trip-planning

Belize Zoo with kids on a tour with Sharon Matola

A little Tease of our Trip to Belize (Belize with kids)

May 15, 2015

In the next few weeks you’ll be hearing a lot about our recent trip to Belize with kids.  It was a really eye-opening trip and I’m thankful for all the trip-planning help we had before we went.  And I can’t wait to tell you more. We stayed at the Belize Zoo’s Tropical Education Center and […]

Read More
cruise ship in seattle

Imagining we’re cruising to Alaska for the first time (with Holland America in Seattle)

May 13, 2015

Every summer in Seattle we see the shiny white cruise ships sail into their berths at the pier and I always wonder what it might be like to get on one, cast off and drift away to Alaska.  Our family is curious to know if we’re cruisers: I am a free-spirit and the hubby likes […]

Read More
dallas arboretum

Coffee, Donuts and the most kid-friendly Garden Visit you can Imagine (visiting the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden with kids)

April 29, 2015

We were a little bleary-eyed the morning of our Dallas Arboretum visit but I was excited to see the gardens and glad we could bring coffee in.  We stopped in at a lovely coffee shop called Cultivar Coffee (they have a few shops but this one was the closest one to the Arboretum and we […]

Read More

When vaccines are hard to swallow on a Monday (planning for trips with kids)

March 30, 2015

Monday is hard to stomach sometimes and today I need my kids to swallow the vaccines we are taking to go on an upcoming trip and I didn’t realize how hard it is to get a child to take medication.  I totally forgot we might need to get vaccines to go to Belize and I […]

Read More
Steveston Cookie Company

Next time we’re in California we’ll definitely show our #Disneyside

March 12, 2015

I was pretty excited to be chosen to host a Disneyside Party this year and I was sent a box of free products in order to host.  When I applied, I knew we were going to California for a wedding and the kids hadn’t been to Disneyland since they were little and I was excited […]

Read More
iceland with kids

Since I’ve been asked a lot about Iceland lately and I totally want to go back (Iceland with kids)

February 26, 2015

I’ve been asked a bunch of times in the last week about Iceland, so I thought I better put all my trip-planning info right here so that it’s all in one place and I’m definitely wanting to get back there this year, so I know it’ll help me too. I first got intrigued about Iceland […]

Read More
taking the kids to belize itinerary ideas

Family Travel planning: Starting to Belize we are going

February 3, 2015

I’m sorry if you cringe at this horrible title pun but it makes me smile and I’ll probably still be giggling about it long after I press the publish button so I totally can’t help myself.  We are planning a trip to Belize in the spring and it’s past the point where we can still […]

Read More

A trip to Tacoma that will need a revisit (Tacoma Museum of Glass, Washington)

January 6, 2015

When I get an adventure in my head it’s hard to convince me otherwise, and for some reason I decided our last day of the winter break needed to happen outside of Seattle.  I’ve really been wanting to see the eagles that are up near the Nooksack River in Bellingham ever since the kids had […]

Read More

A splurge and a steal at Canada Place and some other neat things with kids in Vancouver at Christmastime

December 13, 2014

The other weekend, the hubby had to work in Vancouver and I got to tag along with the kids.  So while he went into work bright and early, we woke up leisurely, had an easy breakfast in our room of cereal and milk (this was first breakfast-I had bigger plans for 2nd breakfast) and got […]

Read More

Why I’ll be visiting Science World a lot more this year (Vancouver, British Columbia)

November 15, 2014

Yes, science museums are a good thing for kids.  They help with STEM building (a word that’s super trendy in kid education lately that just means Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  I had to look it up because I thought it meant brain surgery or rocket science or something way more revolutionary, but really it […]

Read More

Sweater shopping for a sweeter Monday

September 22, 2014

Apparently it’s sweet week in Seattle which isn’t the worst news in the world.  Oh dear.  Do we HAVE to eat more sweets this week?  I love so many of the participating vendors and for 5 bucks a treat, it’s a great excuse to indulge. And it’s crazy how every week it seems like we’re […]

Read More

The Britannia mine museum and a bakery that is worth a long drive

September 17, 2014

I can’t deny that most trips we go on as a family are triggered by a bakery, store or a coffee shop; it’s always some delightful little place I’ve seen and have to visit because time as I know it has threatened to stop until I figure out how to get myself there as soon […]

Read More

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.  […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More
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 […]

Read More
aardvark at Point Defiance Zoo where kids can get close up to animals

A Day-trip to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma (part of our summer staycation in Seattle)

July 16, 2014

I can barely count how many trips I’ve put into my trip-finder in Expedia for this summer and then not booked my cart.  Cabo San Lucas, Alaska, Costa Rica, Belize, San Diego and the Bahamas have all been super tempting, but the weather here in Seattle is just so beautiful, I can’t imagine leaving and […]

Read More
free flag coloring resources for kids

A few coloring resources my little world travelers (and I) can’t live without

May 28, 2014

A few months ago I needed my guys to do some independent coloring and for some reason they chose flags, and I didn’t know at the time this would start a whole flag coloring madness in our house but now they’ve started a flag collection and have been coloring like crazy ever since.   I […]

Read More
riding the cogwheel train and funicular in mount pilatus with kids was a switzerland treat

Because I wanted to ride a funicular (Switzerland with kids)

May 23, 2014

I think our travel formula has stayed the same since the hubby and I started traveling together back in college.  We always look for places based on the time we have, how much it’s going to cost (and what we can afford or want to pay) and some kind of weird or wonderful thing one […]

Read More

A love note to Airbnb from a family who used an Airbnb in Paris

May 6, 2014

When we visited Paris with our kids, I wanted to re-visit this coffee shop my bestie took me when I went without the kids about a year and a half ago. It had a merry-go-round in front and so many adorable shops and bakeries nearby. So, when I found a nearby apartment on Airbnb, a […]

Read More
Paris with kids watching swans in the park

First snapshots from France (Paris with kids)

May 2, 2014

Sometimes pictures say so much more than words.  I’ll get to the details of how we got around in Paris and Strasbourg with the kids soon but I wanted to get these out of my camera:   And scrolling through my photostream I realized the difference in traveling to France with my kids versus the […]

Read More