Seattle may not be the first destination that springs to mind when thinking of a family friendly city. After all what is Seattle best known for: coffee, rain, grunge… In reality, however, Seattle is a great destination for families – it has fantastic museums, a great wharf, boat rides, a trolley and who can forget the amazing Space Needle. It also has some pretty great cuisine.
We decided to brave Seattle at Christmas time during a particularly rainy season (Hello El Nino!) We rented a car because we felt it would be difficult to explore the city on foot if we got a lot of rain – I could hear the kids’ complaints already. However, but for the rain, you probably don’t need a car at all unless you are planning a trip outside of the city – which we actually ended up doing – more below.
Accomodations
The Residence Inn Seattle (Downtown/Lake Union)
There were a few reasons I decided to stay at the Residence Inn. It was decently priced during the holidays, the rooms were all suites and who can pass up a free breakfast buffet. You literally get the kids dressed (ideally), go down the elevator and breakfast is served. Or mom or dad go downstairs and bring up some plates for the kids to enjoy while watching cartoons. The buffet includes breakfast basics: cereal, fruit, yogurt, waffles and eggs. If you consider how much you would pay for breakfast for a family of 4 and the complaints you would hear waiting for your order, staying at the Residence Inn can be very economical and convenient.
The rooms at the hotel were nice. We had a separate bedroom and living room so we could all spread out. The kitchen included a refrigerator, electric stove, microwave, plates and utensils. The hotel will even grocery shop for you if requested.
This particular Residence Inn also had an unexpected bonus – an indoor pool (kids swam when it was 50 degrees outside!) and an entertainment room for the kids with puzzles and games. Extremely kid friendly. We even received a goodie bag with crayons, stickers and a small coloring book at check-in.
Though for the most part we traveled by car, there is a bus stop directly in from the hotel and we rode it to visit Seattle Center. The buses in Seattle are modern and clean and this particular bus went directly into the middle of the City. We took the bus to the end of the line and then got on the Monorail about a block away (my son was in heaven) which leads straight into Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center and many other museums.
AMAZING KIDVENTURES!!
The Space Needle
The Space Needle is an absolute must. It is iconic and it is also pretty amazing. Your visit will require some planning because in order to visit the Space Needle, a timed reservation is required. In order to reserve a time, you can wait to buy tickets at Seattle Center but a warning that the line can be long and you will not know the available times until you get there. My suggestion is to take advantage of booking a date and time online in advance (Groupon sometimes has coupons.) The downside is less flexibility but not having to wait half an hour or more was worth it. Also, even though you have a ticket and an assigned time there is also a short wait to actually get into the elevator to ride up to Needle so make sure you factor that in (snacks, potty breaks, etc.) 
Needless to say, our kids loved the Space Needle. It had an amazing view of the bay and city – plus the day was super windy so the kids liked being blown around the deck (I was freezing! so pack a sweater.) The inside is pretty spacious and has some interactive displays and pictures for the kids to play with. There is a small cafe with snacks, coffee and even wine. You can also bring your own snacks (whenever we travel we carry a stash of granolas, fruit and crackers etc. in our backpack.) It was nice sitting up there and relaxing. Mom and dad even enjoyed some wine. Overall, we visited for about an hour.
Pacific Science Center
We chose to visit the Space Needle and the Pacific Science Center on the same day because we got a reservation for the Needle relatively early in the morning. The Pacific Science Center is one of many museums in the Seattle Center. What an amazing place! This is a do not miss if you have kids of any age. The museum has so much to see – a butterfly room, a dinosaur display with animatronic dinosaurs, a tidepool, a science playground, exhibits for sound exploration, exhibits for body exploration and even a planetarium. And this is covers probably only half of the museum. We’ve been to quite a few science museums and this one just blew them all out of the water. Every time we moved to a different display, we had to drag our kids away!
My daughter’s favorite was the butterfly room. There are dozens and dozens of butterflies flying around you and they are beautiful. The kids even get laminated pictures so they can identify the different butterflies. When you leave you even get inspected to confirm that a butterfly isn’t secretly stowing away on you – my kids loved the thought of this! Lol!
My son loved the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs move and roar and for a 5 year old this is both fascinating and a little scary (in a good way.) Both kids also loved the tidepool where you can touch starfish and sea cucumbers.
We did watch the planetarium show however it was too technical for our kids. There was a lot of discussion regarding astronomy and the kids became restless about 5 minutes into the show.
If there is a downside to the Pacific Science Center it would be the cafeteria. I would recommend planning to eat outside in the park’s food court. It probably doesn’t make sense for the museum to upkeep a fancy cafeteria when there are plenty of choices in the park itself. Please note that you can re-enter the museum with your paid ticket.
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is truly an eclectic place. Part farmer’s market, part shopping mall and part restaurant row, you can spend half a day exploring the stands and shops alone. The kids loved the open air market and especially the displays of fresh fish, oysters and crabs. There are stands of all kinds selling fruit, jewelry, clothing and artisanal goods -its a great place to shop for trinkets and souvenirs. 
There are also various shops down in the lower levels of the market place – including toy and book shops for the kids. If you are looking for food – there are freshly made donuts, sandwiches and of course seafood – hello clam chowder!
AMAZING KIDVENTURE!!
If you do anything at all, you have to make sure to hang around Pike Place long enough to see the fishmongers tossing fish back and forth at the different fish stands. I know it sounds strange, but for some reason the fish being tossed over the crowd fascinated the kids.
Just across the street from the actual market place you will also find the first Starbucks (for some reason with a very long line) and a variety of restaurants, cafes and bakeries serving cuisines from around the world – French, Russian, Italian, Bavarian etc. The family can also stop in front of Beechers where you can watch the employees make fresh cheese.
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
About an hour outside Seattle is the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. With Mount Rainier as a backdrop, you can see bison, moose, elk and deer as they roam out in the open, hike and picnic in the beautiful woodsy park or visit one of the many animal exhibits. If your kids love to explore the outdoors then this is the place for them.
The biggest attraction at the park is the tram ride that takes you within a feet of the roaming animals. The ride itself is about an hour long and is narrated by a tour guide who is happy to answer questions from your kids. The tram is included with the admission price and you are assigned a departure time.
The animal exhibits are also must-sees. The kids loved the “dancing” river otter as he swam up and down and side to side in front of them! You can also see bears, skunks, coyotes, owls, wolves, and cougars to name just a few of the animals. There are also interactive programs where kids get to see the animals up close. We were able to see a possum and talk about his survival skills and daily life. Unfortunately due to the weather we were not able to enjoy the kid trek area which has bridges, streams and forts for the kids to climb.
There are picnic tables throughout the meadow and in a sheltered picnic pavillion. Outside food is permitted. There is also a cafe at the park’s entrance that serves burgers, sandwiches and salads. Because we wanted to take advantage of the outdoors, we brought our own picnic lunch.
WHERE TO EAT
Blueacre Seafood
As a grown adult sometimes I pray to find a good kid-friendly restaurant without neon lights, blaring music or laminated numbers to place on your table so the waiters know where to deliver your sandwich with fries. Blueacre is a gorgeous restaurant that serves delicious plates and is absolutely kid friendly. As soon as we walked in we noticed several families enjoying dinner. The kids received crayons and a picture to color. There was a nice kids menu. Most importantly the waiters were nice to our kids. We also enjoyed a great meal. The clam chowder is a must – even my two year old loved it!
The Crab Pot
If you are looking for a fun and messy experience, and some pretty good seafood as well, the Crab Pot is a great place for the entire family. How can kids not love a restaurant where they are handed a mini-mallet to literally pound the meat out of crabs, clams and shrimp. (they pretty much used the mallets on anything they could get their hands on.) 
The adults order one of 4 seafeasts which include anything from clams, mussels and shrimp to amazing alaska, king and snow crabs. The “feast” is steamed and literally spread on your table for eating. Add butter, add some lemon and enjoy with a cold beer. A great place for dinner. Beware though because the restaurant is extremely popular. We went on a super rainy night and still waited 30 minutes. We did discover a carousel at the end of the hallway which helped distract the kids.
http://www.thecrabpotseattle.com
Tutta Bella
Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizza has 5 different locations around Seattle. If you are looking for great pizza at an easy kid friendly restaurant this is a great place to stop at.
