Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk is a great place to spend the day with your 0-10 year old. If you have tweens I recommend taking them to Stepping Stones' Summer Jam LIVE: Teen Concert Series geared just for them. The museum currently has a Blue Man Group - Making Waves exhibit that runs through September 9th. You can read about our visit to the exhibit last month here. Enter this great giveaway now for your  chance to win a family 4 pack of tickets to be used one day this summer at the Stepping Stones Museum for Children. 

Having a summer birthday has the advantage of being able to celebrate at one of the many outdoor party sites that are located within Hartford County. With the beautiful weather why not take full advantage and plan a party outdoors? One big perk?  By commemorating your summer baby’s birthday outside at one of these al fresco locations you will eliminate the hassle of having to clean up your own home! Go the extra step and keep your party as environmentally friendly as possible. Using recycled paper goods and plastics, fresh and local food and larger food containers all helps. For even more great party ideas check out our Party Guide.

This is part of a series of posts on the best family travel apps. See the previous posts on the Best Hotel and Flight Booking Apps and Apps for Road Trips.

Travel is never completely problem free. It's the unpredictability that makes it an adventure. But when traveling with kids, the seemingly smallest inconveniences can feel like major upsets, like not being able to find a bathroom when you need one, or having to walk a few extra blocks because you missed your destination, or, heaven forbid, a medical emergency.

The following apps will help you find your way around your destination and solve lots of little problems you might face while traveling:

Well, we survived the heatwave and the biblical-style rainstorm (we took a stroll through northern Central Park during the downpour—it's the first time we've ever been the only ones there!). This week's sweltering humidity inspired us to round up 50 places to cool off with kids in NYC, while our New Jersey peeps decided to get wet on an adventure-filled pirate cruise.

With temperatures in the bearable range and a weekend of sunshine ahead of us, it's a great time for a day trip. Our NJ site has the scoop on family-friendly fun in Atlantic City (really!) while our Connecticut site shares an itinerary for the quaint town of Avon and a profile of the awesome Connecticut Science Center, both in Hartford County.

And if you missed our founder Anna Fader's talk on travel apps at the Apple Store last Saturday, you're in luck: This week she launched a series of posts on our Travel site about her favorites, including hotel and flight booking apps and tools and travel apps for family road trips.

Here's what else we shared this week on our NYC site.

Mid-July already. How did this happen? This weekend features festivals like Artbeat 2012 in Somerville and Festival Betances in Boston, special events at the Franklin Park and Stone Zoos, and performances from Cambridge to Newburyport. And check our round ups of free outdoor movies, free outdoor concerts, and free story times for other ways to enjoy this mid-summer weekend.

"Diary of a Camp Mommy Director" started this week - Tara finds herself at home with the kids all summer, providing daily entertainment for them (and their friends). She’s started a Twitter diary about the joys and frustrations of being a Camp Mommy Director. Follow her on on Twitter, and please share your own joys (and frustrations) using #CampMommy.

Read on for some highlights of the weekend activities, and please visit our Events Calendar for more ideas.

Enjoy!

Worried about cuts to your children's public school art programs? Upstairs—a recently formed group of young artists and educators—is too. That's why the organization is launching a pilot program of FREE art classes on the Lower East Side this August for children ages 7 to 12.

This weekend, the war between North and South plays out in the Los Angeles area. Prepare yourselves for battles, bloodshed (simulated we hope), demonstrations of physical prowess and exceptional elocution, and in the end a resolution that is pleasing to all. No, I'm not talking about the Civil War reenactment in Long Beach, (though by all accounts it will be one for the history books); I am talking about the different communities of Southern California vying for your presence at their extraordinary events this weekend. And its not just North and South; there's some Eastside/ Westside tension to address as well.

We have the battle of the Shakespeares: Griffith Park with Winters Tale for the East, and West LA VA with As You Like It for the West. Outdoor movies: Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center's Movie Mondays vs. Hollywood’s Oscars Outdoors.  Costa Mesa’s Orange County Fair has formidable competition in Thousand Oak’s Tropical Daze Summer Music Festival; the Eastside’s Los Feliz Village Street Fair goes head to head with the Westside’s Montana Avenue Artwalk & Street Fair.

And who will the victors be? Well, that should be clear. With a plethora of choices the clear winners will be: Los Angeles families. 

Keep reading for some of our favorite picks for this weekend...

(Photo: Teatro Yerbabruja)

The oppressive heat we've had this past week is breaking just in time to allow you to get out and enjoy the weekend—and there's some good stuff to enjoy.

The Children's Museum of the East End is having its Great Outdoors Family Fair, the Town of Babylon is holding its Splash Bash at the Phelps Lane Pool in North Babylon, and the Town of Oyster Bay is putting on its Children's Festival and Safety Day. There's also the Laurie Berkner Band at the Tilles Center and Brentwood's Puerto Rican Day Parade. And as always, you'll find lots more events for this weekend and all week long in our events calendar. Have a great weekend!