TRAVEL

souffle jiggly pancakes at Beanfish at Uwajimaya

Jiggly pancakes at Beanfish in Uwajimaya Seattle

August 3, 2023

It is pretty difficult to find soufflé pancakes in Seattle and we’ve searched the area a lot. We went to Japan in 2019 and managed to get some that were pretty spectacular. (I think we’ve all seen soufflé pancakes on TikTok’s from Japan) When I was doing quarantine in my parent’s basement in Vancouver during […]

Read More
hana maui resort in Maui Hawaii

Hana Maui Resort: a peaceful hotel with a perfect pool at the end of the Road to Hana

July 29, 2023

I know I just add to the echos of most travelers when I say that Maui holds a special place in our family’s heart. It was our first trip ever by airplane with our kids. And it was the first time I collaborated with a travel partner when we visited nearly 10 years ago. We […]

Read More
seattle waterfront

Free Seattle Waterfront Shuttle for the summer

July 17, 2023

The Seattle Waterfront Shuttle is back. Here is the shuttle route for 2025 and it runs 7 days a week from 10am-8pm and approximately every 15-20 minutes. The shuttle season will run from May 2nd until sometime in fall and each shuttle has about 20 seats and at least two of the three shuttles are […]

Read More
hotel room at the Conrad NYC downtown overlooking the Irish Hunger Memorial

A Conrad New York downtown Review from a Seattle family who has also stayed at the Midtown location

June 28, 2023

Last year, our then twin-thirteen-year-olds went on their first ever away trip with school to Washington DC and New York and being a little bit overprotective and because it was still kind of during the new covid times my husband and I flew out to meet them. We booked the Conrad Midtown Manhattan with our […]

Read More
metropolitan museum of art in New York and the fountain outside in May

Visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Free in New York thanks to the Seattle Art Museum

June 20, 2023

My family didn’t pay anything to see the Karl Lagerfeld exhibit (it’s there until July 16) or the recently opened Van Gogh exhibit (on display until late August) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when we visited a few weeks ago. We have a Patron Membership at our Seattle Art Museum and they have a […]

Read More
vancouver aquarium among things to do in Vancouver

Vancouver, Canada and the Places we Like to Go to when we visit

May 17, 2023

I keep getting asked for where we like to go in Vancouver Canada, and I have old lists for Vancouver with kids and Vancouver with my dog, but I realized recently that I didn’t have a centralized list, so this is where I’m going to put the places we like to go and things we […]

Read More
bunnies at the bunny cafe in Vancouver BC

A bunny cafe in Vancouver BC worth the drive from Seattle

April 22, 2023

Are you somebunny who loves little rabbits? We actually didn’t try the coffee in this cafe, but I took my niece and nephew to the Bunny Cafe in Vancouver BC and there were bunnies galore. The Bunny Cafe is on Commercial drive, a vibrant street full of shops and cafes and I found it when […]

Read More
atrium room at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel Nashville

Book an Atrium room at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville and you might just feel like you’re in Jurassic Park

April 5, 2023

I’m not always a fan of conference hotels. They tend to feel dormish or sterile. And because we travel a lot, I’ve found that my family now spends more time in our hotel rooms than we used to so where we stay has become a lot more important. When I found out we would be […]

Read More
Seattle mariners stadium in the stadium district one of our cool Seattle neighborhoods

Things to do in Seattle in April

April 3, 2023

Happy April in Seattle! Here are a few things on my radar for this month and little by little I’ll start to add more: First Thursday in Pioneer Square April 3 We went to a First Thursday in Pioneer Square last year and it was delightful. You can find out more about this month’s first […]

Read More
zebras at woodland park zoo in Seattle

Why a Woodland Park Zoo membership in Seattle is a very good idea

March 15, 2023

When is the last time you went to Woodland Park Zoo? I grew up in Vancouver BC, and even though Seattle is a three hour drive away, my parents would always get a membership for the zoo so it was a big part of my childhood and now it’s a big part of my kids’ […]

Read More
Star Wars ride at Disneyland in 2022

It is “worth-it” to book a Disneyland VIP tour if you head to California this year

March 4, 2023

Disney is 100 years old this year. My family is not obsessed with Disney by any means but I do feel Disneyland is a historically significant place to visit (how many places and movies have shaped society the way Disney does?) and it can be a lot of fun. Disneyland is also a place where […]

Read More
designing motherhood exhibit at the Gates Discovery Center

Designing Motherhood at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle

February 28, 2023

We have until the end of December 2023 to see the Designing Motherhood exhibit that just opened at the Gates Foundation Discovery Center in Seattle and we all really need to see it. This powerful exhibit examines birth and pregnancy and our own relationship with the subject-we are all products of birth after-all. What to […]

Read More
Santa Barbara on the Central California coast

An easy weekend getaway from Seattle to the Central California Coast

February 17, 2023

My family was recently hosted by Visit California to see three Central California Coast destinations: San Luis Obispo (which locals call SLO), Oxnard and Santa Barbara. We only had four nights to visit all of these destinations but if you have more or less time you can adapt this trip or even visit one or […]

Read More
Oxnard california mural near La Gloria on the Taco Trail

All about the Taco Trail in Oxnard California

February 11, 2023

This should really be called “All about three places on the Taco Trail” in Oxnard California because we only got as far as three places before our bellies were too full to eat anything else. My family arrived in Oxnard on our trip with Visit Oxnard on an extremely rainy and unusually weatherful weekend and […]

Read More
best dessert at madonna inn in San Luis Obispo California

Best dessert combo to order from Madonna Inn in SLO

February 8, 2023

Have you ever heard of the Madonna Inn? Maybe you’ve seen the Madonna Inn from viral videos on the internet and they’ve popped up in my instagram feed too but I had no idea I would ever visit. This is a hotel famous for its over the top decor and individually decorated rooms-there are 110 […]

Read More
putting gum on Bubblegum alley in SLO another gum wall than the one we know in Seattle

The Gum Wall in Seattle, Bubblegum Alley in SLO and how these relate on Feb 3

February 3, 2023

Did you know Feb 3rd is National Bubble Gum day? I had no idea until it started popping up in my social media feeds today. As a Seattleite, bubble gum is something I always think about when I go to Pike Place Market because we have a Gum Wall there. And then I recently went […]

Read More
lobby of the wayfarer in San Luis Obsipo

Connecting rooms at the Wayfarer hotel in San Luis Obispo for California family travel with teens

February 1, 2023

Just 10 minutes from Pismo Beach and in one of the friendliest small towns in the nation is the Wayfarer in San Luis Obispo, and it is a perfect family-friendly hotel especially if they keep the Super Mario arcade game in the hotel restaurant. (This hotel just changed over from being the Kinney if you […]

Read More
Aint to Proud the life and times of the Temptations Musical in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre

Ain’t too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations Musical at Seattle Paramount Theatre (don’t miss out)

January 25, 2023

I admit that when I first got the media invite for Ain’t too Proud: the Life and Times of the Temptations Musical in the mail I almost didn’t go. I had a lot going on this week and I hadn’t heard anything about it. But then I asked Alexa to “Play the Temptations” to give […]

Read More
Audain Art Museum in Whistler (for free)

How to go to the Whistler Audain Art Museum for free if you are from Seattle

January 24, 2023

I checked Whistler for the kids’ mid-winter break and it looks like all of Seattle must be headed there. The prices are sky high! I think President’s Day now coincides with BC’s family day holiday so this is one reason why it’s getting more difficult to visit the area during that time. But there are […]

Read More
pool at best western plus Santa Barbara a family friendly hotel with apartment style suites

Best Western Plus Santa Barbara: an Airbnb alternative for families with a pool

Big checkmark for the Best Western Plus Santa Barbara because it has the pool that all families seem to need when we travel with kids. By teenager stage, the pool is no longer the biggest selling feature for a hotel on a holiday but it’s still something I look for and helps a place rank […]

Read More