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East Meets West: Richmond’s Aberdeen Centre
Over the past 100 years, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Filipino and Laotian immigrants settled in Washington, Oregon and BC. Often, families move back and forth over the U.S.-Canadian borders, so there’s a nice multi-generational, multi-cultural intermingling at this point. Cascadia kids grow up eating sushi, pad Thai and dim sum; they attend cultural festivals with roots in Japan, China or Vietnam. This cultural coalescence is obvious in Richmond, BC, where 60% of the city’s population is of Asian descent. You’ll find the Chinese-influnced Aberdeen Centre, the Taiwanese-style President Plaza, the pan-Asian Yaohan Centre (featuring a large Japanese supermarket) and the Hong Kong-style Parker Place. Aberdeen Centre offers many kid-friendly…
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Northern Exposure: Kid-friendly picks in Roslyn, Washington
Drive 90 minutes east of Seattle along I-90, and you’re transported into another era. In Roslyn, Washington, two blocks of false-front wooden storefronts stand shakily across the street from one another, like cowboys frozen in a standoff since the early 1900s. Docile, fat dogs wander through town, begging for scraps from restaurants. Shacks – once houses – look like they’re ready to collapse into the earth’s embrace. Chill winds race down the mountain and wipe the smile off of your face. To live in Roslyn, Washington, you have to be a little tough. And that is awesome. But these few blocks also yield a wine store, a natural foods shop,…
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35 Free and Cheap Things to Do With Kids in Seattle
Visiting Seattle on a budget? No problem. Check out these 35 free and cheap family-friendly activities in Seattle: 1. Ride a bike on the Burke-Gilman Trail. 2. Run through the 9,000-gallon International Fountain. 3. Watch fish and boats navigate through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. 4. Cower under giant traffic cones and play hide-and-seek among the art at the Olympic Sculpture Park. 5. Ride the West Seattle Water Taxi to West Seattle. 6. Sample fruit and meet the Doughnut Robot at the Pike Place Market. 7. Pick the Fremont Troll’s nose and take a picture with Lenin in the Fremont neighborhood. 8. Check out the cheese-making process at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese.…
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Families Travel! Great Wolf Lodge with Kids
Located about 90 minutes north of Portland, Oregon and 90 minutes south of Seattle, Great Wolf Lodge (one of 12 in the Great Wolf chain) was created with families in mind, from 4,000-square-foot water pools to evening pajama storytimes. Ryan Ellis of Vancouver, Washington, went with wife Marissa, and children (Sam, age 10, and Ben, age 7) to the waterpark resort in Grand Mound, Washington. Let’s find out what Ryan thought of Great Wolf – and what you should know before you go. New Post: Great Wolf Lodge Day Passes: Are They a Good Deal? Q: What did you like about Great Wolf Lodge with kids? I liked that there was something for every age. Kids had the…
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The I-5 Drive: Kid-friendly Oregon stops from Portland to Southern Oregon
Today,  Amy Whitley, the Oregon-based editor at Pit Stops for Kids cruises over to guest-post on my blog. Pit Stops for Kids is a great resource for families traveling through our region. You’ll find parent reviews on road-side attractions, restaurants, motels, parks, and airport playspaces. Seriously, her site is fantastic. Thanks, Amy. The Northwest is cross-crossed with dozens of wonderfully scenic and historic highways and byways, but sometimes, you just need to get from Point A to Point B. Living in Southern Oregon, we’ve put in our share of miles up and down I-5 from the Washington border to our north and the California border to our south. Luckily, this section…
