Life in Larchmont continues to perk up for families, with yet another opening of a family destination. We recently told you about the arrival of D.I.Y. Slime, where kids can get their hands on STEM-y fun without messing up their own home. On its heels comes Pop In! Play Space & Cafe, a new indoor spot geared toward kids under 6 that offers stimulating stations, flexible pricing, and birthday parties.

We paid a visit to size things up for our readers. Spoiler alert: We give it a big thumbs-up!

Read on for the inside scoop about Pop In! Play Space & Cafe. To stay in the know about new businesses, camp listings, our top picks from our Event Calendar, and more, make sure you're signed up for our newsletters!

If your family finds itself in a lousy situation, you'll likely want to pull your hair out, as well as your child's. While there are plenty of kid-friendly salons scattered around the boroughs, lice removal requires a different kind of expert help. There are several lice removal services in New York City that remove lice and nits from your child's hair or your own.

Beware: These services don't come cheap. For specific pricing info, contact each company directly. All provide chemical-free treatments, with unrelenting combing and expert nit-picking, and some guarantee one-time treatment results. Here is a rundown of lice removal services in NYC and beyond, along with some (unfortunate!) personal testimonials.

The Long Island Puppet Theater, the island's longest-running puppet show space, brings theater and music to life on stage in full felt form! Step out of your imagination and into the world of vivid, animated puppets. 

Check our calendar for more theatrical performance, as well as our shows section.

Going wine tasting with kids in tow seems counterintuitive. How can you fully savor each red, white, and rosé, if you’re pulled in a thousand directions by your toddler? How can you go to a winery if children are not even allowed inside? It turns out that there are some kid-friendly wineries out there (hurray!), where being a wine enthusiast and a parent is totally feasible and enjoyable, too. Some of them are conveniently located just two hours away from LA in sunny Temecula Valley, Southern California’s Wine Country.

Looking for more fabulous SoCal wineries? Check out our list of The Best Family-Friendly Vineyards and Wineries Near Los Angeles.

Get your bathing suits ready: The highly anticipated DreamWorks Animation Water Park is set to open March 19 at the American Dream entertainment and retail complex in Rutherford, New Jersey. Billed as North America's largest indoor water park, American Dream's newest family attraction clocks in at just over 370,000 square feet—more than 100,000 square feet larger than the previous record-holder, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in the Poconos. 

The massive indoor water park will feature 40 water slides, as well as the world's largest indoor wave pool, a lazy river, interactive play structures, two surf riders, and lots more—all featuring favorite characters from DreamWorks animated films including Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Shrek, and How To Train Your Dragon.

Originally slated to open in November 2019, the water park will join a growing roster of American Dream's indoor attractions, including Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, Big SNOW ski and snow park, an ice skating rink, and a candy department store. Its opening is being touted as a preview, and a limited number of tickets are currently available. 

A visit to the Lower East Side can feel like taking a step back in time. Walk the right route, and you're greeted with narrow, tenement-lined streets that haven't changed much since this area was a bustling center of immigrant life. Take a different route, though, and you see gleaming new boutique buildings and high-price businesses peddling shiny wares. Change, as they say, is constant. And though one neighborhood mainstay—the Essex Market—has undergone some significant changes of its own, it has stayed true to the neighborhood its called home for more than 130 years.

The Essex Market, rebuilt in a modern building that opened last spring, is just a stone's throw away from its old location. Enter, and you're walking into a mini version of the neighborhood. Rows and rows of stalls honor the area's past and the long-time merchants with deep roots there. So, whether you're spending a day exploring the Lower East Side or searching for a specialty item or a tasty meal, the Essex Market is worth a visit.

Read on for all you can see, do, and taste at this New York City gem.