of year for getting out of the city to enjoy the crisp Fall air. So we're giving you a couple more reasons to hop on the LIE for some Fall Festivals worth a day trip this Columbus Day Weekend.

For more fall day trip ideas and Long Island fun check out our New York Halloween Guide.