It just so happens my child's birthday is coming up soon. I had heard interesting things about the Toy District and deals one can get there on birthday supplies, so I decided to take advantage of living near Downtown and go for a stroll through LA's well known Toy District -- located just east of S. Los Angeles Street, between 3rd St and 4th St. in downtown Los Angeles. Is it a must-stop for party shopping? And is it worth the effort?

With modern-day conveniences, we often forget about how we obtain the things in our everyday routine. You open the fridge and pull out a carton of milk--but who produced, collected it and bottled it? You tear open a bag of pre-cut lettuce for a salad, not really thinking about where it was harvested, cleaned and bagged.

Well, families can learn about the source of their food and get their hands dirty at one of these family-friendly farms located on the East End of Long Island. And for more fun ideas of what to do in the area, check out our Hamptons and North Fork Summer Family Guide.

It is only fitting that a week which begins at the beach should end with a free shampoo and blow out for Mom. Prepare for a grown up weekend with Living Proof’s Frizz Free Friday at an Ulta Beauty location. Appointments are available from 5:00pm – 8:00pm. Go out and get glamorized while Dad stays home and orders up some Friday night pizza. Read on for the outings with kids that can earn you such an end-of-week treat.

This bike park is now closed. The organizers hope to open a new one nearby in May 2015. We'll update this post if that happens. New York City never ceases to amaze me with its seemingly endless expansion in the “you can do that in NYC now?!” department. The people who don’t understand why we raise our kids in the city just don’t get the true awesomeness of the ever-changing playground in which we live. Stage combat, trapeze, cheerleading, Chinese—whatever your kids are interested in, there's probably a place to do it, plus the opportunity to discover new things they didn’t even know they were into located around every corner.

I like to think I know most of what’s going on in the city, but my jaw dropped the other day when I stumbled upon Brooklyn Bike Park, an incredible, dirt track, mountain biking park that sits on a full block on South Williamsburg’s industrial waterfront. It was such a great find and since it's moving at the end of this summer, I just had to share right away.

Water, water, everywhere, all over our Mommy Poppins sites. We updated two super-popular posts in our Water Fun Guide: the best boat rides for NYC families and our list of the top 20 water playgrounds throughout the five boroughs, including the brand-new Lakeside Splash Pad in Prospect Park. Plus we shared 25 water games you can play anywhere, from your local park to your own backyard.

Looking to get wet outside the the city? Our Long Island site has a roundup of the best beach playgrounds in the Hamptons, while Westchester highlighted six destination parks featuring all kinds of water fun like beaches, pools and water slides. And if your family is really up for a full-fledged water-filled adventure, our Travel site recommends the Grand Solmar Land's End Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Warning: Do not click here unless you're prepared to be jealous.

We're smack-dab in the middle of summer break and our SUMMER OF PLAY CHALLENGE. What has your family been doing to make the most of the season? Share your playful pics on social media for a chance to win great prizes. Every week, we're giving away a KaBOOM! Go Out and Play Pack and in late August, we'll be awarding one lucky reader with an Ultimate Summer of Play Bash. So submit your fun photos and then click through all of the entries for new play inspiration.

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