Are we the only ones who felt like this was a long, slow week? Maybe it has something to do with this being the first full week back after spring break. The awesome spring weather doesn't help either: How can we focus on work when there are parks and playgrounds calling out to us? Not to mention the hypnotic tinkling of the invading ice cream trucks.

Still, we found time to do some work. We launched our NYC Kid-Friendly Restaurant Guide and even added a pair of tasty new posts: Restaurants where kids can make their own food and an international food crawl on Ninth Avenue to go with our Midtown West coverage.

If you're looking to take a seasonal day trip, our Long Island site profiled New York State Parks in Nassau and Suffolk Counties that are filled with all kinds of outdoor fun like boating, fishing, biking, horseback riding and golfing, not to mention the opportunity to commune with nature. Meanwhile, our New Jersey site has a roundup of animal-filled farms where kids can get up close and personal with alpacas, llamas, sheep, goats, ponies, chickens, miniature horses and more.

And those are just a few ways to take advantage of spring now that it's sprung. Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

This weekend kicks off a whole host of special events, from the Cambridge Science Festival and the Boston International Children’s Festival to the openings of the Swan Boats and Frog Pond Carousel. Read on for our top picks, and be sure to check our 35+ Things to Do for April Vacation, Patriots Day Activities Roundup, and Events Calendar for more suggestions.

And remember, the circus is still in town - read how it went when Kristin took her daughter to the Big Apple Circus last weekend. Looking for ideas of things to do a bit further afield? Our coverage of great museums in Providence continues with 10 reasons to take your kids to the Providence Children's Museum, plus a whole gallery of photos, because we all know how many words a picture is worth.

If your family is making summer plans, how about going to summer camp with your kids? Here are 5 family camps in New England.

Finally, have you completed our survey yet? We want to know what you want to know. Tell us what you think in this quick, 5-question reader survey. We appreciate your input!

Enjoy!

With all the choices out there these days, it’s hard to decide on just one class for your little one. “Mommy and me” classes are a great option because you get to join in on the fun! If you have a young music fanatic on your hands, this is the class you’ve been looking for. With live guitars, singing, drumming and interactive musical play (and stellar birthday parties) – Rockness Music helps NJ kids and families rock out.

This weekend, there are two types of people: Folks who’ve finished their taxes and are free to party like it’s April 16,  and folks who are filling out forms down to the wire. (Perhaps we should make a third category for the LaLaLa-I-can’t-hear-you April 15 denialists.) Regardless of which camp you fall into, you're sure to appreciate the Tax Day Freebies we've found.

For those of you with an open calendar, there's plenty to find cheer in this weekend. The butterflies are returning to the Natural History Museum, the Chumash are returning to Malibu, old friends are returning to Disneyland, my tax return is due AAACK. Happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts. Free Cinnabon. Aaah.

If your tax bill has been a burden, maybe it’s time put your kids to work. We’re looking for a few good critics to review the short films of the Los Angeles Children's Film Festival.  No experience needed, just an interesting point of view.

Keep reading for our favorite picks for the weekend, and to find out about the freebies.

Spring brings flowers, long days in the playground and a new set of exclusive Mommy Poppins deals. We reached out to some of our favorite fun and enriching NYC programs and asked them to extend discounts to our readers. The result is seven awesome offers for kids that you won't want to miss, from preschoolers through teens. Save big bucks on birthday party packages, day camp, guitar lessons, a family photo shoot and more!

We enjoyed our first no coat day this week so hopefully spring is here to stay. There are certainly lots of great ways to enjoy the season this weekend including the Queens County Farm Museum's annual Children's Carnival, hands-on gardening for kids at the New York Botanical Garden and the shearing of the heather in Fort Tryon Park.

Worried the weather won't cooperate? That's okay because there are plenty of awesome indoor activities, too, like the gloriously geeky The Intergalactic Nemesis at the New Victory Theater, BAMcinématek's Hayao Miyazaki animated movie retrospective and a few really cool FREE events at local public libraries and parks.

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

It's a kid's dream come true: we want to hear everything your kids have to say about a movie!

In fact, we want to do more than that: we want to invite your kids to see a couple of kids' films for free and THEN tell us what they think about them. And we want to publish their very important opinions right here on this website for other kids and adults to see. In short, we want to turn your kids into film critics for the  Los Angeles Children's Film Festival in Santa Monica this month.

We are recruiting our team of critics by the end of day on Thursday, April 11, so that we can invite them to their special preview screenings on Saturday, April 13, at either 10am or 11:45am.

Many families are packing up and heading out of town this weekend as many CT schools begin their Spring Break. However, you don't need to go far to have fun. We've got the scoop on many fun family events happening close to home.  Take a look at our favorite Spring Activities in Central CT to get you started.