- Beach Trips, Central Washington & Mountains, Get Outdoors! Camping & Hiking Trips, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State
Western Washington State Campgrounds with Playgrounds
Campgrounds offer many natural playthings to entertain kids: sticks, stones, spiders (OK, maybe not spiders). But one of my favorite childhood memories featured a Washington campground decked out with swings, slides and other fun play equipment. Here’s a quick list of Western Washington kid-friendly campgrounds that roll out the green carpet. Northwest Washington Kid-Friendly Campgrounds Belfair State Park. Belfair, Washington. Sleep in one of 120 campsites and let the kids play at the nearby beach or on the simple playground, which has swings, toddler-ready slides and a small climbing structure. Blake Island Marine State Park. Blake Island, Washington. Only reachable by boat (no roads!), this kid-friendly campground features 44 campsites and…
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12 Strange Natural Wonders in the Pacific Northwest and BC
These odd Oregon, British Columbia and Washington State destinations can compete with even the best video game or smartphone and win. Don’t tell kids the science behind the weird natural wonder’s unusual nature — at least not right away — and see what interesting and creative explanations they might come up with, then explain the science. 1. Mima Mounds. The Mima Mounds seem like something out of a sci-fi movie — a meadow of grassy mounds in a repeated pattern, as if carved or created intentionally. In the past, locals thought perhaps “pocket gophers” created these little bumps. Turns out that the mounds are generated by plant growth — but aliens indeed would’ve been…
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Sea Monsters, Star Wars and SNOT: This summer’s museum attractions for families
If making plans for summer, check out these new and upcoming kid-friendly museum exhibits in Seattle, Vancouver or Bend — the exhibits may inspire a day trip, weekend excursion or week-long adventure. Sea Monsters Revealed Vancouver Aquarium. Vancouver, BC. March 5 to September 7, 2015 From now through the end of summer, discover what lies beneath the sea’s deepest reaches, where few humans have ventured. Sea Monsters Revealed uses plastination (seen in many human anatomy exhibits) to preserve the bodies of deep-sea creatures and ocean oddities, including a mako shark and a car-sized sunfish. GROSSOLOGY: The (Impolite) Science Of The Human Body Pacific Science Center. Seattle, Washington. June 20 to September 7, 2015 Two…
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New for Families from Victoria Clipper
For U.S. residents, there’s never been a better time to visit Canada. Thanks to the strong dollar, U.S. visitors will find items less expensive, from hotels to restaurants (if you withdraw Canadian money from an ATM, using your low-transaction-fee debit or credit card). The Victoria Clipper has a few new options I thought I’d share — they’ve added a Family Fun on Bicycles tour that takes families on a private, two-hour cycling tour of Victoria ($41.75/adults, $26.50/children over age 2, prices in USD). The tours fit the family — so young kids may want to visit the petting zoo at Beacon Hill Park or feed the seals at a wharf, older…
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The BC Sunshine Coast with Kids
Today, we have a special visitor, Lori McGrath, who pens her thoughts at The Write Mama. In a Q&A, she’s  going to tell us about BC’s Sunshine Coast with kids — where to go, what to do, and where to eat. *** I grew up spending my summer vacations on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, a truly beautiful place – filled with oceans and trails, cozy cottages and beaches, parks and wildlife. Now that I have a five-year-old son, my family is rediscovering all the things that make the Sunshine Coast such a great destination for families. We stay at our family cabin near the town of Gibsons, which…
