Oregon

Shops, eats and places to take kids in Oregon.

Ota Tofu in Portland Oregon might be the oldest tofu maker in the United States

The oldest tofu maker Ota Tofu in the USA is in Portland just in case you want to go there too

June 27, 2024

I had no idea the significance of tofu in Portland until I walked into the door of Ota Tofu last month. And Ota Tofu was not in my plans at all. I was at a travel conference and I only had about 24 hours in Portland and I found a mural nearby I wanted to […]

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window of ground floor room at Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel at PDX

Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel might be good value if you have a soccer tournament at Delta Park

October 2, 2023

Even if you don’t have a soccer tournament, you might check out the Sheraton Portland Airport for a comfortable, safe-feeling place to stay in the Portland area. I have Marriott Platinum Bonvoy status with my Bonvoy Brilliant card and if you do to, this hotel has a lounge so that is currently included with Platinum […]

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Dog friendly Oregon hotels on a trip with our pup and kids to the Coast for his first birthday

A roadtrip to Cannon Beach with kids and our pup because this is how we travel now and the dog friendly Oregon hotels we found

March 2, 2021

We haven’t been to the Oregon Coast in a few years. And that doesn’t mean we don’t love it, we just usually head up north to BC to see family and it’s about the same distance from Seattle to Vancouver as it is from Seattle to Portland or Seattle to Cannon Beach. But this year […]

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Perfect beach front paradise in Pacific City Oregon at the new Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa a fantastic Oregon Coast getaway for families seeking the perfect pacific northwest weekend trip

Can we talk about all the windows at Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa in Pacific City Oregon?

July 2, 2018

A few weeks ago, my family had an incredible opportunity to stay at the Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa in Pacific City Oregon.  I have to admit when I first read about the hotel, I thought it was in Cannon Beach, another city we love to visit with our kids on the Oregon Coast, because […]

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eating Tree Top Apple Sauce on the top of a sand dune on a road trip to Pacific City on the Oregon Coast with kids

Snacks in the sky and on the road with Tree Top Apple Sauce

June 13, 2018

Family trips are more than just booking an accommodation somewhere that is not your home and magically arriving there instantly.  The journey often starts way before the trip begins and with kids so much of the journey depends on the snacks that we bring.  One of my kids’ favorite snacks are apple sauce pouches- they’ve […]

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October in Seattle

Time to get Thankful on a Monday

October 4, 2016

How are you this whirlwind Monday?  Can you believe it’s October already?  For my family, this means it’s time to think about our first Thanksgiving of the year.  We celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in the second week of October and then American Thanksgiving in November. Thanksgiving is such a nice holiday to be able to celebrate twice. When things […]

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KOA camping in Astoria with a Toyota Four Runner and staying in a deluxe KOA camping cabin

Just the best parts of camping at the Astoria Koa (Oregon with kids)

July 6, 2015

I do not love camping.  I like fires, trees, hiking in the woods and camp food but I could definitely take or leave the sleeping in the tent part.  I like a little more than nylon or mesh between me and the great outdoors.  My family on the other hand loves anything outside and they […]

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If Mickey invites you to Portland, you can get there and back from Seattle in a day

June 24, 2015

Last month I received something truly fabulous in my inbox when I was invited to the Disney Social Media Moms on the Road in Portland.  I was totally honored to be considered for the event and of course I wanted to go and see what this magical conference would be all about. My hubby was […]

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boating the sunshine coast

A few travel highlights from 2014 while I plan this year’s adventures

January 23, 2015

The hardest part of starting a New Year is saying good bye to the old one, especially if it was a good one and while other people are performing cleanses of the body detox sort, I’m purging my phone of the14000 photos I’ve managed to store there in the past year because I don’t want […]

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Oh you can’t go to the Oregon Coast without stopping at the Tillamook Cheese Factory

September 3, 2014

You just can’t. Years ago I remember telling my husband we needed to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory when we went to the Oregon Coast for our honeymoon, because they have delicious cheese samples and we had a really fun visit sampling cheese, watching the factory go about its business and eating ice cream.  […]

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Northwest Summer Love

August 31, 2014

Why have I ever wasted a drop of summer traveling away from the northwest? It is so gorgeous here and we found this out with this year’s summer staycation. From Oregon beaches, To local Seattle sights, Vancouver sunrises and sunsets, and bakeries sprinkled gloriously in between. Dare I say we start school next week? How […]

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We don’t like Portland, do we? (a trip to Portland, Oregon with our kids)

August 25, 2014

Well that’s what Sigi Shmid asked us at the last Sounders Camper Appreciation Day (one of the big reasons why we love Sounders Soccer Camps) and although we don’t like Portland when it comes to soccer, we have so much fun in Portland every time we visit we can’t help but love the city.  We […]

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looking for puffins at cannon beach with kids

Looking for Puffins in Oregon (Our Impromptu Oregon trip with kids part 2!)

August 18, 2014

The hubby and I honeymooned through Oregon on a drive from British Columbia to California just over 12 years ago and we couldn’t believe that after all this time living in Seattle, we haven’t been back to the coast. And then my friend Jamie heard me whining at a mom’s night that I hadn’t seen […]

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Impromptu Oregon Coast Adventure (Part 1)

August 13, 2014

I’d like to think our recent trip to the Oregon Coast was totally impromptu but as with most trips I have dreamed up in my head, this one was in the making for a while.  The only problem was we didn’t book far enough ahead, so the hotels I thought we’d stay at were all […]

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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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Portland Adventures with Grandma

October 21, 2012

Sometime in the last little while, the hubby went out of town for work and I was lucky enough that my mom came down to babysit ME.  With grandma in tow, we decided to go on a little adventure with the guys and Portland became the destination.  Thank goodness for GPS.  (When I was in college, […]

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Photo Friday: OMSI in Portland

January 21, 2011

A glowing baby is always delightful but when I snapped this one of Leelee at OMSI in Portland a couple months ago, I couldn’t believe how radioactive looking it turned out( This is not a doctored photo1).  This pic was snapped at a ball-popping station in the museum and at first Leelee was terrified of […]

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OMSI in Portland Oregon because of a Seattle Pacific Science Center Membership

Pacific Science Center (Seattle, WA)

November 12, 2010

More and more research points to children needing early experiences with science and math to be successful in school and life. By purchasing a Pacific Science Center membership you can guarantee that your wee ones get early exposure just by taking them to the museum.  The Pacific Science Center has a great toddler area with […]

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family travels with kids in Portland

The Grilled Cheese Grill (Portland, OR)

If your toddler dreamed up the perfect lunch, this would be it.  Grilled cheese…on a bus.   The Grilled Cheese Grill in Northeast Portland has seating on their patio or in their delightfully renovated school bus where you can munch your five dollar “Southsider”(Artichokes, Sundried Tomato, Mushrooms and Mozzarella on Sourdough) while your toddler chows down […]

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