It's officially summer and what better way to celebrate than with ice cream—FREE ice cream!! Good Humor is marking the birth of our nation with not one, not two, but 12 days of complimentary ice cream all over downtown Manhattan. Moving throughout the area, one neighborhood at a time, the newfangled Good Humor Truck and a lineup of pedicabs and cars will be spreading joy with no-cost treats for all. We've got the scoop on how you can catch up with the Good Humor Man and get your free frozen treat.

Last summer when my family and I were lucky enough to visit Singapore for a whole week, one of our favorite activities was going to the hawker food stalls, which are just what they sound like: stands in a sprawling indoor market. Going to the hawker stalls is quite an event; they are hot and crowded, and there’s exotic, interesting, amazing food everywhere you look.

Our travels in Asia were fantastic, but NYC never lets us down. It seems like no matter what adventure we enjoy around the globe, there’s a version of it right here at home. Yes, Queens, the undisputed center of the universe for international cuisine, has its own take on hawker stalls in Flushing’s Chinatown. It's the New World Mall Food Court, which offers incredible, inexpensive eats from China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea and Thailand all under one roof.

With so many choices and lots of menu items not listed in English, the food hall can be a bit overwhelming and chaotic. We took a visit to share some tips on how to make the most of an ethnic food adventure in the Asian food halls of Queens with your kids.

Car time has become synonymous with screen time. It’s just so easy to keep the kids occupied in the backseat with a smartphone or tablet, that the "I'm boreds!" and "Are we there yets?" of our childhoods almost seem like a thing of the past. But I also remember the fun of long car rides: talking to each other, reading stories, playing car games and just looking out the window. Recently I have wondered whether my kids will ever know the pleasure of staring out a car window as the countryside goes by.

That’s why I have come to love podcasts. They are the ideal compromise: digital entertainment that keeps kids' eyes off their screens. And because we can all listen together, we can share the experience and have discussions about what we hear.

With summer coming, it’s the perfect time to discover some new podcasts to keep everyone in the family entertained whether you’re in the car, on a plane, a train or even at home. There are science podcasts, educational podcasts and many other types appropriate for children. I’ve rounded up my seven favorite storytelling podcasts that both kids and adults will enjoy.

I love batik. Or I should say, I love the way batik looks, and I love the idea of making batik, but actual batik is really hard, meticulous and, frankly, kind of tedious to do. I've been looking for a simpler way to make batik and recently shared these batik-style card designs. I think they turned out great, but they are only paper simulations of batik.

But I finally found an easy batik method. Do you know Design Mom? Blogger Gabrielle Blair is one of those people who makes you wonder, "How does she do it?" She is somehow managing to raise six children, run her super website and make everything seem beautiful, graceful and balanced. Luckily for us, she has just wrapped all that beauty and wisdom into her new book, Design Mom: How to Live with Kids: A Room-by-Room Guide.

What I love about this book is that it isn't just about home design. The lovely Gabby shares many of her family's traditions and ways they make living with kids work. These are my favorite parts of the book, and that's right where I found my easy batik technique.

I've adapted Gabrielle's method a bit to make it even simpler so that a little kid can do it. You can literally use this technique on any piece of cotton fabric; we did T-shirts and tote bags.

My friend Sara’s 12-year-old son has type 1 diabetes. It’s been amazing to watch how the diagnosis has changed their lives—and how it hasn’t. Sara is one of the most organized and on-top-of-it moms I know, and I am constantly awed by how she and her husband handle the challenges of managing their son’s condition. Last summer, their family took a four-week trip to Europe and completed the journey with no major bumps. I'm sure there are other parents out there who can benefit from Sara’s experience planning, researching and managing a major family vacation in a foreign country with a child with type 1 diabetes.

Here’s Sara’s story:

For kids obsessed with Legos, there’s no place more incredible than Legoland. And with the opening of the new Legoland Hotel, the Florida amusement park is even more fun to visit. A destination in itself, the Legoland Hotel is the most kid-centric hotel ever. Besides being just 130 child steps from the park's entrance, the Legoland Hotel offers special experiences Lego-loving kids will not want to miss.

My son and I got a sneak peek of the new hotel right before its grand opening last week. It was amazing to see my kid, Mr. Cool, light up with delight at all the awesomeness on hand. Every detail of the hotel is designed to spark a child’s imagination and inspire play, from the smoke-breathing Lego dragon out front to the over-the-top themed rooms. Plus, hotel guests enjoy exclusive access and experiences. Here’s the inside scoop on the new Legoland Hotel in Florida.

The Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton Resort & Club is the most luxurious U.S. vacation destination my family and I have ever visited. The sprawling property feels more like a Caribbean resort than the other beachfront hotels you find in Florida. With a surfing school, a kids’ camp, water sports, the new FlowRider wave simulator, fantastic restaurants, plus a world-class spa, tennis program and golf course, the Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton lets everyone in your family feel entertained, pampered and restored by the time you go home.

The resort is not all-inclusive, and what you save on airfare you’ll easily spend on meals and activities. But the Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton offers an incredibly luxurious and family-friendly Caribbean-style vacation located just an hour's drive from the Fort Lauderdale airport, so no need for passports.

One of the things about raising your kids in NYC is that your neighbors are just as likely to be famous writers, artists or scientists as they are to be the more run-of-the-mill, US Weekly celebrities. In our building, giggling teenage girls hang out in the lobby hoping to get help with their physics homework from our resident celebrity astrophysicist.

Besides homework help, having a resident astrophysicist means you know about all the really big, life-shaping astrological happenings. So I share with you, my faithful readers, the astrological tip of the month.