Tacoma Kids

Garfield Book Company at Pacific Lutheran University has story times every Saturday at 11 a.m. If you have not ever been to this bookstore, it has a small but complete children’s section with a small slide/play structure in the middle and a neat store attached that sells cool goods from all over the world.

The following titles will be featured at upcoming Story times: (more…)

Here’s a great day trip: the Sequim Lavender Festival July 18-20th.

There’s a street fair in downtown Sequim, but the real draw here are the farm tours, which consist of walking through the lavender fields cutting your own lavender bouquets. Reilly had a ball doing this last year. Many of the farms feature their own mini-fairs, with food booths, music, and all kinds of lavender products. (more…)

Well, it looked like many of the rest of you kid-totin’ gritty Tacomans were already there, but if you missed it, the new 6th Ave Farmer’s Market started yesterday on Pine Street off of 6th Ave, and it’s a good one!

We weren’t sure what to expect, with two already thriving Farmers markets going in/near the North End (Proctor and Downtown), but this little 2 block extravaganza is my new favorite. OK, it’s closest to home, so I’m a little biased, but it did not hurt that we could have a beer at Engine House #9 (one of our old favorites) and fill Reilly up on mini corn dogs and fries before heading home, either.

There were LOTS of great plant/nursery vendors, several flower stands, berry, produce and cheese stands, AND a really rockin’ girls (like 12 year-old) band! I did not catch the band’s name, because I was too busy shopping and chasing Reilly — but I wish I had because they were GREAT. (If anyone knows who these girls were, please post a comment. I’d like to find out more about any gigs and give them a little formal recognition. They were cool.)

The market is Tuesday afternoons (3:30 to 7:30) July 15 to September 30. The space is tight and it was a little hard to navigate with a big stroller (we had our jumbo jogger), so travel light if possible. See you there!

I found a neat blog recently: Tacoma Green Families. It’s run by Melissa, who runs Kindermusik classes at the Minuet Studio, and it’s worth checking out.

I signed up for the mailing list and just got an e-vite to an event they are hosting at Jefferson Park next week to make your own home cleaner. Bring a bottle for some home cleaner and bring any other natural home cleaning ideas and recipes you have to share. It’s Thursday, June 26 4:30 at Jefferson Park, 3920 N 9th, Tacoma WA 98406.

The organizers suggested bringing suits for the kids to play at the Sprayground, and bringing a picnic dinner and having working parents join later. We are planning to attend and look forward to meeting other members of this group!

As part of their “Dinner Under the Stars” fundraising event, the Tacoma Children’s museum will host a “play lane tour” this Saturday, June 21, from 2:00 – 4:00pm, FREE, at Pierce Transit Park, across from the Children’s Museum of Tacoma at 936 Broadway.

This event includes tours of the whimsical playhouse and structures, a hands-on make-and-take activity and refreshments. Come check out the Fire House, Dog House, Fort with slide and more!

A contractor at the museum who has attended the dinner event in the past tells me that the playhouses are spectacular. Kids will be able to play in them during the tour, but they need to be supervised: the houses will be auctioned that night so they need to limit wear and tear.

Reservations are requested: www.ChildrensMuseumofTacoma.org

Playhouses will be auctioned off that night at the Playing Under the Stars event. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.childrensmuseumoftacoma.org or by phone at 253.627.6031 ext. 223.

There is a wide offering of camps this summer — though most of these seem to start at age 5 or 6 there are a few for toddlers. Check out the metro parks website - “Summer Camps” tab - for an array that ranges from sports and art camps to Harry Potter and Mad Science.

Here’s the link:  Metro Parks Tacoma

This sounds like it’s going to be neat! Here’s their blurb:

Tacoma-Pierce County’s Livable Communities Fair
Saturday May 17, 2008
9:00am - 4:00pm
Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall
It’s Free, Fun and Informative
The fair is a county-wide effort aimed at raising awareness about projects and programs that make communities more livable.

Like a garden or home show, the fair provides interactive displays on a wide range of topics including energy conservation, carpooling, recycling, neighborhood emergency preparedness, affordable housing, water quality, public safety, clean environment, agriculture, recreation, health, education, community involvement, children’s activities, and much more.
For more information: www.livablepiercecounty.org or 253-798-7477

Here’s the schedule of events, and check out the long list of exhibitors. See you there!

Every time I come across these puppets, I am smitten. Each one is like a little work of art. They run the gamut from realistic wildlife to amazing and fanciful dragons and dinosaurs.

I love how Reilly interacts with puppets, too. It brings a whole new level of imagination into his play. He has a dragon puppet named “Glide” he brings to us when he wants to talk to it. He hands it over and says, “Here Mom, I want to talk to Glide.” Then he talks to the dragon as if I was not even there, not the one answering his questions … a beautiful state of suspended disbelief, I think. (more…)

We just saw this movie on cable and LOVED it. (Yes, it came out ages ago! We’re assuming other parents are as behind the times on these things as we are.) Reilly did not sit still for the whole thing (he’d seen it before at daycare), but Mike and I were entranced. We made Reilly bring his legos into the living room so we could watch it all the way through. (more…)

Come one , come all….

http://i.feedtacoma.com/Erik/rain-free-frost-park-friday/