Author: Caroline

Hazel Miller Park in Edmonds has this giant green bucket that tips over when it’s full and the kids go CRAZY. There’s also a gentler water side for the not-so-adventurous, and a terrific play fort next to the spray park. We picked up takeout from Seattle Deli (10 minutes away) to make it a perfect…

We picked up yummy pastries from Bakery Nouveau to eat the the park, but our picnic was cut short by a squirrel that WOULD NOT leave us alone. They must as smelled as irresistible to the squirrel as they did to us. From left: twice baked chocolate croissant, blueberry and ginger scone, butter croissant.

Our favorite thing to do is going to playgrounds, and I wrote about four new neighborhood gems for The Seattle Times. 1. Westside Park was the first of a 5-playground crawl in Redmond. Five playgrounds in one afternoon, phew! After Westside Park, we hit the three at Marymoor Park and one at Grass Lawn Park.…

Summer = swimming, playground, cupcakes, repeat.

Two terrific playgrounds we hadn’t been to in ages. Maple Leaf playground has a butterfly hunt and a long zip line; Jefferson Park has a spray park and two zip lines!

The last time I went to a laser show, 8 years ago, Joseph cried as soon as the lights went out and the music came on. Too dark, too loud. This time the kids liked it, I think. It was weird and trippy.

Good thing Paul’s feet are clean, otherwise I’d have footprints all over my walls. He is the smallest and strongest of all of us.

The Pacific Science Center is back!! A tiny part of me was terrified they’d never reopen. We were thrilled to go visit the butterflies and watch an IMAX movie for the first time in two-plus years. I wrote about which exhibits are open and what’s different for ParentMap.

The worst part is, $$$$$ later, Paul looked at the new roof and said, “But Mama, it looks the same!” Most unsatisfying way ever to spend wads and wads of money. Merry Christmas kids, for the next HUNDRED years. I’ve watched enough HGTV to know that SOMETHING always comes up during construction. In our case,…

Peony season is short but sweet. I usually love color but this one felt like it should be black and white.