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Rainy Day Rambles: All-weather hikes with kids
You’ve got a hike planned. But it’s raining, pouring, dumping outside. Just go, says Jennifer Aist, the author of the book “Babes in the Woods,†a guide to hiking, camping and boating with babies and small children. “If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you need to embrace the wet,” Aist says. “Otherwise you’ll rot away on your couch.” An Alaska resident, Jennifer’s been on plenty of hikes with her three kids in Washington State and British Columbia. She knows rainy days. “I can’t tell you how many hours I have spent in the rain in campgrounds, on trails and on beaches,†Aist says. But rain is a magical, surprising…
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Dine Out Vancouver — Families Welcome!
Today, Vancouver Tourism announced the Dine Out Vancouver participating restaurants. Three-course adult fixed menus are set at $18, $28 or $38. This is the perfect opportunity for your family to eat out in Vancouver, whether as a local or a visitor. The promotion runs from April 26 through May 6, but diners are encouraged to reserve early – reservations open on April 19. Especially if you want that cool kid-friendly room at Zen Japanese Restaurant (read more below). Restaurant + Adult Menu Link Adult Menu Price Point Kid-Friendly? Sample Kid Menu Blarney Stone $18 Kid-friendly Irish pub, crayons and coloring books No kid menu, but can accommodate kid appetites. Las Margaritas Restaurant…
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7 Don’t-Miss Oregon & Washington National Parks for Kids
Desert sands, old-growth forests, mountain glaciers, spooky caves, dino bones and pig wars. There, I’ve summed up the National Parks for you — but your kids need to see these sights for themselves. Here are seven don’t-miss National Parks in Washington and Oregon, in honor of National Park Week. Can you visit all the parks by the time your offspring turn 18? John Day Fossil Beds (Oregon). Can you imagine dry Eastern Oregon covered with rainforest? It was in prehistoric times. Three separate land areas – or “units†as the NPS calls them – make up the John Day Fossil Beds, a window into the past. Dino bones are still…
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Tulips & Daffodils: Spring flower festivals for families
There’s still time to see a tulip, although the daffodils have mostly come and gone. Here are some general tips and book suggestions to consider — do you have any tips for field-goers? Any favorite restaurants? Please leave ’em in the comments! Tulip Festival, Oregon In Woodburn, over 40 acres of tulips and daffodils paint the Willamette Valley’s Wooden Shoe Farm. Daily activities include a children’s play area, photogenic fields and weekend music jams and pony rides. Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, Washington Washington State’s North Cascades area welcomes spring with a riot of color and events. Drive between flower growers, bakeries, artisan stores and restaurants. Roozengaarde Nursery is the largest bulb…
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Photo Friday: The Star Wars Shop
Driving into Aberdeen, Wash., we’re greeted with the sign, “Come As You Are,†from a song by the marine town’s local boy, Kurt Cobain. The verses that follow? As you were/As I want you to be. Aberdeen has always struggled with being, in any sense. The town now appears to be well-sunk, pulled down by the weight of dead logging and fishing industries. The downtown core’s empty storefronts offer “for lease” placards. Rotating signs spin half-heartedly in the wind, missing letters and customers. It’s enough to break a city girl’s heart. So what do you when Abderdeen’s grey skies and grey streets part and reveal the Sucher & Sons Star…