TRAVEL
Best dessert combo to order from Madonna Inn in SLO
February 8, 2023Have 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 […]
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The Gum Wall in Seattle, Bubblegum Alley in SLO and how these relate on Feb 3
February 3, 2023Did 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 […]
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Connecting rooms at the Wayfarer hotel in San Luis Obispo for California family travel with teens
February 1, 2023Just 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 […]
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Ain’t too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations Musical at Seattle Paramount Theatre (don’t miss out)
January 25, 2023I 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 […]
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How to go to the Whistler Audain Art Museum for free if you are from Seattle
January 24, 2023I 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 […]
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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 […]
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Asean Streat in Westlake Center: a unique place to eat in downtown Seattle
January 17, 2023We have been needing a food hall like this in Seattle forever and thank goodness Asean Streat has manifested itself in the heart of our downtown. Westlake Center is such a perfect spot in the center of our city, attached to Climate Pledge Arena and Seattle Center with the Monorail. But it’s been a bit […]
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Kafka’s Coffee in Vancouver BC with a playground next door
January 9, 2023Kafka’s Coffee has been part of our Vancouver adventures for decades now- my best friend baked for them years ago and they have really delicious coffee and food. But the newest Kafka’s Coffee location is so perfect for Vancouver families (and Seattle families visiting Vancouver) so I needed to talk about it here. It’s downtown […]
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Is 5 days enough time for a family to visit Ireland with a direct flight from Seattle to Dublin?
December 18, 2022Yes, travel is about bucket lists and places we dream about. But it’s also about budget too. So when we booked our Ireland trip from Seattle we were actually dreaming about going to Japan. We found that tickets for Japan were on the spendy side and we only had 5 days (with teenagers who have […]
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Our Seattle favorite things of 2022 for all of your holiday lists
November 30, 2022Who says that the holidays need to be hectic? I love December for celebrating and reflecting on all the joys of the year. This year I’m really thankful to have partnered with many local shops and activities that have become part of my family’s daily life in Seattle. And many of these places will be […]
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Things to do in November in Seattle
November 1, 2022I love November because it starts off holiday season and even in October, I start to get a bunch of November notifications in my inbox. We should all sip at least a million pumpkin cream cold brews to ward off any early snow in Seattle and so far we’ve been lucky but it is suddenly […]
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Because I keep getting asked where to stay in Vancouver BC if you’re traveling from Seattle with a dog
October 31, 2022How many of us added furry family members in the past couple years? Scout, our yorkie poo pup joined our family in May 2020 and our travel life has not been the same since. Thankfully, Vancouver BC where we we grew up is only a 3 hour road trip from Seattle and as of October […]
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Things you might want to know about the Westin Anaheim Hotel across from Disneyland if you book with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts
October 17, 2022It seems like bookings with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts are popular at the Westin Anaheim Resort because that is the tone we felt when we checked in. And we were apparently way too early when we checked in but we just wanted to drop our bags and head to Disneyland. And sometimes we get […]
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These are the things I learned from booking at trip to Disneyland last minute from Seattle with my teenage kids
October 10, 2022One of my dearest friends I went to university with in Vancouver BC had a trip to Disneyland planned with her family this October and we had to cancel a big trip together in 2020 (it was supposed to be to Newfoundland) so we decided last-minute that it would be fun to tag along. She […]
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A play you need to see in Seattle : “What the Constitution means to me” (and when it goes beyond our city you need to see it too!)
October 6, 2022Have you ever watched as much news or followed as much politics as you have in the past 3 years? Sometimes I feel like all I hear is sadness and scary things and I just want to turn it off and make it stop. But it won’t stop even if we don’t pay attention and […]
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Things to do in Seattle in October
September 28, 2022Suddenly it’s October isn’t it? I was just reminiscing about our October last year where we started the month with a last minute trip to Disneyland (October was a great time to go by the way-we pretty much did it all in one day)and escaped a bit of the smoke we had. This year there […]
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Staying a the Conrad Midtown Manhattan NYC (and yes we booked with Amex Fine Hotels again too)
September 20, 2022At the beginning of the summer our teenage boys went on their first solo trip with their school. It was at the height of the June pandemic outbreaks where people who hadn’t got Covid for two years were all getting it and we were a bit worried that they might get Covid too but we […]
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Where we park in Seattle to go to the beach at Expedia Group (Scout’s Favorite Park)
September 13, 2022If you follow along on my instagram, we tend to visit the beach at Expedia group with Scout quite frequently. It used to be where we parked to go biking with the kids when they were small. It’s near where the cruise ships dock and it’s also where you’ll find the closest lupine patches growing […]
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Revisiting the Island of Hawaii at the Kamilo at Mauna Lani: A multigenerational trip
August 25, 2022If there is one thing that got our hearts through the past couple years, it’s been the hope of revisiting Hawaii Island (you might know it as “the Big Island”) with our family. We went with my parents and my sister and her family in 2019 and it was one of the most special places […]
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When you learn you should have listened to New York City CityPASS and booked things ahead of time but your trip still works out
August 23, 2022I love getting CityPASS when we travel because it’s often a great way to bundle a bunch of activities we know we are going to see and it makes sure we get a discounted price and often it helps with lines during busy seasons too. I was given two NYC CityPASSES on our recent trip […]
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