Author: Caroline

At The Museum of Flight, we saw a real NASA astronaut! Actually, two: Tom Jones was speaking, and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger was sitting two seats behind me. What an amazing opportunity. We are so lucky to have the Museum of Flight here. Someday I want to go work for NASA. Some things we learned: The space…

Field trip to IslandWood on Bainbridge. The 5th graders at Paul’s school go on a camping trip here every year, so we went to get a sneak peak. Turns out it’s not a campsite, it’s a super swanky RESORT. IslandWood is open to the public one day a month. The rest of the time it’s…

Check out the new inclusive playground at Hidden Creek Park West in Hillsboro. The park, less than a year old, is made for adventure and imaginative play. The star of the park is an enormous monkey named “Oro the Giant,” sprawled out on the turf with a butterfly in its hand. Kids can climb inside…

The Tillamook Creamery is the ultimate cheesy beacon of welcoming. Take a free self-guided tour. From viewing windows above the factory floor, you can learn about the cheese-making process and watch chunks of cheese zip along on conveyor belts. Pick up a free sample at the end of the tour. The Tillamook Forest Center is…

OMSI’s Tyrannosaurus special exhibit closes on September 8! Fun and interactive. We loved trying to cause mass extinction with a meteor, testing our bite force against T-Rex’s (guess who won? by a lot?) and touching fossilized dinosaur poo.

Great Wolf! The Grand Mound lodge stayed open during construction (which began April 2023) but I didn’t want to go until the renovation was complete. Worth the wait. No one slept and everyone had a blast.

A few black-and-whites from Cannon Beach, where it was so hazy we couldn’t see Haystack Rock a few feet away. Loved the cool weather (it was 97 in Portland!) and relaxing downtime. I love visiting the coast, but I don’t love paying a premium for it. Here’s my beach vacation hack, in Seattle’s Child.

Would you get in a self-driving car? It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but fully autonomous cars are everywhere in San Francisco. I tried Waymo out, and here’s what it was like. Link to my story for GeekWire.

We went to check out the new Sky Zone Mountlake Terrace! The place is WILD. Soft opening was at the end of July, the grand opening is at the end of August. Here’s my story for Seattle’s Child.

Got a sneak peek at the Titanic exhibit! It’s on the waterfront, across the street from the Colman ferry terminal, in what used to be the WNDR Museum’s space. Lots of stories about the people on the ship and spooky artifacts. The kids loved having their own little audio guides. Apparently Jack and Rose’s whirlwind…