We finish up our series of posts about Astoria, Queens with a roundup of our favorite family-friendly restaurants in the area. While Astoria is rightfully known for its Greek eateries, you'll find lots of other awesome ethnic cuisines in this diverse neighborhood, too. Our list includes Czech, Japanese, Cajun, Middle Eastern and good ol' American burgers spots, plus two of our top ten destination family restaurants in all of Queens. Here are 13 kid-friendly restaurants to check out in Astoria.

Westchester is chock full of beautiful places to enjoy nature--it’s one of the reasons so many families choose to live here. From historic sites like Kykuit and Sunnyside with lush gardens to explore, to huge parks like Rockefeller State Park and Croton Point Park, there's more than enough green space to go around. We previously wrote about great places to go hiking with kids, however some of the most gorgeous spots to commune with nature are not the most commonly known. If you're looking to blaze new trails, here are three great places to start.

Nestled in the northern most part of Somerset County, Bernardsville is a charming town that boasts scenic landscapes and a peaceful ambiance.  Rich in historical significance, the town has had several notable residents including Brook Astor, Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis and Meryl Streep.  Today, abundant parks and playgrounds as well as annual events and a lovely downtown make Bernardsville a great destination year round. Below are a few great reasons to check out this wonderful little town.  For more great small towns in New Jersey, check out the rest of our Great Small Towns series including posts on Chester and Nutley.

This weekend I'll be speaking at NY TravFest. On Saturday I'm sharing my secret formula for planning the perfect family vacation and on Sunday I'll be part of a panel discussing how to balance travel with kids, careers and stability. There are tons of amazing speakers at this event and opportunities. Check it out. I'd love to see you there.

As part of the festival I've created a Travel Babel video sharing some of my personal travel inspiration and some of my own childhood travel experiences that changed my life. I think traveling with kids is so important and taking longer vacations where you can really become immersed in local culture is a gift that never gets old. Take a look:

It’s spring, and you know what that means: spring cleaning! Out with the old, in with the new. You can get started with a classic clean, and join in the Earth Day tie-in beach cleanup on Santa Monica Beach. Get those sands sparkling (and what perfect timing: the Annenberg Community Beach House is holding its Anniversary shingdig this weekend as well).

That was inspiring!  Now it's time to clean up our own little neck of the woods and… oh dear. We have quite a lot of trash around here. No worries. Earth Day also marks the start of Sanitation Open House season. Kids can tour sanitation yards, attend recycling fairs, visit landfills, and perhaps commandeer a garbage truck to help Momma haul away a ton or two of refuse.

You know what's not going to end up in a landfill? Cloth diapers. You know who's going to end up in the Guinness Book of Records? Cloth diaperers (assuming enough of them get together this weekend). You know what else is going to end up in the record books? This weekend, because seriously,  there's so much amazing stuff going on that it will definitely be going down in history.

Don't believe me?  Keep reading for a taste of the awesomeness headed your way...

It's that time of year again when the weekends are packed with all manner of glorious family fun. Do we really only have two days to fit it all in?

We have included quite a few festivals below, but for even more ideas, check out our guide to Springtime Fairs and Festivals in Central Connecticut. If you've got road tripping on your mind, see our post about 25 Fun Things to Do with Kids in Glastonbury or our review of A Day Trip to the Glebe House for some terrific ideas.

While Earth Day may have officially fallen on Tuesday, there are many celebrations thoughtfully scheduled for this weekend. We've rounded up some of our favorites below.

And if all this running around has you too knackered to cook (my family hears this excuse a lot!), check out our guide to Family-Friendly Pizza Places in Fairfield County—I've already started my own personal count down to the return of Pepe's fresh tomato pie on July 1st.

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Have fun out there!

The Garden State is home to many children's writers who introduce educational and whimsical new stories to today's kids. As we continue to ease into Spring, why not head to your local library, bookstore, or Web site and surprise your children with a cherished book written by a NJ-based parent? These new releases are fun reads for the whole family and delving into them will support those nearest and dearest to us--our fellow New Jerseyans.