Author: Terumi

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)
Obasan by Joy Kogawa

Advent Calendar shopping on a Monday

October 23, 2017

It is such a blasé Monday because I just came back from my 20th reunion in my hometown with family and friends and Monday is hitting me so hard.  When this happens I try to add a little excitement to my life to make me feel better, so today it’s all about advent calendars for […]

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Hot Cocoa and snowy northwest weekends

Hot cocoa and snowy northwest weekends for the win!

October 16, 2017

I used to dread the period between October and February a little in the Pacific Northwest.  The days get shorter and we go for weeks on end with chilly, wet, dreary weather.  During stretches like this it’s easy to wonder if we’ll ever see sun-filled days again.  But then a few years ago we went […]

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Zulily celebrates national women's small business month

Women’s Small Business Month at Zulily

October 13, 2017

There are so many world-renowned businesses that have their roots in Seattle and when I see their names in other places when we travel it’s hard to believe that these companies ever started small. When I drive past the zulily headquarters on the way to Pike Place Market, this business is no different. I remember […]

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Tiny Home Otto at Thousand Trails Leavenworth

A tiny home community where you can stay overnight in Leavenworth

October 11, 2017

One of my favorite parts of travel is that you get to stay somewhere that is NOT your home and through our travels we have stayed in many different types of accomodations. Before we had kids, we used to camp a lot.  If I had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, […]

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Hotel 116 with kids

A great hotel choice for my Vancouver friends when they visit Seattle

October 3, 2017

Yes, Vancouver friends, I know you said you’re visiting Seattle but I know that you really might want to stay in Bellevue.  If visiting “the mall” is on your itinerary and you are headed south to shop and hang out, Bellevue is becoming more and more of a shopping hotspot and I have a great […]

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Purple Cow Backpack World Rummy Game

Family travel tools to help you on World Tourism day

September 27, 2017

Yes, there are millions of theme days nowadays, but today is one that is dear to my heart.  There is nothing like travel to make the big wide world feel smaller and more like a interconnected community and I would rather have a handful of travel days in my heart than any materials things.  That […]

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Hello kitty bath bomb with ring inside

Fun things for Hello Kitty Fans in Seattle and beyond

September 26, 2017

Mark your calendars Seattle friends, there is a Hello Kitty Food Truck heading our way in a few weeks!  On October 7 the truck will be at Westfield Southcenter and I so would love to be there!  Has anyone been before?  I have seen the lovely goodies from the truck but I’m never in town […]

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Do you get seasickness stand up paddleboarding

Sea Bands for Seasickness in Seattle

September 20, 2017

I was sent some Sea Bands and a gift card in exchange for this post from Momsmeet, but the opinions below are my own. Seattle is so lucky to be surrounded by so much water.  We have islands to visit and lakes to swim in.  There are many opportunities to get in a boat, hop […]

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St Kilda's Penguins in Melbourne

Dreaming about Swimming Pools, Food Alleys and Penguins in Melbourne

September 16, 2017

Why do we not have a teleport button yet in 2017?   I would totally push mine and head back to Melbourne ASAP.  I am sitting at a desk filled with back to school paperwork (the same back to school paperwork we fill out every year btw), I have a pile of last night’s dishes […]

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STEM ideas with kids: Seattle Living Computer Museum

STEM toys for back to school and a cool place in Seattle to learn all about tech

September 11, 2017

When you have family who is in the know, you get to try a whole bunch of neat toys.  We recently received this Star Wars Sphero toy and it’s like having our own miniature moving R2D2 in our house. We were already very familiar with Sphero because the boys used it at school and I […]

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Veggie Burger Kid's meal at Next Level Burger in Seattle

Next Level Burger in Seattle has vegan milkshakes and delicious kids’ meals

September 7, 2017

Next Level Burger, a newly opened restaurant INSIDE Whole Foods in Roosevelt Square Seattle can’t be more perfect for families with kids.  There is free parking.  The food is fast and delicious.  And when the kids have eaten and are perfectly content, the grocery store is RIGHT THERE so grabbing a fast few things for tomorrow’s […]

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New England Aquarium CityPass

Things I would not have seen in Boston with my kids if it wasn’t for CityPass

September 2, 2017

With 9 year old kids who have traveled to many places you would think we would be aquariumed out by now, but I was still pretty curious about the New England Aquarium because I had heard a lot of fabulous things.  We were staying at family-friendly Residence Inn Boston Seaport and the aquarium was a […]

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Looking for Koalas with kids on a drive on the Great Ocean Road just outside of Melbourne Australia with kids

How talking to strangers might be more helpful than you think (Great Ocean Road, Australia)

August 23, 2017

“You aren’t going to see any koalas in the wild,” my friends who had been there told me when I said this was my number one reason for visiting Australia.  They’re all in sanctuaries and zoos where you can see them, hold them and meet them.  But you won’t see koalas in the wild and […]

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Birthday cake for my kids' birthday

A bittersweet birthday cake anyone can make

August 16, 2017

I take baked goods very seriously.  I’m not always very good at chemistry, or measuring or even following directions very well, so I truly appreciate how magical it is when a bunch of ingredients come together in an oven and make something spectacular like a birthday cake. I know birthday cakes are special and every […]

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Ballroom at the Downtown Syracuse Marriott hotel

A history trip; a restored hotel, a haunted theatre and a famous canal in Syracuse

August 9, 2017

A little while ago, I was hosted on a media trip to New York State for a piece I was writing for Trekaroo: a tour of historic women’s rights sites in Upstate New York that people can visit with their children.  I learned a ton of interesting history that I didn’t know about before (and […]

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Vancouver Island with kids on the Victoria Clipper

An almost Car-free trip with the Victoria Clipper to Vancouver Island with kids in about 48 hours or so

August 6, 2017

As much as we Seattleites die a little when people say “Pike’s Market” instead of “Pike Place Market,” it’s probably a little the same up in Vancouver when people think Victoria BC and Victoria Island are the same place too.  As neighbors to the south, we know that Victoria Island does not exist, but Victoria […]

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Seattle with Kids Pitchside wit the Sounders

A great place to learn to Skateboard and an over the top Sounders experience in Seattle

July 31, 2017

I need to preface this post with how much I do not like blood and guts.  I am terrified of anything that remotely has to do with injury and if anything like that happens around me, I have the potential to become an even bigger ordeal than the patient.  So I really don’t mess around […]

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Shopping Nordstrom Anniversary Sale with Groupon Coupons

Shopping the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale with Groupon

July 26, 2017

This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Groupon Does anyone else think about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale with glee every July in the Pacific Northwest?  I almost missed it this year because I’ve been so busy catching up from our time in Australia that I forgot to put the early access date on […]

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Fun and free things for families in Bellevue

Free Things families need to know about in Bellevue, Washington

July 20, 2017

We all have heard that the best things in life are free, so I’ll tell you about a few free things in Bellevue Washington and you can see for yourself.  Bellevue is such a beautiful place to visit if you’re in the Seattle area-there is good shopping, beautiful parks and lots to do for families. […]

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Flying with kids from North America to Australia

Trying out the SkyCouch on a flight from New Zealand with kids

July 18, 2017

Buying a Skycouch would usually be the last thing on my mind when booking four pricey seats on any flight, except for recently when we booked on Air New Zealand for our Australia trip and we couldn’t guarantee that the four of us could sit together on an overnight flight from Auckland to San Francisco. […]

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