Places to Visit »Farrel-McWhirter Farm Park

farell19545 Redmond Road

A long weekend gave us a perfect reason to finally leave Seattle’s city limits and see the surrounding area. It’s truly a beautiful part of the world and a mere thirty minutes away we found the child friendly farm park Farrel-McWhirter to while away a pleasant morning.

Goats, huge pigs, cows, chickens and horses, all the animals our kids usually only see in picture books were there, up close and personal.

If the sun gets too hot in the open fields that can host picnics and birthday parties, green trails canopied by giant trees offer quiet walks.

Lots of fun to be had on the swing set and van was particularly taken with the potties in converted silos.

It’s a great drive over the water when traffics easy.

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Posted on July 17, 2013

Places to Visit,Spend a Couple Hours »Woodland Park Zoo

xzoo601 N 59th St  Seattle, WA

Despite long lines to pay for parking and enter, Woodland Park Zoo was a wonderful way to spend a perfect weather Sunday.

With two young kids, you just can’t see it all in one visit, but we made sure to see “real monkeys playing in the trees” at Van’s request, huge elephants, some otters that took a liking to Mimi, and a of couple napping joeys. We rode the beautiful vintage carousel and took time to feed the colorful birds (a highlight for the kids).

The zoo is as green as you would expect from a lush city like Seattle with lots of shady trees, quiet pathways and a big green yard to just run around.

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Posted on May 5, 2013

Places to Visit,Spend a Couple Hours »Pacific Science Center

pscfinal200 2nd Ave N, Seattle

Gears, wires, pipes, machines – these are my son’s passion. Naturally the Pacific Science Center, a hands on kids science museum was totally up his alley. We could have spent all day in the lobby room with its pulleys, gears, wacky mirrors and levers and he would have left satisfied.

Fortunately, though, the exhibits offered even more excitement including a tots area with water play and toys to climb, animatronic dinosaurs, a petting area with sea creatures, and a butterfly pavilion.

Mimi had a nice time too with plenty to look at and even a quiet nursing room!

Some reviews online complain that exhibits are sometimes old but they are missing the point. Kids love this place dated animatronics, duct tape and all.

When we decided to move to Seattle, the wealth of child friendly activities appealed to us. Not that NYC doesn’t offer them, but here, everything is easier to accomplish. In fact, we hadn’t even set out to go to the museum, but a morning drive happened to bring us there and it was a lovely spontaneous family fun day.

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Posted on April 21, 2013

Places to Visit »Magic Forest

Us Route 9  Lake George, NY

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Magic Forest is a magical place. Now that we have a baby to take – even more so.

A creepy awesome place that’s a must on any Lake George visit.

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Posted on June 3, 2012

Places to Visit »On Vacation!

20120527-130611.jpg

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Posted on May 27, 2012

Places to Visit »Best of 2011 – Places to Visit

Well, we definitely didn’t do as much travel this year, but we still had some fun adventures on both coasts and in between. Friends recommended some amazing spots too!

1. Block Island

2. Disneyland

3. Minneapolis Children’s Museum

4. Austrian Castles (Astrid)

5. Tyddyn Llan, Llangollen, Wales (Dana)

6. Leviathan Installation (Shaun)

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Posted on December 27, 2011

Places to Visit »Disneyland

20111213-120617.jpgAnaheim, CA

Disneyland really is the happiest place on earth. I loved it as a kid and did just as much taking Van for the first time.

Sure, he may not remember it but his happiness was overwhelming on It’s a Small World.

The Peter Pan ride is as awesome as ever and I had forgotten just how wild toads wild ride was! (drunk driving straight to hell could be an alternate title).

Blue Bayou was no joke price wise but a nice place to rest. Thecroque monsieur us one of the craziest things I’ve ever eaten. Ham and cheese in fried dough with powdered sugar and raspberry sauce? Wow.

In retrospect we would have made a whole day if it rather than several hours but I plan to go back again and again.

 

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Posted on December 13, 2011

Places to Visit »Naples, CA

in Long Beach

We just spent a week visiting family in Southern California, mostly in the lovely Long Beach enclave of Naples which boasts canals and water front mansions.

It’s like rich person Disneyland.

While not necessarily a tourist spot, if you do find yourself in the area, it’s a great place to stroll along the water and peep into people’s unshuttered fancy homes.

Being on display seems to be the thing here. So feel free to gape inside well lit dream houses (often with questionable decorating taste- I’ll never wonder how Horchow stays in business again).

The range of architectural style is vast and it’s super fun to pick “your” home out (I opted for a 70’s dark wood and glass cube).

After peeking in all the neighbors windows and admiring the impeccable gardens (now heavy with Christmas decorations) you can stroll nearby to the very cute Mother’s Beach playground where Van and his cousin Bixby enjoyed the swings.

Also be sure to take a boat ride on the canal if possible.

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Posted on December 3, 2011

Places to Visit »Mall Of America

8100 24th Ave S Bloomington, MN

What can I say. I love malls. I find them soothing and comforting so comments of ugly American consumerism need not apply. Maybe it’s because they are largely lost to me.

Gone are the days when my parents would drop me off to meet Sara, Dana, Michelle and Laura. We’d hit the Chick-fil-A and Orange Julius before making ourselves ill on several pounds of candy.

Dana would get a new Spencer’s gifts poster (a black and white hunk holding a baby with the words “a hard man is good to find”, if I remember correctly) and we’d prowl the wide halls for cassingles, mood rings and the latest offerings from Express and Contempo Casuals.

Good times…

Such fond memories always beckon me to malls so how could I resist the Mall of America while in Minneapolis?

Three sprawling stories with an amusement park and an Orange Julius on every corner, the mall is a monster but not one that could not be tamed.

We conquered her in a few hours and left with some sweet clothes for Van and the new found knowledge that H&M is the best spot for cheap and adorable baby clothes (who knew?)
There was no Chick-fil-A and Contempo Casuals is long gone to our world but I found the experience as fab as ever.

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Posted on September 7, 2011

Places to Visit »Minnesota Children’s Museum

10 West Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN

On a recent visit to Minneapolis, we took a day at the Children’s Museum of Minnesota. Now, I remember LOVING such hands on places while growing up, and while most of the exhibits were for kids older than Van, we had a blast.

From a lego land exhibit about knights, castles, and dragons (with a joisting corner to boot!) to a tiny town where kids could don costumes (like firemen and postal workers), from an indoor jungle with simulated clouds and lighting kids could move themselves to a sidewalk art patio, there’s plenty here to keep a kid happy.

Van loved looking at everything and made fast friends with the stuffed animal puppets that littered the rooms (surprisingly not available at the museum shop – Van absolutely loved the woodchuck and I would have got it for him, but alas.)

The most awesome part for us though, was the baby room, where kids under 3 can let loose. Van was thrilled to spend time in the padded lily pad area that had mirrors, toys, and fun stuff to climb around.

What a great idea! (Will have to see if our local museum boasts a similar room and make a date to go there soon if so).

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Posted on August 14, 2011