All a kid needs is sunshine, water and air or something like that right? I love that the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett has all of these things. We went the other afternoon using half-price reciprocal benefits from the Kidsquest Museum in Bellevue (Another great kids’ museum! the reciprocal benefits come with the family deluxe membership and they are totally worth it!) so the total was about 15 dollars for my two guys and me. There is free parking in the area, but only for 90 minutes, so I figured we could always go back and move the car if we needed more time.
The museum is pretty smart because there is lots of seating for adults near every exhibit so it encourages adults to just sit down and let their kids play. The guys loved the microscope in the animal vet area.
They spent a while at the fire pit in the camping zone, where they caught fish in a boat, then made me lunch and told me to go lie down in a tent.
The big adventure playground complete with a dinosaur dig upstairs was completely amazing. There is a giant slide that I thought the guys would be too scared to go down but of course, they thought it was thrilling and went down OVER and OVER and OVER again.
The water play area that is inside a replica of a ferry was also a hit and next time I need to remember to bring a change of clothes for ALL of us.
And even though they don’t really play with their wooden trains much at home, the ginormous train table that circles mountains here was enthralling and they played with it for a while too.
I think the big wall of tubes that blow scarves with air was one of their favorites. If we hadn’t run out of time (I was worried about traffic back into Seattle) they probably would have stayed here for another hour. They also love the model plane they can sit inside, the tree forts and pretty much everything. There is a lot to see at this museum and the exhibits feel well-maintained. (A girlfriend threw an after-hours birthday party here a while ago and I really wish we had made it. This place would be an AWESOME birthday party venue, especially if you get the whole place to yourself.)
We didn’t end up eating in the area this time because we ate a big lunch at Bakery Nouveau in Seattle’s Capitol Hill (where I will takeout next time instead of eating in. Tables are totally at a premium and it got SUPER busy!) but I know we’ve eaten at Kate’s Greek and American Deli in Everett before and it was pretty good.
So next time, I think we’ll make a whole day of it or use this museum as a fun stop on the way to or from Vancouver BC, but it’s nice to know Everett is pretty close to Seattle and my guys and I had a lovely afternoon.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)