The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, in Clearwater Beach, Florida, is quite different from any other aquarium you may have been to. Primarily a rescue and rehabilitation facility for marine life, the aquarium only became a popular place to visit after the story of the rescue and rehabilitation of a dolphin named Winter became a star-studded feature film, Dolphin Tale.

Since the film's creation, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium now has two separate buildings, connected by a free Jolley Trolley. The original building houses Winter and all the other animals that are either being rehabilitated for release or now live at the aquarium because they can not be released back in the wild.

There is also a brand new Winter's Dolphin Tale Adventure building dedicated completely to learning about the story behind Winter and the making of the movie Dolphin Tale. The Dolphin Tale Adventure experience is included with your admission to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and both are interesting and educational.

[UPDATED: December 1, 2012]

For the final post of our month-long focus on the Upper East Side, we're sharing our favorite practical shops for new parents and babies in the neighborhood. Take a stroll on one of the nabe's main avenues like Madison or Lexington and you'll pass a ton of fancy boutiques selling chichi wears for little ones (that they'll grow out in, oh, about a week). So instead of listing all of those swanky spots that have expensive outfits and not much else, we decided to focus on stores that offer necessities for new parents and babies. These five spots sell everything from nursing supplies to nursery furniture, baby slings to baby toys. Plus most offer special classes and events especially for new parents.

The fall festival “season” is in full swing this weekend, and families can choose from fairs ranging from the Topsfield Fair, opening Friday, 9/28 and billed as “America’s oldest fair” to the north and King Richard’s Renaissance Faire to the south, as well as festivals and other special events on Saturday and Sunday in Boston, Somerville, and beyond. Read on for details, and be sure to check our Events Calendar as we continually update and add to it.

Two of our favorite venues - the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline and the Regent Theatre in Arlington - have announced the lineups for their special Saturday and Sunday morning family shows. To celebrate, Mommy Poppins readers have the chance to attend two of these shows, for free! Three ways to enter to win one of two pairs of tickets to Mister G at the Coolidge on October 20 and/or a Family 4-Pack to see Ben Rudnick at the Regent on October 13: 1.  send us an email (let us know which show you’re interested in!), 2.  leave a comment on the Mister G or Ben Rudnick giveaway post, or 3. Like us and leave a comment on our Facebook page. Good luck!

Planning a party? Fall is the perfect time for an outdoor celebration. And there’s no better place than a farm, where the harvest and happenings are plentiful, and a festive feeling is in the air. We’ve rounded up a few farms – just a short drive from Boston – where you can celebrate the big day with friends, family and a whole lot of fun.

Enjoy!

Run for your lives! It’s every man for himself, women and children first. Head for the hills, wait, no, not the hills! Unless you live in the hills, then stay in the hills, but if you live at the shore, whatever you do, don’t head for the hills, because the day we have been dreading is finally here: say hello to my little friend Carmaggedon. For north (the 101) is north and south (the 10) is south, and ne’er the twain shall meet.  At least for the duration of the weekend.

So what does that mean?  It means you gotta stay put. Whatever fun you plan on having, it'd better be within spitting distance of your home. Luckily, we live in Los Angeles, where fun is never hard to find. This weekend alone, you can celebrate the Harvest at the Annual Chinatown Moon Festival in Chinatown, indulge in Italian culture and cuisine at Feast of San Gennaro Los Angeles in Hollywood, honor public servants while riding a tractor-drawn wagon at the Public Safety Weekend at Underwood Farms in Moorpark, dance to the drums and soak in the art at the Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Jazz Festivals in Watts, and share your love of reading at both the Orange County Children's Book Festival in Costa Mesa and the West Hollywood Book Fair (in WeHo of course!).

(Note: Abbot Kinney Festival, which is usually this weekend, is being held next Sunday, October 7).

Keep reading for our favorite local picks for this weekend!

This is another one of those weekends when we wish we had the ability to clone ourselves. Of course if anyone can figure out human cloning, it's the inventive folks at World Maker Faire, a creative arts/tech/science fest of epic proportions. Other annual Mommy Poppins favorites this weekend include the Dumbo Arts Festival, Brooklyn's largest street fair Atlantic Antic, Fort Tryon Park's Medieval Festival and Children's Day at the South Street Seaport. By the way, those last four events are absolutely FREE.

Halloween is on the horizon and the first major event of the season, the Bronx Zoo's Boo at the Zoo, kicks off this weekend. Plus we've got the scoop on how you can visit 32 NYC culture spots for free on Saturday as part of Smithsonian Magazine's Museum Day.

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 Fall Fun Guide.

In my house we don't just carve a pumpkin in October.  We head to the pumpkin patch and fill an entire wagon with those orange gourds.  Our favorite farms are those where you can cut them right off the vine. We choose all shapes and sizes and sometimes like to speculate about what the pumpkins remind us of.  My favorite find last year was a pair of small pumpkins, one perfectly orange and round and the other a taller oval shape that I couldn't help but imagine would make the perfect "Bert and Ernie" Sesame Street themed pumpkins.  When we get home from our collecting trip we break out the yarn, pipe cleaners, paint, google eyes and of course our imaginations and turn that pile of pumpkins into creatures.  Past pumpkins have been transformed into a witch, mummy, spider, ghost - the possibilities are endless.

We've compiled lists of area farms where you can choose the perfect pumpkins for your porch and many of them offer additional activities like corn mazes, hayrides and my family's favorite - apple cider donuts.  Get the scoop here on area pumpkin patches in Western CT and Fairfield County. It looks as though it may be a cloudy weekend, but in the Northwest Corner of CT the fall foliage is definitely starting its glorious display. Kent, CT has been named the #1 Fall Foliage town in all of New England by Yankee magazine for two years in a row. Great place for a daytrip this time of year.

Fall family fun is in full swing in New Jersey this weekend. There's so much going on, you might not know what to do first. Head down the shore for Margate's Fall Funfest or Chowderfest in Beach Haven, "go" to Go, Dog, Go in Hoboken, or sample some amazing free events such as Hub City Sounds, Public Lands Day, Devil's Family Fun Day and National Museum Day Live. Read on for all our top picks and remember, you can find a listing of all NJ activities for kids in our Event Calendar.

The Regent Theatre in Arlington kicks off its Family Fun series on October 13 with a Ben Rudnick and Friends concert, and a Mommy Poppins Boston family can win free tickets to the concert.

Expect to hear a tasty selection of songs from Rudnick's new CD, Love is a Superpower,  along with BR&F favorites and to see some wonderful new videos as well.