• Kid-friendly Trip Ideas

    The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Pacific Northwest

    Still looking for that perfect last-minute gift? Last week, I picked up The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of the Pacific Northwest by travel writer Joan Tapper, with lush photos by Nik Wheeler. Tapper knows her stuff.  She’s the founding editor of National Geographic Traveler magazine and she’s a great judge on what makes for a beautiful destination– she highlights those smaller, quaint towns that feel like they’ve gracefully aged for the past 100 years. Each village or town is accompanied by text and large photographs; this is as much a coffee-table display book as it is a dream-guide of where to go during your lifetime. The downside is obvious…

  • Other

    Bloom! June family festivals and events

    June 1 – June 13. Portland, Oregon. All the best Portland Rose Festival events happen in June: The Starlight Parade is on June 5, Grand Floral Parade is on June 12 and “Circus City” runs with clowny antics from June 9-13. It’s Portland’s kid-friendly party. June 3 through September. Vancouver, BC. Enjoy an aria or an Antony at Bard on the Beach. Older children will particularly appreciate the setting (and seating) in Vancouver’s gorgeous Vanier Park. June 5-6. Nanaimo, BC. The Vancouver Island Baby Fair in Nanaimo offers cool products, performers and photo contests. I would love to see those baby races (I’m betting on any baby sporting teeth and steel-toed…

  • Beach Trips,  Cannon Beach

    Cannon Beach Guide: Family-friendly picks

    Oh, the Oregon Coast — golden beaches, great food, and thriving coastal communities full of art galleries and cool toystores and bookstores. Enjoy a misty morning tidepooling adventure with a hot coffee in hand. Or recline in a beach chair with a new book — while the kids create turreted castles from crystals of warm sand. Your choice. One of my favorite destinations along the Oregon Coast is Cannon Beach, only about an hour west of Portland. Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock offers probably one of the most-photographed scenes in Oregon: Sundown, when the skies turn impossible shades of pink and purple, and the sun sinks behind the basalt monolith. Keep…

  • cannon beach with kids
    Beach Trips,  Pacific Northwest Spring Break with Kids

    Beachy Keen! 5 NW Spring Break Spots

    Sure, some families are heading to Mexico, Hawaii and Florida for spring break. But you don’t have to fly thousands of miles to get your sand fix. Save time and money by checking out one of the five sweet Northwest beaches. Okay, you won’t find 80-degree temps or swim-ready water — not in the spring, at least — but the following destinations offer cool prices to match the chilly days. 1. Family-friendly Cannon Beach, Oregon. Why go? Cannon Beach in the off-season offers mellow charm, mild weather and no summer-crowd insanity. But the infrastructure is ready year-round, whether you want to buy a kite, nosh on Haystack cookies or browse…