Lego Americana Roadshow - If You Build It

We love Legos!  We love them to the point of surrendering a chunk of our house to storage and creation areas and have Lego Minifigs proudly displayed on our walls.  We also have an affinity for  history and architecture. So when we heard that the Lego Americana Roadshow was coming to Alderwood Mall, we knew we had to go.

The Lego Americana Roadshow is a traveling exhibit of American monuments that travels the country to wow crowds and sneaks in a bit of history to boot (including a life-size Liberty Bell!)

 The structures are incredibly detailed with even the smallest features represented in Legoes.   The exhibit is free and will be at the Alderwood Mall through October 30th.

Treasure Hunting! - Finders Keepers @ Lincoln City, OR

Floats Photo from www.visittheoregoncoast.com

Our family loves a good treasure hunt.  Whether it's keeping an eye on the ground on our walks for discarded change or searching out hidden treasure in Geocaches, we love the thrill of hunt.  So when we heard about Finders Keepers in Lincoln City, OR we were immediately intrigued.  

Finders Keepers is an annual event along the 7+ miles of beaches that has over 3000 hand blown glass floats and other items hidden for the public to find.  Glass float hunting was a popular hobby up until a decade or so ago.  Japanese fishing boats previously used hand blown glass floats to float their nets.  During storms, and through wear and tear, the floats would come loose and people would find them along the coast.  As fishing boats turned more and more to plastic buoys, floats became harder to come by. 

As a nod to the past, Lincoln City sponsored the first Finders Keepers in 1999.  Growing to the more than 3000 glass items that will be hidden from October to Memorial Day, Lincoln City has created the perfect excuse to visit the coast out of the traditional tourist season.  So we will be heading to Oregon at some point this winter to try our luck...You should head to the beach too! 

Go Climb A Mountain - Free Entrance Days in the National Parks

Here is the Pacific Northwest we are lucky to be surrounded with amazing options for outdoor activities.  Within an hour we can be hiking deep into an old growth forest or climbing mountains.  One of the reasons we have this bounty available to us, is the commitment to preserve these green spaces for public use.  In addition to the many state parks and community spaces, the National Parks System has several parks within driving distance with the most famous being Mt. Rainier and the Olympic National Park.  This weekend, no matter where you are in the United States, you can enjoy these historic wonders for yourself.  As part of it's 100th Birthday, the National Parks Service is opening all of it's parks for free!  That's right, no entrance fee at the more than 400 National Parks throughout the country.  So grab your hiking shoes, pack a lunch and go enjoy the tranquility of nature.

Gotta Catch Them All - Pokemon Go!

 We are a pop culture loving, video game playing, movie watching family.  That being said, we prefer games that allow us to play together.  We are drawn to trivia games like You Don't Know Jack and Scene it?, as well as group games like Mario Kart, Peggle, Mario Party and Super Smash Bros.  So when Pokemon Go! was announced we were both wary and intrigued. If you haven't yet begun you journey to be a Master Pokemon trainer, Pokemon Go! is an augmented reality gaming app that gets you outside to track down Pokemon.  

Now while only one of us is really into Pokemon, the game drew us all in fairly quickly.  By the second day of playing, we were planning a trip downtown to see if we could find rare Pokemon.

Hanging with his non-digital brethren. 

Our favorite part of the game (besides collecting them all) is that it gets us outside and moving while also keeping us engaged with each other.  On our walk downtown, our youngest worked as the spotter, letting us know each time the phone vibrated when a Pokemon was near and our oldest directed us towards better areas to track them down.  All said and done, we walked over 6 miles together tracking down elusive Pokemon.  Six miles of laughing and hanging out as a family... Just keep track of where you are so you don't stop traffic trying to catch a Pikachu.   

Pokemon Go is available on both iTunes and Android. 

Love Is Love - Pride Parade

Every year we head downtown to celebrate our LGBT community and love with thousands of other people at the Seattle Pride Parade.  The parade has an energy of it's own, driven by the music, sights and spirit of the attendees.  The overall mood is one of joy and celebration, unabashed revelry, happiness and, simply,  Pride.  Pride in who you are, who you surround yourself with, who supports you.  These are important themes in how we are raising our boys. This year's pride served as a counterbalance to the tragedy in Orlando which also opened a dialogue about love and loss.  It was invigorating to be around so much delight and  emotion. 

$5.93 or Keep Your Eyes On The Ground

Over the last year our youngest and I have kept an eye to the ground.  It all started when we found a few pennies on one of our daily walks.  He asked if they were fake and, when I said they were real, asked why they had been thrown out.  It began a talk about the value of little things and how the things that some people thought had little value meant more to others.  We also discussed how little treasures added up quickly, both monetarily and in life.  We decided to collect what we found in a special container and total it after a year.  $5.93....134 coins....one little treasure almost every other day.  We are about to start a new year of treasure hunting....I think we'll keep looking down. 

Celebrate The Year of the Horse! - Lunar New Year

 

Dragons...That's all it should take to entice you to the Lunar New Year celebration in the International District.  To celebrate the New Year the international district puts on quite the shindig with dancing,  parades, food tasting, kid's costume contest and so much more. So head down to the ID and celebrate the Year of the Horse...and keep an eye out for Dragons.  More Info

Eat from the Street - Beacon Food Forest

Seattle has long been a place where urban living and nature have coexisted.  We boast being one of the top 10 cities in the US for access to parks.  We are called the Emerald City even.  So it should come as no surprise that planning and construction is underway for an entirely edible and FREE forest of food.  The Beacon Food Forest is underway next door to Jefferson Park in Beacon Hill.  The Food Forest is being designed to mimic a natural ecosystem but substituting edible nuts, fruits, veggies and herbs throughout.   Phase One, consisting of building the fruit and nut tree grove, has already begun.  The Food Forest will progress over the next several years.  If you like to visit and/or volunteer at the Forest, more information can be found here: http://beaconfoodforest.weebly.com/

Happy May The Fourth and Free Comic Book Day!

May The Fourth Be With You - Star Wars Day

May the Fourth is Star Wars Day.  We are big Star Wars fans. (Which may be the understatement of the year.) Therefore, logic dictates that we will be celebrating.   Star Wars is a worldwide institution with countless fans and it has it's own day to celebrate all it's glory.  There are various ways you can get your geek on to commemorate the occasion.

You can:

1. Watch all 6 movies (this one's obvious, but important nonetheless)
2. Have a lightsaber battle throughout your neighborhood (bonus points if you can get passerbys involved)
3. Go to a bar/restaurant with a live band and convince them to play the song from the Cantina bar
4. Have a Wookie calling contest from the tallest hill you can find
5. Head to Card Kingdom and try one of the several Star Wars themed games
6. Have a creative party and craft yourself some awesome Star Wars tchotchkes (head over to StarWars.com for some great ideas)
7. Get a Star Wars themed tattoo (only for advanced Fans)
8. Host a dramatic reading of one of the many Star Wars novels
9. Take some time to create your own Star Wars fan film (See ours here or check out some awesome ones here)
10. Be Vader for a day and tell your kids you are their father (or mother) in a loud and raspy voice as much as you can

Whatever you do, Have Fun!    And May the Force be with you!

Scream For Ice Cream - Free Scoop Day @ Cupcake Royale

Wednesday May 1st is Free Scoop Day!  Go to your local Cupcake Royale and get your ice cream needs met...For FREE!!!

Revel In Stories of Derring Do - Free Comic Book Day

Everyone dreams of being a superhero.  Even if it's just a little bit.  And as super powers tend to involve things such as radiation, mutation and/or death of a loved one, I've stopped trying to get them.  The next best thing is living vicariously through the people who have them.  That's where Free Comic Book Day comes in.  Free Comic Book Day is the first Saturday of May (this year is May 4th) in which comic book companies give out special comic books through your local comic book store to introduce you to new heroes and story lines. It's a great way to explore and expand you comic book knowledge.  And possibly find new powers to dream of. http://www.freecomicbookday.com/StoreLocator

Walk Into Fantasy - Fremont Troll

There are not many places where you can come face-to-face with mythological creatures.  And there are even fewer chances in the city.  Which is why the Fremont Troll is such a magical creature.  Built in 1990 to protect and transform the area under the Aurora Bridge, the troll has become a Seattle icon.  The Troll is holds a full size VW Beetle under his hand and holds court at the top of his own street, Troll Ave. This is one of our favorite stops on neighborhood hikes, with the 4 year old proclaiming him "Friend Troll" and the 11 year old figuring out how to put his head in the Troll's nose.

Celebrate with Sub Pop!

 

Sub Pop Records is turning 25 and they want you, yes you, to come to their party!  Sub Pop is a Seattle institution that has given you some amazing music through the years with bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden,  The Postal Service, Iron and Wine, Sleater-Kinney and The Shins, so give the love back to them and wish them a happy birthday!  Did I mention that it's free!!!!  http://silverjubilee.subpop.com/info

Go To A State Park For Free! -

To celebrate Washington State Parks Centennial,  Saturday, March 30th is a "free day".  So go and explore some of our beautiful state parks.  The other "free days" this year are:

April 27 - 28: Recognition of National Parks Week
June 1: National Trails Day
June 8 - 9: National Get Outdoors Day and WDFW Free Fishing weekend
Aug. 4: Peak summer season free day
Sept. 28: National Public Lands Day
Nov. 9 - 11: Veteran’s Day weekend

Recreate History - Lego reproductions

Construction Workers on the Death Star and Empire State Building respectively

There have always been images that have drawn a visceral, as well as intellectual, response from people.  And nothing shows appreciation like a LEGO homage.  Over the last year we have created a variety of Lego interpretations of  art, photography and pop culture. We work together to build our creations all the while discussing the history behind the originals.  These are some of our favorites.

Raising of the flag at Iwo Jima

Scene from the Walking Dead

Scene from the Walking Dead

First steps on the Moon

Playing With Fire or Amazing Candle Tricks - Science!

We love a good science experiment and we also love a good magic trick.  When we find something that falls into both categories it quickly becomes one of our favorites. (especially when you can do it with things you already have at home.)   We found out about the combustibility of candle smoke awhile ago but we still do it every few weeks because it's so cool.

Things you'll need:
a candle - paraffin works best
matches or lighter

Light the candle and let it burn for a minute or two.  Blow it out and let the smoke settle so it is streaming up from the wick. Light your match or lighter and touch it to the streaming smoke a few inches from the wick and watch the flame race down the smoke to relight the candle.

Why it works:
Fire needs three things to work: Oxygen, Ignition and Fuel.  There's plenty of Oxygen and your match or lighter is the ignition source, but here's where things get science-y.  When a candle burns, the wick is kind of like a focus point for the flame and the paraffin is the fuel source.  When you blow out the candle the smoke contains quite a bit of the vaporized wax.   Adding the flame back to the smoke allows the fire to trace it's source back to the wick.  If you start to far away the fuel will burn out before it reaches the wick, so it may take a few tries to get it right. 

Stop Motion Animation - Homegrown Movie Studio

Everyone at some point aspires to a creative profession.  Whether it's photography, design or artist, it will cross your mind if only for a fleeting moment.   For our oldest it has been film making for as long as we can remember.  Even at an early age he would spend hours watching the making of features of movies rather than the movie itself.  Knowing this we have encouraged him to try various types of filming.  Our latest foray has been stop motion animation.  By using a digital camera and simple editing software, we were able to shoot and edit his first two short animated films.  At first we thought the process would be difficult, but after our initial setup the most difficult part was keeping our subject in the correct position as we manipulated it.  Through the production we discussed how films are made, why film is projected at 24 or 30 frames per minute (the human eye perceives fluid motion starting at about that rate)  and what was going to happen when we fell short of that frame rate(slightly jerky motion). 

Enjoy!

Hustle and Bustle Of The Market - A Day Trip To Pike Place Market

Seattle provides us with many great niche markets, neighborhoods, stores, parks, and restaurants; but sometimes a trip to our most well known attractions is well worth the visit.  Pike Place Market is an excellent example of a location hidden in plain sight.  We see and hear about it so much that we sometimes "forget" that it's there.  Recently we've made a goal of getting to know our city better, becoming tourists in our hometown.  The Market has become a favorite starting point for this. The market has all of our favorite fruits and veggies...

And our favorite donuts...

 Some awesome tchotchkes...

Giant candy bars.... (yes that's a pound of York Peppermint Patties!)

A magic shop...

 

And a brass pig!

And what visit would be complete without a trip to the notorious Gum Wall.

With more than a days worth of sights, sounds and smells, The Market has proven time and again to be a great day trip.   http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/

Free Museum Days - First Thursday Free Admission

A trip to the museum is always high our list of things to do.  Whether historic (MOHAI, Museum of Flight) or artistic (SAM, Wing Luke), our family has a great time.  And the best part is, that most of them are free on the first Thursday of the month.  Every month we choose one museum to go to (sometimes more if we start early enough) and make a day of it.  Discussing and observing art and history from two different perspectives (4 year old and 11 year old) is an amazing and satisfying experience. http://www.freemuseumday.org/sea.html