The first day of school has been creeping farther and farther back in recent years, cutting deeper and deeper into summer. For many schools, August is part of the school year now, while other districts still cling to the time-honored "never before Labor Day" approach. All of this can make summer camp complicated to maneuver for some families, while others are knee-deep in homework.

From Burbank’s August 13 start date to Torrance’s September 6, don't just assume you know when school starts based on last year! Check our list of start and finish dates for the 2012/13 school year in and around LA County...

This past weekend, I threw a birthday party for my newly 5-year-old daughter.  15 adorable little girls showed up in their crinolines and party shoes, and settled into an arts and crafts project that I thought would entertain them for a good 30 minutes or so.  8 empty paint tubes later I popped inside for extra paper towels and returned to find said 15 girls (AND their crinolines AND their party shoes!) knee deep in our muddy stream catching frogs. 

The party was a great success (sorry Moms, for all the muddy clothes) and served to remind me that nothing entertains kids like the good old outdoors and all that it offers.  Below are several Nature Museums and Nature Centers in Fairfield County where you and your kids can go enjoy this beautiful spring weather.  Crinolines and party shoes optional!

From watching The Vampire Diaries to updating a Facebook status, from checking email to casting a vote for the next American Idol…the list of daily distractions and stationary activities your child faces is endless. A shocking number of eight to eighteen-year olds spent 7.5 hours a day using entertainment media – not a week, a day! As parents, we’re just as busy; shooting off an email here, running to a meeting there. We ALL need time to take a step back and breathe in some fresh air.

New Jersey is home to many marvelous hiking trails. Hiking is not only an inexpensive family activity, but also an incredible bonding experience. So introduce your brood to nature and its beauty; it may not be easy to get them to put down their cell phones, but the rewards will be well worth it.

Let’s face it; our days of bar hopping are over.  To take their place, we have discovered a new way to fill our weekends: park hopping.  New Jersey has some of the coolest playgrounds for kids and over the years my family has become a connoisseur of parks, if you will. We can turn park hopping into a full day event then stop at a great pizza or burger joint and rate the parks we visit. Read on for our interview with the moms behind the website NJ Playgrounds and a chance to win a FREE NJ Playground Guide!

At the risk of sounding like one of those organized moms who always plans ahead (something I'm rarely accused of), I'm happy to share our picks for Mother's Day brunch spots in NYC a full two and a half weeks before the big day. We actually have our readers to thank for the awesome choices, so check it out and see if your favorite restaurant made the cut (and if not, add it in the comments).

We continued our spring culture coverage with a roundup of the best new museum exhibits for families and we wrote about two of our favorite free seasonal events happening this weekend: East Harlem's Street Games and the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair.

Our sister sites are also buzzing about the best things to do and see this season. New Jersey has a roundup of cool exhibits for kids this spring and Connecticut has a list of amazing outdoor festivals in case you're looking for a fun day trip. Further afield, our Los Angeles site shared a very thoughtful post about things to do during Screen Free Week, and why a total technology tune out isn't necessarily beneficial for our kids. If you're looking for an exotic family vacation destination, we've got an enticing slide show of Avignon, France or the slightly less exotic, but cool Cleveland on our Travel site.

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

(Image courtesy of Cinema Arts Centre.)

Long Island is celebrating Spring and Arbor Day this weekend (let's hope the weather holds up...). Heckscher Park will be holding its Spring Festival, there's a Spring Fair at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery, and Stony Brook is having a Spring Appreciation Day. The Planting Fields Arboretum is having an Arbor Day Family Festival, and Old Westbury Gardens and Bates House in Setauket are also celebrating Arbor Day. Also, Gustafer Yellowgold will be at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington. Have a great weekend!

Apps—is there a parent left who doesn't love 'em? Regardless of what your kid's into, there's probably an app or two or 100 out there for them, and chances are it's inexpensive or even free.

Of course for kids with special needs, apps are more than just a fun pastime. Apps can be a lifeline that helps them connect to the outside world and allows them to pursue interests they didn't even know they had. So for the April edition of my monthly special needs posts, I decided to share some apps that have really engaged my son Jake, who has autism, and other children with special needs.