Search Results for: running

A simple Father’s Day idea near Seattle with Western Chief

I am not always good at celebrating the people I love most on birthdays or greeting card days.  I tend to stress out a little.  What do I get the people so dear to me that will be special enough to let them know how much I love them?  How do I make sure it’s absolutely perfect? […]


A suite hotel with breakfast and a great location (Victoria, BC)

Every time I hear the song “Under the Boardwalk” I’m whisked back to the steps along the water in front of the Empress hotel where the buskers seem to play this song over and over through the summers of my memories in Victoria BC as a child. So this summer when we returned to Vancouver […]


Looking for fall leaves on a family ride (Marymoor Park to Woodinville)

As a mom of boys there really is no point asking if we can go get family pictures in the beautiful autumn leaves. This is what will happen: “Awww….mom!” Boy #1 “Awww…mom!!!!” Boy #2 “Do we have too?” Boy #3.  The husband. So instead I ask if we want to bike ride and then I […]


Back to School Eve

After the kids were home for a little while and the novelty of summer wore off, the days of endless play and running around and daily sibling wars made my grown up brain weary and my body tired; I couldn’t help it and I didn’t mean to. I started wishing for tomorrow forever.  (I think […]


A run, a beach and stops along the way to Whistler with kids (Rainbow Park, Whistler, BC)

The North Face Whistler run is becoming a bit of a family tradition; this is the 2nd time we’ve headed up north to run the 10km and the kid’ run and hang out with friends and once again we had a wonderful time. This time we stayed at the Sundial hotel, and it was perfectly […]


A U-pick strawberry patch that’s not too far from Seattle (Al Duris Strawberry Farm, Kent, WA)

(PS. the Duris Strawberry farm in Kent just opened for U-Pick for the 2022 season June 15.) I was not supposed to go strawberry picking.  I am picking out cabinets for our cabin and with all the end of school things I didn’t realize kindergarteners do, it was not high on my priority list.  But, […]


What social media made me shop and forage for in Seattle on a Monday

It’s been a drizzly but hit-the-ground-running kind of Monday where I somehow found myself lost in the aisles of Costco. (Oh my goodness, is there any other place in the world like this that induces sane people to buy copious amounts of things they don’t need?!!  I need to stay away.)  Except they sell Tutta […]


When your family gets sick while traveling for Christmas

So before this sounds too dramatic and cruel, we weren’t horribly sick while traveling for Chrismtas and we weren’t terribly far from home when we were traveling-Vancouver BC, our hometown is only a 3 hour drive from Seattle where we live-but I remember joking with friends over drinks a few nights before Christmas about being […]


Something 2014 to bring into the New Year (Classpass, Seattle)

I’ve been known to complain about exercising and I definitely prefer sloth.  But I’ve been trying out Classpass since my birthday and it hasn’t been horrible.  I actually even signed up as a real customer after my free trial expired.  The nice thing about this pass is it’s a commitment that’s non-committal so it’s perfect […]


Uniquely Seattle Gifts that might help with your Holiday shopping

I am a big fan of locally made and anywhere or anytime I can toot my “I love Seattle” horn, I will.  So here are some things that I have my eye on for holiday gifts: We have chocolates of all sorts here in Seattle and my favorites are Frans’ and Theos. Both give fabulous […]


When you need to post-birthday shop on a Monday

When you get a certain amount of birthdays under your belt, you begin to realize how thankful you are for having just made it to that day again another year.  And today I’m truly grateful for the wonderful people in my life and for health and happiness too. And I’m thankful for cake.  All the […]


If you still have Halloween Candy in your house…

Oh Halloween you kill me.  Every year.  And every year the guys get more effective at acquiring candy so the cycle just seems to get stronger and stronger.  Eat candy.  Mourn eating Halloween candy.  Eat more candy.  Eat more candy……until one of us gets the willpower to do something about it. Thankfully that someone is […]


Finding Fall at Gold Creek Pond (A great hike for kids near Snoqualmie Pass)

Everywhere in Seattle the leaves are putting on the best show they can and I’m trying to snap as many pictures of my kids as possible because it is just too beautiful to stop and one day they probably won’t want me taking so many pictures any more.  I’ve also decided that because of this […]


When one door closes, another one opens with chocolate on top (on visiting Hotcakes in Seattle)

I’ve been dreaming about eating at the Fat Hen for a while now.  It is really close to a shop where we often go for macarons and other treats (Honore Bakery if you’re curious.  It has amazing desserts and some of Seattle’s tastiest macarons and it’s one reason why I used to schedule my kids’ […]


Sorry to be corny but there’s something a-maze-ing at The Farm at Swan’s Trail (near Seattle, Wa)

Last year we went to the Farm at Swan’s trail because I saw it in my instagram feed and it looked like the most idyllic place ever to pick apples.  And then this year a friend and her family wanted us to go because she knew they had the most amazing corn maze.  Now things […]


A heart too full to shop on a monday even though the house is empty

Well it’s not entirely empty.  Some mornings start well into the night when a little one gets a fever and all of a sudden you get reduced back to the new-parent cycle of comfort/worry/wait/stayupallnight/willtheyeverbeokayagain and instead of sending two kids off to school you only send one.  (He is doing much better now by the […]


Getting away from it all with our family on the Olympic Peninsula (Kalaloch Lodge, Washington)

Every September, the whirlwind of real life catches us up to us after dreamy, long summer days playing at the beach. We get trapped in a spiral of school and sports, lessons and work and I start to feel spectacularly stuck. And this year with the cabin-building project and the kids starting kindergarten, we have […]


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

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 […]


Island living and our best summer memories (Valdes Island, British Columbia)

Do you ever wonder how your life would be completely different if you didn’t meet certain people? I know without my brother-in-law we would definitely have had a void-he’s always teaching us new things about the outdoors and exploring. And he’s always trying to get me to push my nature boundaries to help me be […]


I run because I want my 80-year-old self to know I gave it my all

One day I’ll be thankful for the hours I’ve put in running, but I’m going to give my legs a little break for a couple of weeks. I just survived my 2nd half marathon in Vancouver at the Lululemon Seawheeze and it is such a gorgeous run.  I just got too sweaty that I couldn’t […]