FAMILY TRAVELS

Goodbye February!

March 1, 2012

Another month has zipped by and I can’t believe February is gone. It even had a bonus day, and that managed to zip by too. How does this happen? I remember when it seemed like the days couldn’t go by fast enough…. But, watching a month go by helps celebrate some things. Like I’ve managed […]

Salvation.

February 28, 2012

If you know me, you know that I’m afraid of many things. Playgrounds. Heights. Elevators. Getting cash from inside of bank. (Um, yes. There might be a hold-up, you never know.) But blood is definitely at the top of the list. Even the thought of it gives me the shivers. Blech. Blood. So when I […]

Playdate in someone else’s Family Room (SAM Seattle)

February 24, 2012

There is one reason why we have a Seattle Art Museum membership for our family right now and I wish I could tell you it was because I wanted my kids to be cultured and appreciate art. But, it’s not. It’s because I love this room. I can put my feet up and relax while […]

Seattle Top Pot Morning

February 18, 2012

We were running errands all morning and I asked the boys where they wanted to go for a snack as a reward for tagging along. And they decided that they wanted doughnuts. (Or donuts?) But what they really wanted were “sprinkly” Top Pot doughnuts to be exact. (I guess I didn’t specify a healthy snack.) […]

Battle of Wills

February 13, 2012

Three must be the new thirteen. I didn’t think I’d have to answer tough questions this early, and they keep coming rapid-fire. “Mommy? How did I get in your belly? Did you eat me?” or “Mommy? Why is my poo brown? Why Mommy! Tell me why!” And then we have the days when we don’t […]

Crafty little things

Today I got a little overly-crafty. I thought we’d make a little tray of bento cucumber “Frogs in Love” for a playdate today as the Bean adores frogs. But it got to be a little much. I got as far as cutting out the frog shapes and cheese eyes and then realized I still needed […]

A curious garden and a trip to the fire station

February 11, 2012

It’s amazing how kids relate books and daily life. It’s been a little spring-like lately, so the boys have really enjoyed this book about a boy who nurses a garden back to life in the middle of a city where greenery has been long forgotten: And so when we went to the Northwest Flower and […]

Disneyland with a boy terrified of rides….

February 9, 2012

This is how I imagined my boys would look at Disneyland. But one boy is currently a little scared of indoor rides, loud noises, things that have scary parts, anything that might have a tunnel and the outside of the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. So at one point we had a few tears and it […]

Waiting at the airport

January 31, 2012

This is what waiting at the airport looks like sometimes with kids in tow. We bring things like our trunki suitcases to keep our kids entertained but in reality when flights get delayed or there isn’t a lot of space to sit down in our waiting area, there isn’t much we can do. Sometimes we […]

Farm, Fuji Bakery and Feeling Domestic

January 30, 2012

A perfect morning for the boys and I, is a trip out to our farm. I guess it’s not really our farm, but we feel like it is. It’s only about a half an hour away from Seattle and we adore Farmer Jayne and the other staff who work there. We take a lot of […]

I heart beach (Newport Beach, California)

January 29, 2012

If there ever was a beach to make you yell “I heart beach” at the top of your lungs this is it. This is Newport Beach in California and it’s probably our favorite. When we think of all the beaches we travel to and love it’s always this one. And ona perfect day there isn’t […]

National Children’s Castle-Kodomo no Shiro (Tokyo Japan)

January 27, 2012

I read about the National Children’s Castle in this book about Kid’s Trips in Tokyo, (a little-bit outdated guide from 1996 but useful nonetheless) and it sounded very cool, kind of like the kids’ museums we have in Seattle. Don’t mistake it for the Tokyo Metropolitan Children’s Hall. That one is currently closed until at […]

Come In Winter (when we get snow in Seattle)

January 19, 2012

This morning we took a a page from the boy’s Owl Book where he welcomes in Winter and brought the snow inside to play because this was one of those rare mornings where we woke up to snow in Seattle. It was almost as messy as the snow disaster in the Owl book we read, […]

What you do the day before the Biggest Snowstorm Ever!

January 17, 2012

According to this article we have a “juicy storm” coming our way. I totally thought it was coming today so I’ve prepared for the biggest snowstorm ever. I forgot that living in the United States the news is always Armageddon with the weather so I totally wasted my day thinking I would be stuck on […]

Books, Babies and a Brief Encounter at the Seattle Aquarium

January 14, 2012

The boys love this book that they received when they wee babies (Thank you Marcia and Ken!) and I think because they love it, they also love the sea otters at the aquarium. So when I told them that one of the sea otters was going to have a baby a couple weeks ago, it’s been […]

Photo Friday: Jaguars swimming at the Singapore Zoo

Jaguars can swim. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it at this zoo. We love the Singapore Zoo by the way. And now we know that jaguars can swim and it seemed like they could even smell raw chicken in water from the shore. Each time they dipped underwater they came […]

I heart Postcardly

January 11, 2012

When I first heard about Postcardly I wasn’t sure how I was going to use it: the grandparents, aunts and uncles all live in Canada and it doesn’t work for international addresses( yet). BUT, I suddenly realized how fantastic it would be for sending to our local friends and I’ve been having fun sending playdate […]

great membership deal at seattle aquarium with kids

Wordless Wednesday: Active Octopus at the Seattle Aquarium

Some days the world just seems a whole lot more wonderful. I could watch the octopus at the Seattle Aquarium all day. It’s probably the most active one we’ve ever seen and we love to check out the octopus tank when we come to the aquarium to visit our undersea friends. The kids also love […]

Fragile Forest (Singapore Zoo, Singapore)

January 10, 2012

Seeing this little lemur on Trader Joe’s Cinnamon and Black Tea at Christmas made me all nostalgic and dreamy for our recent Singapore trip and I had to buy it. I love Trader Joe’s holiday products-I have so many whim purchases there at this time of year! A couple months ago we traveled to my […]

The Quiet Room at Seattle Children’s Theatre

January 3, 2012

If you by any chance have a little boy who is scared of plays, or even just scared of being scared, you might want to find this door the next time you go to the Seattle Children’s Theatre. It’s the Quiet Room. I think it’s meant for screaming babies because there were a few in […]