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Photo Friday: Pike Place Market
One of the best things about living in Seattle is watching travelers enthuse over the Pike Place Market. Visitor linger over fresh blackberries, laugh at the salmon-slinger’s antics, clap along with the buskers and marvel at the hand-made goods. Kids try fruit samples, while parents give in and buy a wind-up toy. Or three. I took this photo about a year ago. The market, for some reason, was awash in the prairie-print dresses, somber black stockings and head-coverings of a religious community, probably Amish. In predominantly liberal, agnostic Seattle, the conservative clothing choice was more unusual than piercings and tattoos (which function as everyday work accessories here). Vendors looked mildly…
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Families Travel! A mom to 15 kids tells you how she travels
Sarah Reese is a 36-year-old Bellingham mom to 15 kids. And she loves family travel. Yes, you read those two sentences correctly. Sarah was a single mom to just one child when she met her husband Robert, who was a single father to four children. Like a Super Brady Bunch, the duo combined their children, then adopted foster kids and Haitian orphans. Eleven children live at home; four are grown and have moved out. She blogs (beautifully and with vulnerability) about her journey and parenting struggles at Mom to 15. Many of Reese’s children have special needs – physical, medical or psychological. Seriously, her blog sucks me in. I admire her ability to parent with such reflection…
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12 Tips for Green Family Travel
At one Portland hotel, Earth Day isn’t a once-a-year event. Every day, The Doubletree Hotel diverts 68% of its waste stream from landfills, composts up to 17 tons per month and purchases more than half of their food products seasonally within a 500-mile region. You can even offset your travel footprint from the hotel’s website. As more hotels become eco-aware, they’re offering choices to families concerned about the environment. And some changes adopted industry-wide – like the option to skip washing your sheets during your stay – also save hotel-owners money. “Green travel has become part of mainstream travel,†says Brian T. Mullis, of Sustainable Travel International, a Washington State-based…
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Families Travel: Oregon Coast’s Astoria with Kids
Last year, in August 2009, Seattle-based photographer Alex Nguyen and her husband took their two boys (then 1 years and 4 years old) to Astoria, Ore. Here’s what they enjoyed about this oceanside city founded back in 1810 – shortly after Lewis and Clark spent a winter at the nearby Fort Clatsop. All photos are provided by Alex — and were taken by her as well. Q. Was Astoria, Oregon very family-friendly? Overall the town of Astoria was very kid-friendly. It was walkable, there were some great hikes just a short drive away (we ended up driving back across the Washington for some hikes), and there was a cute children’s museum in…
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10 Tips for Enjoying Farmers Markets with Kids
Wherever our family travels in Washington, Oregon and BC, we always visit a produce market. Almost every destination offers a farmers’ market, whether the big-city Pike Place Market or the tiny, thriving Cannon Beach Farmers’ Market. In fact, we find farmers’ markets so fun that we sought them out in Paris (mmm, stanky cheese!), Provence (chickpea crepes) and Italy (fresh tomatoes). Here are my tips for enjoying farmers’ markets with kids: Check the market’s website before you head out the door. Use the site to pull together a scavenger hunt for in-season produce, print out maps, look for coupons or find out when a children’s performer will be on the…
