FAMILY TRAVELS

The Singapore Zoo, a breakfast, and a Behind the Scenes Tour

October 15, 2013

I don’t think we’ve ever been to Singapore without going to their Zoo breakfast and we’ve traveled there a bunch of times in the past 10 years.  I absolutely LOVE this breakfast.  There is an abundance of good food (this is Singapore after all) and it’s a great place to get your feet wet if […]

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Cup Noodles Museum and the Hikawamaru (Yokohama, Japan)

October 9, 2013

Yokohama is a really neat city.  It feels like a big city and business center, but there were so many beautiful areas to walk and see things that it felt really peaceful too.  We went there specifically to see the Hikawamaru, a ship that brought my mom, my aunt and my grandmother to Canada years […]

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visiting Kochi Japan with kids on the island of Shikoku

Two days in Kochi, Japan (On the Island of Shikoku)

October 7, 2013

We’re lucky enough to have family in Kochi Japan or I might never have heard of this beautiful place which is why if you want something off the well-traveled path in Japan, Kochi is definitely a place for you and your family. Kochi is a small city in Southern Japan, and it is absolutely stunning […]

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A night in Okayama

October 6, 2013

I had big plans for Okayama. I really wanted to visit the Kurashiki area, and see little boats floating downstream, but when we finally arrived in Okayama, I realized we were pretty exhausted and decided I’d save those for another time.  (Okayama is the 2nd stop in our Japan itinerary.  It’s a perfect stop in […]

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A cool coffee shop, a secret bakery, a toystore and robotic sushi (Tokyo Family Travels)

October 1, 2013

If you talk and walk with me, I could go miles and not have any idea where I’m heading or where we’ve been so use this loosely as a guide and plot your own route on a map.  We had a plan for a day in Tokyo and it consisted of these 4 places: 1) […]

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What jet-lagged people do the first day of a trip (Travel to Japan with kids)

September 29, 2013

I’ve read everywhere that once you land in another time zone you just have to embrace it. We arrived in Tokyo around 6 pm and we were all exhausted so we grabbed a light dinner and put the kids to bed around their regular time. And then they woke up around 3 am. We were […]

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Things to Read at 30000 feet while traveling to Japan

September 27, 2013

I am not a good flyer.  We travel a lot and I’m always reminding the hubby that the journey might be just as fun as the destination, but the only place I can’t do this is on an airplane.  And since having withstood about 70 days of hospital bedrest ( I wonder if NASA could […]

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When Sigi gives you a scarf you wear it

September 26, 2013

I signed my guys up for the Seattle Sounders’ Junior Alliance club back when they did the Sounders Camp and kind of forgot about it until a couple of boxes showed up at our door.  Inside each box was a scarf, a membership card and a ‘letter’ from Sigi Schmid, the Seattle Sounders’ head coach […]

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Singapore Shopping List (planning a family trip to Singapore)

September 21, 2013

If you read my previous post, you know we’re headed to Japan very soon. We’re also heading to Singapore and it’s great that Tokyo is an easy stop over on a 17 hour airplane trip from Seattle. We’re really lucky that the hubby has family there and we’re just going there to hang out with them. So […]

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Japan pre-reading (How I do my trip research for Japan Family Travel)

September 20, 2013

In what seems like just a handful of sleeps we’ll be heading off to Japan and hopefully by the time we leave, we’ll be totally prepared.  We’ve made it a habit now on trips to make sure we all read about where we’re going ahead of time.  Of course we get the basics like Lonely […]

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If I go to the spa

September 18, 2013

When the hubby wants to be the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD on a weekend, he notices my ragged toes or my frazzled hair and tells me to book a morning appointment and he’ll take care of the guys.  After I pinch myself a few times to make sure I’m not dreaming (sometimes in an […]

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SFO with kids

The Exploratorium at the San Francisco Airport

September 15, 2013

Of course I doused my guys with Purell immediately after playing at this play structure, but the Exploratorium collaboration at the San Francisco Airport is the coolest airport installation I’ve seen. The Exploratorium was one of the highlights of our recent San Francisco trip and it was quite a surprise when we found some of the museum’s […]

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kids bowl free in the summer

When you go bowling with friends and it’s awesome

September 14, 2013

I’m beginning to think that West Seattle needs to get added more frequently to our “where should we go today” list.  We used to go there quite often when the boys were little but we haven’t been much lately.  And then we accidentally ended up there a little while ago and saw a baby seal! Our […]

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An overdue visit to Grandma’s (Point Roberts, WA)

September 12, 2013

There is nothing like a big wave of guilt that washes over you when you realize you should have done something ages ago. “I don’t think I’ve been here in 10 years, Grandma” I say as I pull into the cabin driveway. “10 years??!!! Shame on you!” My sweet grandma slaps me in the arm […]

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Phone apps for photos

First Day of School Pics (phone apps for photos)

September 10, 2013

After the fiasco I had with the kids trying to take fake first day of school photos last week , I thought I might just snap a picture in front of their school and call it a day.  Then I found some awesome chalkboard printables on this sweet sight: Yellow Bliss Road that I thought […]

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Because the guys are obsessed with Planes

September 3, 2013

So we are not just into airplanes now, but PLANES, as in made by Disney planes from the movie that we survived a few weeks ago.  I’m not sure if you remember what I was worried about, but the guys sometimes find things like this scary and I wanted to make sure it was a […]

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When you get the first day of school wrong

September 2, 2013

Yep.  That’s me.  Mom of the year.  I thought school started tomorrow, but it actually doesn’t start until next week.  Thank goodness I didn’t get the kids all ready and show up but now I’m totally scrambling to figure out what to do with them for ANOTHER WEEK OF SUMMER! We scored the last Planes […]

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bob the builder themed party for kids with candy rocks and toys to decorate the cake

A Construction Party at the Seattle Children’s Museum

August 28, 2013

It is really easy to plan an After Hours Party at the Seattle Children’s Museum and if you don’t live in Seattle you might want to check out if you have something similar at your local kids’ museum.  It is a fairly inexpensive rental, you get the museum to yourself and you don’t have to […]

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Three of us on the beach in the rain

August 27, 2013

There’s a horrible saying that bad things come in threes and I would love that kind of horrible omen to just disappear.  I’ve been trying to will something magically wonderful to happen and yesterday’s lovely thing came to us on a beach in Seattle all on its own. We were on our way to meet […]

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Three food finds on a Monday in Seattle

August 26, 2013

Anyone else suffering a case of the lazy Mondays?  This morning I was a little exhausted-we had a big party for the hubby’s work yesterday so I just let the kids add to the weekends’ mess tornado in my living room and now I’m trying to pick myself out of it and I thought I’d […]

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