FAMILY TRAVELS

An inexpensive and adventurous way of getting to the airport in Seattle

May 20, 2013

Sitting at the bus stop near our house I got a text from my neighbor that went something like: “omg my hubby just saw you at the bus stop-we could have totally given you a ride to the airport!!” And as much as that was so totally sweet and we probably looked ridiculous sitting there […]

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Zoo Atlanta post-rain

May 19, 2013

One thing I’ve learned about going to zoos is that some of my best days have been on rainy ones.  You tend to linger a little longer at exhibits that are indoors that you might blow past on sunny days, the animals often behave a little differently and there are far fewer two-legged animals wandering […]

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Choose your carry-on items wisely

May 18, 2013

Tip #1: do not bring a table as a carry-on. Of course this is not my table.  I’m perfectly happy with the just over 8.5 x11 size tables we get in my regular airplane seats.  But if you were thinking of bringing a table with you on a flight I can tell you for certain […]

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visiting costa rica with kids

Memorable stay in Costa Rica (Arenal Observatory Lodge)

May 16, 2013

If you are looking for an amazing affordable place to stay in Cost Rica, the Arenal Observatory Lodge is a place we’ve been twice and we we totally fell in love with it each time.  The first time we went it was years ago when Arenal still roared through the night with explosions.  We were […]

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Eating fish while watching fish (Downtown Denver Aquarium, Colorado)

May 10, 2013

Usually this kind of thing would freak me out.  Eating fish, while watching fish.  (Eeew!  Totally morbid!)  But, I’m the one who made the reservation because I so badly wanted to go to the aquarium in Denver last year when we were there for a family wedding and this was the only way we were […]

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slate coffee serves your latte in stemware and is one of the best espresso stores in Seattle

A friendly cup of coffee in Seattle (Slate Coffee, Ballard)

May 3, 2013

Sometime last week I heard a rumor that a truck called Slate Coffee was selling my favorite Fuji Bakery pastries, so I had to go check it out.  Nevermind that I am not a big fan of food trucks (gasp!).  I just didn’t realize that they have sinks and real cooking facilities inside.  Until we […]

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Sweet little moments

May 2, 2013

Wednesday was a busy day.  So busy that I didn’t want to get out of my pajamas.  I didn’t want to get out of bed.  I didn’t want to see the glorious sunshine streaming through all the windows in the house. One of the busy things was that I knew I had to run my […]

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inspiring quote about goals

5 places we want to visit in Seattle this summer

April 30, 2013

For some reason my facebook feed is filled with posts about goals lately and it made me think about the virtual Seattle bucket list the guys and I have been discussing.  And it’s so true that if we don’t actually put these things in writing, we won’t do them because we’ll forget or replace these […]

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dolphins swimming with our snorkeling tour

Snorkeling with Kids on Maui

April 26, 2013

I don’t know how I missed updating about this one.  I was going through our photos from our Maui trip and I found this dolphin picture. This wasn’t even one of those things they advertised that we were going to see on this snorkel trip we booked when we went to Maui but on the […]

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5 minute ice cream recipe for kids

5-minute ice cream

April 25, 2013

This is not exactly the same instant ice cream goodness you get when you open the freezer and just reach for a tub but it’s a little less plan-ahead than if you actually want to make ice cream in a MAKER and 5-minute ice cream is really fun to make.  I don’t know if it’s […]

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Earth Day pillows and a conversation

April 22, 2013

So I saw these pillows ages ago on Land Of Nod and didn’t actually end up buying them before they sold out but I totally wish I did.  But they looked pretty simple to try and re-create and I always thought it might be fun to make something with a world map on it, so […]

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Suitcase Choices for kids

April 21, 2013

So the guys have decided that they no longer need their trunkis for travel.  I found this cool one a little while ago that would let them skoot around, but they are convinced they want to travel ‘like grown-ups’ so I decided not to get it. We are currently debating these three: This one by […]

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Baby Animals Boom (Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA)

April 19, 2013

Oh my favorite happy place in Seattle is even happier right now.  There are baby animals everywhere and it makes me feel like I’m on a delightful safari some where far away even though I’m in my own backyard.  We love visiting all year round but when there are baby animals at the zoo it […]

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places to get good photos in seattle

Fun place for photos in Seattle

April 12, 2013

Everytime we go to Ella Bailey park I feel like I’m playing tourist in my own town because of its spectacular views of the Seattle skyline.  Sometimes we get photos on the tire swing, or while the kids are climbing ropes like Spider Man.  The huge slide here terrifies me (remember I’m terrified of all things […]

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cuoco with kids in seattle

Art Appreciation at Seattle Restaurant Week

April 11, 2013

The other day the hubby had time to meet for lunch so I scanned some Seattle Restaurant Week offerings that were in the neighborhood.  Usually I call ahead to see if a restaurant has a kids’ meal (to find out if it’s kid-friendly or not) and I forgot to this time, but Cuoco has one […]

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Gardening with the Littles

April 10, 2013

I love springtime with my guys.  They are always finding something new in the garden for us to explore.  We recently planted carrots, zucchini,pumpkins, peas and beans and we noticed the other day that the little carrots are starting to grow. We also decided to work on another project.  My Camelia bush in the backyard […]

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A lovely day for a Blizzard

  Normally I wouldn’t welcome a blizzard.  I’m not even a total fan of the ones at Dairy Queen, even though they can be quite delightful.  But last week we had an especially blustery day and all the cherry blossoms in the neighborhood came down like snow. The boys and I went for a walk […]

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Pastry Face (Ken’s Artisan Bakery, Portland)

April 6, 2013

This is the look of a kid who knows a good pain au chocolat at a delicious bakery. Oh and here’s his brother who has also been well-schooled. As a family of world travelers we don’t know all the famous paintings, we don’t often read those exhibit signs at museums or zoos, we sometimes miss […]

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Omsi with kids in Portland

Portland with kids Revisited

April 4, 2013

It’s hard to go too long without a visit to one of our favorite Northwest cities: Portland.  This city is so fabulously kid-friendly and so fantastically coffee-addict/foodie/site-seeing friendly that we can’t help but adore traveling to Portland with kids.  This time we added a couple new stops and I’ll have to remember how fun Easter […]

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great membership deal at seattle aquarium with kids

Lovely books to read before you go to the aquarium

April 2, 2013

Oh how much do I love this new book that recently arrived in the mail? Sea Star Wishes: Poems from the Coast has the most delightful poems.  They are short and sweet about little things in the ocean like limpets and sea cucumbers and ginormous things like ferries and waves.  The neat thing about it […]

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