Eastside and beyond - family fun? (Seattle, Vancouver: rentals, houses, movies)

[haggardhouseelf]

We're a family with two children (ages 8 and 12). We've lived here almost a year, and we need some ideas for fun family things to do. Would anyone like to share some good ideas or experiences they've had here? I could really use some fresh ideas!

We've done the prerequisite touristy things in the Seattle area. Honestly, we didn't care for Seattle much. It was crowded, lots of traffic, we seem to spend a lot of money every time we go there. We've also explored the Olympic Peninsula and most of the coast. That was OK, but I think we are spoiled coming from Oregon as it just wasn't the same. We've camped in the northern cascades and the north eastern part of the state. That was pretty cool. We've explored the Snoqualmie Pass area which was beautiful, but we spent most of the time in the car as we didn't really know what to look for or what to do. We've taken our picture standing in front of the Roslyn Cafe sign (we used to love that show Northern Exposure... until the last two or three seasons when it wasn't as good anymore...)... We've done things here and there...

We're just not feeling it yet. I want to experience something magic, something that will make us go WOW!!!! We just haven't had that yet here. We used to experience that just about anytime we went somewhere when we lived in Oregon. We're actually having a bit of a hard time here, we are homesick for where we moved from. It is very expensive to live here. The weather has been depressing. The traffic is bad, the driver's not very pleasant. But I am, lately, really wanting to give this place a chance. I would love some recommendations for family adventures. I would love to find maybe just a couple of wonderful spots that our family could go to on the weekends to get away from it all and relax.

We don't like crowds. We don't want to spend an arm and a leg. We LOVE yurt camping. We prefer outdoorsy adventures - though we do not like to be to close to rivers. Lakes and the coast are fine. We love animals, wilderness, natural wonders, trees. Crater Lake in Oregon, and Lake Waldo in Oregon, as well as the Oregon Coast (all of it!) are our favorite places as a family. Those were our get away from it all places when we lived there. I'd love to find something similar out here... Summer is about 5 months away so it's time to start reserving those yurts and cabins!

Any ideas?

Also - to get us through until Summer finally gets here - I'd really appreciate some ideas for places to go in the Redmond/Eastside area for fun... kid fun... like go-karts, movies, theme parks, science factories, etc. Anything indoors would be great as the weather is so iffy... right now it just seems like all we do when we leave the house is shop or eat. That needs to change! Can anyone help with some fresh ideas?

Thanks!

[vegas_storms]

Hi Haggard,
Sounds like you and your family might enjoy geocaching(Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site). Basically it's like hide and seak with a GPS unit, people hide caches all over the place(1000's in your area) and is a great way to get outside and do something most kids love(treasure hunt). All you need is a GPS unit($100 - $250) and your off exploring the city or the wilderness. On the home page of geocaching insurt your zipcode and then on the next page where it list the caches click on google map(upper left) to see there locations in your area.

The best thing about it is it gives a destination everytime you want to go out and just explore, instead of just looking for new places. We love to get out and explore but at times it's hard finding new places to go, so with geocaching we just pick a direction we want to explore load the caches in that area and off wew go. Look through the site above and if you have any questions let me know I'll be happy to help you.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

We don't like crowds. We don't want to spend an arm and a leg. We LOVE yurt camping. We prefer outdoorsy adventures - though we do not like to be to close to rivers. Lakes and the coast are fine. We love animals, wilderness, natural wonders, trees. Crater Lake in Oregon, and Lake Waldo in Oregon, as well as the Oregon Coast (all of it!) are our favorite places as a family. Those were our get away from it all places when we lived there. I'd love to find something similar out here... Summer is about 5 months away so it's time to start reserving those yurts and cabins!

The people that I know here that do these things, go to the places you mentioned to do them. But there's always Ocean Shores.

[NWChris]

Have you gone to the San Juan islands? For my money, there is no bigger WOW factor than standing on Lime Kiln point watching a pod of orcas playing in the water just yards away. And there's a beautiful lavendar farm on the island and some great state parks...It's less rainy over there too and there's some fun beaches for the kids to play on.

We've also found a ton of easy hikes to do on the east side and in the cascades with our kids - we have a "best hikes with kids - WA" type book that we use.

[FoxyKnox]

The San Juans are a great idea, Chris! Lopez island is flat and great for riding bikes. Orcas Island has Moran State Park. Moran State Park (page 1 of 2) The park features hiking trails, 2 lakes for swimming, kayaking, etc. Camping is popular. Also through the park is Mt. Constitution with gorgeous views of various islands and Bellingham Bay. Lime Kiln Pt. is located on San Juan Island. You can go year-round and have a lot of fun. Spring and fall are some of my favorite times there...you may not want to camp out though.
Have you made it to Snoqualmie Falls? In the snoqualmie area, I would recommend going to Lake Kachess. (exit 62 from I-90) You'll need a sno-park permit ($3/day at GI Joes I think). Lake Kachess is a great place to go snowshoeing and XC skiing. Snowmobilers also use the area. Kachess is a fabulous place to camp in the summer as well.
I know there's a fun center type place in Issaquah, I can't remember the name, but their laser tag is really fun! (It's a little like Chuck E. Cheese for bigger kids.) This website may give you some ideas... Issaquah Family Entertainment

[FoxyKnox]

Now I remember...It's called Illusionz. Illusionz Magical Entertainment Center Issaquah | Yelp This site says "closed" but I have no idea, you could try calling the number to see if it really is.
Don't forget about ice and roller skating. Always fun, no matter what age!

[woodinvilleguy]

Have you gone for a bike ride on burke-gilman?

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by vegas_storms

Hi Haggard,
Sounds like you and your family might enjoy geocaching(Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site).

Thank you! I will check into that - I have never even heard of geocaching before. Sounds really fun!

We do spend time on the islands - San Juans as well as Vancouver Island. It is nice there... We must be going at the wrong times, though, because we haven't yet seen any whales. We usually try to go on the better weather days and went quite a lot last Summer, so maybe we just keep missing them. We always see a lot of deer, which is always fun. I do like the islands... they have a very relaxed, down-to-earth feel about them. I have a fear of water, so I'm always a nervous wreck on the ferry going over and back, but it's worth it once you get to where you're going...

Are there any yurts or cabin rentals on the islands?

Thank you all for the great suggestions. I'm going to go read more about them!!

[FoxyKnox]

Hmm, I don't think I've seen any yurts, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. To be honest, I spend most my time on Orcas Island where we go camping more than anything. You could check VRBO. Here: Orcas Island Business Directory or here: Orcas Island, Washington: Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce: Lodging (http://www.orcasislandchamber.com/stay.php - broken link) or here: Orcas Island Cabins, Cottages and Guest Houses I recommend West Beach Resort. It's a beautiful, fun, active place. These are Orcas sites, but each island will probably have similar. I also highly recommend camping at Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island and going for bike rides around the area. Spencer Spit State Park (page 1 of 2)

[haggardhouseelf]

Thank you for those links!