Portland, Oregon is a beautiful river city known for its aesthetics and culture. Its a great place to find outdoor adventure, a thriving arts & music scene, and access to all sorts of eco-friendly experiences. There is plenty of family fun to be had in the downtown area and the rest of the Willamette Valley. Trekaroo is proud to be launching Portland this week and looks forward to exploring the rest of the state of Oregon with all of you wonderful members of the Trekaroo community.
So, what have Trekaroo families shared thus far?
- 236 Activities listed in the Portland/Willamette Valley Region alone! Have you been to any of these kid-friendly places? If so, add your insight! Did you see something we missed? Be sure to share your experiences.
- Activities and hotel reviews across the 4 main regions of Oregon: Willamette Valley (Portland), Southern Oregon, Central Oregon, and Mt. Hood / The Gorge
- A list of Kid-friendly hotels in Portland waiting to be rated by parents like you
- Lots of fun lists like:
- Top Kid Activities in Portland as voted by Trekaroo families
- 5 Family Activities for $5 or less in Portland
- Cheap and Fun Eats in Portland!
- Things to see and do around Portland with Children
- Favorite kid-friendly restaurants in the Portland Metro Area
- Favorite Rainy Day Activities in Portland
- Family-Friendly Ski Resorts in Oregon with Kid Programs
- Favorite places to walk or hike in Oregon
Have you experienced Portland or any other part of the beautiful state of Oregon with your kids? Tell us all about your experiences – good and bad. Join now and start writing reviews. New members get to take advantage of Welcome Rewards. A gift card to Amazon, Starbucks, or REI was enough to convince me to join way back when!
What location is next? Georgia! Be part of the founding team to help launch Georgia on Trekaroo by sharing about activities you like and the best places to stay.
Special thanks to the 47 families who have collaborated to build a list of fantastic kid-friendly recommendations with their reviews! In particular, special thanks are due to PDXBloss, pitstopsforkids, bayareababyblog, Beaverton Mama, Living Beaverton, Camillegrimshaw, thriftyportlandmom, Leigh Anne, fani*fam, McPippi, and naturalist who have gone above and beyond to inside scoop and create such helpful lists for Portland and Oregon.
And of course, thanks to team Trekaroo who sacrifice so much to pull it all together.
Put on those rain boots and get out there!
Esther Lee (thelees3) – CEO
- – – – – – – – – – -
Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NY | OR | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
As you start booking your flights for your next family trip, you might consider booking with a more kid-friendly airline. Based on recent comments submitted by Trekaroo families, Southwest seems to be getting it right for families.
Most Popular Airline to Travel with Kids – Southwest Airlines
Parents were full of praise for Southwest Airlines’ family-friendliness. Here’s what parents loved about Southwest.
1) No baggage fees! – let’s face it. Families have lots of gear to tote around when traveling, and flying with an airline that does not charge extra for check-in luggage can save a family a chunk of change.
2) Priority boarding for families in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ seating groups – as more and more airlines do away with pre-boarding for families with young children, Southwest has a great comprise that helps ensure that families have a high chance of being seated together and have enough time to settle in before take off.
3) Reasonable prices – when you’re booking 4 or 5 tickets, every penny counts.
4) Helpful and humorous flight attendants – to parents, a helpful hand and relaxed atmosphere makes for a pleasant flying experience.
5) Special welcome for first time flyers – if it’s your child’s first flight, Southwest will celebrate the special occasion with a certificate and wings. Just let a flight attendant know.
See all comments left by families about their favorite and least favorite airlines
Least Popular Airline when Traveling with Kids – Delta/Northwest Airlines
Are you surprised that Delta/Northwest Airlines fell to the bottom? Parents were the most dissatisfied with the service they received on the Delta/Northwest airlines. A few were kind enough to say that it might have been a result of the uncertainties around the merger, but when you’re in the service business, managing transition is critical. The main criticism was that the staff really didn’t seem to “give a crap about kids at all.” Do you agree?
Rate airlines you’ve flown on with kids:
Related:
- Family-friendly Airlines: What’s most important when flying with kids
- Baby Travel – Intro to Flying with Baby
- Flying with Kids: Holiday Travel Survival Guide for Parents
- Top Travel Games and Activities for Kids
- Helping Kids Overcome Jet lag Quickly
- Packing Checklist for Traveling with Baby
————-
LiLing Pang (TravelPangs) is co-founder and contributing author on Trekaroo – - a reviews website dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Welcome to 
Some people hop on Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, sing a round or two of “Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me”, and hop off the boat and back to reality. Then their are kids like my son. For them, its as if they have taken a magical cruise into the land of swords and swashbucklers and suddenly have to live and breathe everything pirate from that moment on. Now, he spends a good portion of his time chasing his sister around dressed in a pirate costume while waving a foam sword. Pirates are officially “his thing”. So how do you satisfy a kid who has fallen in love with sword wheeling thieves? You take them on as many pirate themed adventures as you can, of course!
Lucky for me, and thousands of other moms across the country with pirate obsessed children, Trekaroo member CheerioFamily, has created a wonderful list of pirate adventures to be had all around the country. There are pirate museums, water parks, cruises, mini golf, and even dinner theater! In all, 19 different pirate themed attractions around the US have been compiled into one great list. If you love pirates or have a little member of your family who shares my son’s affection then be sure to check the list out here.
Do you have an outing that you would like to spotlight this week?
Perhaps its a post about a vacation you just took or a day trip that you think our readers should know about. Or maybe its a post about the vacation you are currently planning and going to book through Trekaroo! Link up something fresh from your blog using the Mr Linky below.
PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.
Step 1: Pick a recent post (past couple of days)
Step 2: Under “Name” write: “Title of your blog post (blog name)” – blog name in parenthesis
Under “url” paste: the link to your blog post (not your home page)
Step 3: Grab the Spotlight Thursday image and link to this post so your readers can see who else is playing along this week.
We want to be sure that everyone who participates in Spotlight Thursdays gets their moment in the spotlight so blogs that don’t link back will unfortunately have to be removed.
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
My husband grew up in Toronto and I’ve been amazed by the endless number of activities he comes up with to entertain our 3-year old toddler son and his 3, 5 and 8-year old nephews. Here are our favorites when visiting Toronto with kids under the age of 8.
Canada’s Largest Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum has 4 floors and 70+ galleries where kids can learn about natural history and world cultures. You can easily spend a full day here, but the stuff your kids care about is primarily located on Level 2. There you can find some Jurassic friends in the Age of Dinosaurs gallery, excavate a dino bone in the Interactive Discovery Gallery, and touch a skull in the Hands-On Biodiversity Gallery.
Got a toddler? Head over to Franklin’s World for games and activities that are perfect for busy toddlers.
For the Fearless
Towering 1815 ft in the air, the CN Tower is the first and only landmark my 3-year old son can recognize in Toronto. Although the view from anywhere is fairly impressive, the view from the inside is certainly memorable.
Don’t forget your camera because you’ll want a similar shot of the kids standing, jumping or sleeping on the Glass Floor Observation Deck as they watch the city buzz busily below.
Photo by Flickr user shadowarmy75.
Best Hands-on Fun
The Ontario Science Centre is an enormous institution filled with 9 large exhibition halls for kids to learn about different eco-systems, insects, physics, technology and more.
Kids under 8 will love the specially designed Kidspark zone where little hands and feet make music, build a house and more. Be sure to check their regularly schedules programs where OSC staff help to teach kids can learn about electricity and more.
Best Day Trip
Visiting Toronto Island Park is one of my favorite excursions with the kids. Where else do you get a ferry ride with an amazing view of the Toronto skyline, Centreville Amusement Park (30 rides that are perfect for the 8 and under crowd), beaches, and signs that say “Please walk on the grass.”
Kid-friendly? You bet.
Best Amusement Park
Located right on the shore of Lake Ontario, Ontario Place is guaranteed fun for the family. All the rides and attractions are geared for kids aged 2-10. My 3-year old son had such a blast with the bumper boats, driving his own car and riding the mini Ferris wheel. The flume and water park are great for those torrid summer days. My personal favorite, the Atom Blaster arena where you can shot foam balls at your loved ones.
Best Farm for Kids
The Riverdale Farm is smack-dab in the middle of the city with 7.5 acres of paths, gardens and barns for the kids to explore. Highlights are the butterfly-herb-flower-vegetable gardens and all of Old McDonald’s farm animals that your little ones love to sing about.
Best Annual Event for Families
If you’re here in March or early April, bring the kids to the Kortright Centre for Conservation for the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival. Activities include pony rides, a petting zoo, horse-drawn wagon rides, sap samplings and maple syrup demonstrations. On the weekends and during March break, check the schedule for special performances and events for the kids like animal shows and live music. Of course, there will be plenty of pancakes and maple syrup to sample.
Related articles on traveling to Toronto:
- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -
Esther Lee is co-founder and CEO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Voting has begun for the Dreamin’ Baby Photo Contest!
xx
xx
CAST YOUR VOTES HERE
xx
The winning photo will be determined by YOUR vote. You can vote once a day until August August 15, 2010
xx
xx
The winning baby will get to make dreams in his or her very own Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light. This travel crib weighs just 1/3 of a regular travel crib and sets up in just a flip. Trekaroo’s Carrie Yu took it for a spin was very impressed with this new product from Baby Bjorn.
Get the inside scoop on the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light:
Full review of the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib
Comparison Review of Lightweight Travel Cribs
Did you miss the chance to enter to win one for yourself? Don’t fret, you can purchase one today on Amazon.
Did you know Trekaroo has a Travel Gear Store? Find all the travel gear we love for traveling with kids.
We’ve all wrestled hopelessly with our heavy portable cribs through airports and hotel lobbies. We have also all gone through that half hour of bewilderment as we stare hopelessly at a travel crib trying to figure out why on earth it’s sides just won’t stay up.
Well, what if I told you that there’s now a travel crib on the market that weighs only 11lbs. (1/3 the weight of a Graco Pack and Play)? What if I told you that this travel crib sets up and takes down in just one flip? Well, there you have it! The Baby Bjorn Travel Crib does just that!
Pros:
- Lightweight (11 lbs with the case)
- Packs up small- easy to carry and to store
- Very sturdy
- Unbelievably easy to set up
- The mattress cover and fabric of the crib (that’s most of it!) are removable and machine washable.
Cons:
- Since the legs slant outward, you have to pay attention to where the bottom of the crib is when you’re walking by. This could be an issue in a small space, and is definitely something that you need to be aware of when it’s set up.
- Only useful for young kids, up to age 3 (possibly younger if you have a tall child)
- Fairly expensive, selling for ~$225-275, depending on the website/store
Full review of the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib
Comparison Review of Lightweight Travel Cribs
The Steal: Win a Baby Bjorn Travel Crib in the Dreamin’ Baby Photo Contest
We are really excited to give away a Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light to one lucky family with the cutest photo of your baby in dreamland.
Number of Winners: ONE (1) winner
Prize: A Baby Bjorn Travel Crib Light worth $275
How to enter:
1) Enter a photo of YOUR sleeping baby: Entry Form
2) Get your friends to vote for your little cutie pie
Winner will be chosen based on popular vote.
Rules and guidelines: see entry form for official rules
Deadline to enter: Sunday, August 8, 2010 at 11:59PM PST
What is Monday Madness?
Every Monday, Trekaroo announces on our blog, either a fantastic giveaway or an incredible deal. It could be a green water bottle, a hotel stay on Maui or theme park tickets. Return every Monday to the Talking Trekaroo Blog for the details. Want a reminder? Become a Trekaroo member or follow us on facebook or twitter.
Thanks to Contest for Moms, Online Sweepstakes, CashNet Sweepstakes, and Sweepstakes Advantage.
Disclosure: The Baby Bjorn Travel Light Crib was provided to Trekaroo by the manufacturer for review. No other compensation was received and Trekaroo was not required to express any particular point of view.
My family loves to bowl. My son’s only 3 and he’s already been working on his game. If you love to bowl, you’ll have to check out this great program called KidsBowlFree.com. Just like it sounds, this amazing program means that your kids can bowl up to 2 games a day for FREE all summer long! Nothing. Zippo. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Nothing!
This is our second year in the program and it’s great especially if you get your friends in on the fun too. You can register any child that you’re a parent/guardian of under the age of 18. The bowling centers win because they get traffic in the door during the day when the bowling league members are busy working their day jobs. This year, they even have a family pass that starts at $24.95 and allows 1, 2, 3, or 4 adults to play 2 free games daily this summer. What a steal.
So, go to KidsBowlFree.com and check out the 850+ participating bowling centers (keep in mind this list is constantly growing) and sign up. Let us know what you think too.
For more free fun in your neighborhood, check on Trekaroo for your city/region and set our cost filter on “free.” The Trekaroo system will magically pull out all the activities in your area that are easy on the pocketbook. Here are a few list of FREE activities in some major metro area. But you can do this for any destination or city on Trekaroo.
- Free Activities for Kids Around New York City
- Free Activities for Kids Around Washington DC
- Free Activities for Kids Around Boston, Massachusetts
- Free Activities for Kids Around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Free Activities for Kids Around Orlando, Florida
- Free Activities for Kids Around Charlotte, North Carolina
- Free Activities for Kids Around Chicago, Illinois
- Free Activities for Kids Around Los Angeles, CA
- Free Activities for Kids Around San Francisco Bay Area
What is Monday Madness?
Every Monday, Trekaroo announces on our blog, either a fantastic giveaway or an incredible deal. It could be a green water bottle, a hotel stay on Maui or theme park tickets. Return every Monday to the Talking Trekaroo Blog for the details. Want a reminder? Become a Trekaroo member or follow us on facebook or twitter.
Photo licensed under Creative Commons from Jess2284.
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
Esther Lee is co-founder and CEO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
A few weeks ago, we visited the California Academy of Sciences specifically to check out the new Extreme Mammal Exhibit. Our 7 year old is an “animal expert”, so a visit to the Academy of Sciences is always huge treat. When we first entered the Academy, we were greeted by the teaser section of the Extreme Mammal exhibit. It was really neat. In addition to a HUGE sculpture of the largest mammal, there is also a scale where people can compare their weight to that of other mammals. That part was fun. The kids delighted in the hands-on aspect of this portion of the exhibit.
Pangolin at Extreme Mammal Exhibit Photo Credit: AMNH/D. Finnin
Once through the ticket queue, you enter another queue with informational posters. After a moment, the doors to the exhibit were opened for us by a young man. He explained we were entering a temperature controlled environment and to not take any pictures. He also said to make sure we did not touch any of the exhibits unless a sign specifically said so. No worries – there is plenty here to see and touch.
Kinkajou Skeleton at Extreme Mammal Exhibit - Photo by: Woolly Monkey Fossil in the Extreme Mammal Exhibit - Photo credit: AMNH/R. Mickens
While the exhibits were arranged in an old-school museum style, the flow of the rooms was great. One topic naturally lead to another. The information in each section was short and informative. While my kids rushed through somewhat, there was enough to interest them and get them talking. My son, Josh, was particularly moved by the section on endangered species and has been studying the causes of extinction since we came home.
Giant Ground Sloth at Extreme Mammal Exhibit - Photo credit: AMNH/D. Finnin
My only complaint with the exhibit – and it’s a minor one – is that, even though it was a new exhibit, it already had a worn appearance. Some signage was damaged, ripped, or falling apart, and some interactive materials weren’t working properly. The condition of the exhibit made me feel as if the exhibit was being neglected. It did not impact my ability to learn and enjoy the exhibit, just my ability to view the exhibit in a completely positive light.
Ellesmere Island Diorama at the Extreme Mammal Exhibit - Photo credit: AMNH/D. Finnin
All in all, my 7 year old son who’s a huge animal fan was very moved by the extreme mammal exhibit. My 5 year old daughter was just slight of bored during our 45 minute tour of exhibit. Definitely visit with your kids 6 and up who can read and digest all the wonderful information, However, you might want to skip over this special exhibit and head straight for the wonderful aquarium with younger kids.
Related:
- Reviews of the California Academy of Sciences
- Activities for Kids in San Francisco
- Kid-friendly Hotels in San Francisco
Disclosure: This review is based on a complimentary visit to Academy of Sciences. I received no other compensation and the business owner did not state any requirements that I express a particular point of view.
————
Heather Tanner is a 2010 Trekaroo Superoo who visited the California Academy of Sciences on assignment to check out the Extreme Mammal Exhibit.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
