Mix it up this season with urban trails instead of your usual walk around the neighborhood. (Call it urban hiking.) Take routes that explore Seattle’s popular landmarks and hidden treasures, including cobblestone walks in Pioneer Square and skyline views. Bundle up the kids, grab your masks and hand sanitizer and walk the town in a whole new way.

Elliott Bay Trail: Water views and sunset strolls

Distance: 2 miles

What to know: Jogger stroller-friendly, many walkers and runners, bike-heavy

Difficulty: Easy

Start your urban-hiking walk at the Seattle Aquarium. Head north on Alaskan Way to Pier 66, where kids can run along the path, looking out over Elliott Bay.

Continue north to the Olympic Sculpture Park and check out large pieces of outdoor art. Take a quick selfie with the Space Needle and head into Myrtle Edwards Park, then Centennial Park. Skip rocks at the beach and count cargo ships coming and going in one of the city’s most scenic places, with the occasional amazing sunset over the Olympic Mountains.

Pike Place Market: Architecture and history

Distance: 1.2 miles

What to know: Jogger stroller-friendly, busy streets

Difficulty: Moderate

Start your urban hiking at Victor Steinbrueck Park at the north end of Pike Place Market; be sure to measure your height against the 50-foot cedar totem poles carved by local artist James Bender. Walk through the market; browse the food, flowers and art. Stop at the bronze market pig, Rachel, to rub her nose and snap a picture.

Make your way out of the market and turn onto Post Alley to see the Gum Wall; chew a piece of bubble gum and stick it to the wall!

Head back up Post Alley and walk south on First Avenue for two blocks. Pause at the colossal mechanical sculpture Hammering Man outside the Seattle Art Museum.

Near the UW: Urban birdwatchers and nature seekers

Distance: 1.5 miles

What to know: Stroller-friendly; stay on trail

Difficulty: Easy

Park at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture (3501 NE 41st St.). Head into the Union Bay Natural Area, filled with native plants, shrubs and trees. A great space for birdwatching, the natural area is one of the city’s largest wetlands. From the Wahkiakum Lane trail, choose between the Yesler Swamp Loop or Loop Trail.

The Yesler Swamp Loop, east of the Douglas Research Conservatory, is a boardwalk, making for a perfect walk (or run) for little legs.

The Loop Trail, a little over a mile, hosts two pond habitats. Look closely for turtles and frogs. Listen for birds and try to spot one of the more than 150 species that live in this area. On a clear day, you’ll see the 520 floating bridge and Mount Rainier.

Originally published in November 2020

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The post Family-friendly urban hikes in Seattle appeared first on Seattle's Child.

They also make interesting gifts. And some kids love a good cup, too, especially if you make it a tea party.

Here are a few great local spots where you can buy a wide variety of leaves for your next cuppa, either in person or online.

Vital T Leaf: Known for organic Chinese loose-leaf teas and accessories, including House Special Pu-erh. 651 S. Jackson St., vtlseattle.com

Market Spice: Its Pike Place Market roots go back to 1911. Its signature blend: Cinnamon Orange Tea. 85A Pike Place, marketspice.com

Seattle Best Tea: Specializes in Taiwanese loose-leaf teas, including many oolongs. 506 S. King St., seattlebesttea.com

Queen Mary Tea Emporium: North of the UW in Ravenna, hailed for classic British-style black teas. 2809 NE 55th St., queenmarytea.com

Steepologie: Its TeasMe Box, a monthly sampler of four teas, helps you choose favorites. Fremont, Issaquah, Alderwood Mall and Southcenter. steepologie.com

This story was first published in November 2020.

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Our Little Kitchen
By Jillian Tamaki
Family is often who you surround yourself with. During a year in which not everyone will be able to see their families for the holiday season, this delightful story of neighbors coming together to cook a meal for their community is a reminder of how rewarding it can be to give back to those around you.

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga
By Traci Sorell; illustrated by Frané Lessac
This glimpse into the Cherokee tradition of year-round gratefulness offers a gentle reminder that there are things to be thankful for — big and small — all year long. Books like this one are an important anchor for whose existence we should repeatedly say otsaliheliga, meaning “we are grateful.”

Freedom, We Sing
By Amyra León; illustrated by Molly Mendoza
This book gives readers a chance to breathe, something they may have forgotten to do this year. With interwoven pages of “Inhale, Exhale” throughout this joyous song about what freedom means, it’s the perfect book of reflection in such a busy time of year.

Thank You, Omu!
By Oge Mora
Omu gives until she has no stew left to eat. But instead of going hungry for the night, a knock at the door reveals every neighbor who ate Omu’s stew, ready to give back to her. It’s an important reminder of community and how special it is not only to give, but to receive. (Also, newly available in Spanish.)

This story on children’s books was first published in November 2020.

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In her debut cookbook, I Heart Soul Food, just released by Sasquatch Books, Rosie Mayes shares the recipes from her childhood that bring her comfort. The cookbook is an homage to her Southern roots, filled with food passed down by her grandmother, aunts and mother from Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge. Each recipe reflects the care her family members poured into their well-loved dishes.

“I’m showing everybody how to make food like their mom and grandma used to make,” she says. These dishes have memories attached to them. Through these recipes, we can re-create memories and pass them down to our kids.”

Soul food was influential throughout childhood for Rosie, who hails from a large family. In I Heart Soul Food, she describes how every family gathering was a big event. The table was always filled with the staples of a delicious home-cooked Southern meal, from tender beef brisket to hearty gumbo, savory collard greens and sweetened candied yams.

While crowd-pleasers like smothered chicken and Southern-style mac and cheese make the book appealing for any soul food lover, it’s creative recipes like pineapple upside-down cheesecake that set I Heart Soul Food apart from other Southern food cookbooks.

Additionally, recipes for dishes like salmon croquettes and smoked salmon give a nod to the Pacific Northwest, where Rosie grew up.

Rosie believes soul food is a lost art. While she’s lucky to have inherited these Southern culinary traditions, many of her friends are not as adept in the kitchen.

That’s why, since 2009, she’s been sharing this well-honed skill through her YouTube channel I Heart Recipes with Rosie Mayes and website iheartrecipes.com.

“I started off sharing recipes that were really hard to find online,” Rosie explains. “I’ll add my own spin to a traditional recipe and make them more modern by changing up a few ingredients.”

It’s not just with her followers, or “online cousins,” as Rosie affectionately calls them, that she shares her recipes. Rosie also passes down these dishes to her 13-year-old son. Even at such a young age, he’s already a master at grilling meats and making hearty meals in the slow cooker.

For parents who are new to cooking with their kids, Rosie advises them to have patience.

“Start with something really simple that can build their confidence,” Rosie suggests, “and they’ll feel more comfortable doing other things.”

With Rosie’s easy-to-follow directions and illustrative photos, I Heart Soul Food is a guidebook of sorts to help families connect through food.

And like Rosie’s family, parents and children can use the power of food to create lasting memories.

Originally published November 2020

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The post Sharing the joy of food with Rosie Mayes appeared first on Seattle's Child.

With options for safe activities outside of their house in Maple Leaf extremely limited – both for them and their three children, Nate, 13, Kienan, 11, and Talia, 8 – they decided to set up the 103-pound butterfly sail so that it covers a portion of the patio on the side of their house, giving the very outdoorsy family an outdoor space protected from rain and glaring sun where they could safely socialize or do their work or read at the long table set underneath.

The Ellises are hoping to keep the patio space warm in winter, too.
Photo by Joshua Huston

Now, with the pandemic still very much a reality as the season shifts once again, the Ellises want to make this outdoor space work for winter weather as well. They have two Adirondack chairs, a small table, a heating lamp and a fire pit in the alcove area next to the long table, and they’re looking to cover it with a triangle sail that connects to the butterfly sail so that the whole large outdoor space is comfortable in the rain – or even possibly snow.

“We just didn’t want, especially our boys, who are both ADHD, to be spending their entire day inside the house,” she says.

“We thought it was really important for there to be some portion of the day where the kids are actually out in nature.”

Her family is not alone. As the leaves change color and fall and the temperature drops, transforming backyards into safe and comfortable outdoor spaces to gather during the winter months of the pandemic has become a priority for many families.

Erin Vey and her family live in Bothell and are very thankful for a covering they added several months ago in their backyard. It extends from the side of their house and is equipped with skylights, patio heaters, lanterns and even a chandelier.

They had started the construction on the addition in December, and planned to add a gas fireplace and television next spring.

But with the cold weather coming and a pandemic still making traditional socializing a challenge, they decided to speed up that timeline, and now expect to have it all installed, potentially within the next month.

Vey said she and her husband have been using the outdoor space a lot to have a few friends over while maintaining social distancing.

For their two children, ages 7 and 10, it’s meant they have a place where they can play with their neighborhood friends.

“For the kids, it’s just been really important for their mental health to keep up with the neighborhood kids, to see them, play with them,” she says.

“Because we haven’t opened up the inside of our house yet, if it’s raining, they still have a place to go.”

This story was published in the November/December 2020 print issue.

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Tamales and tradition

In Mexico, tamales are served on special occasions and all during the Christmas season. But we say, why limit yourself? Frelard Tamales is open year-round. The meat flavors include salsa verde chicken and salsa roja pork, with four vegetarian choices and three vegan options, including tasty caramelized pineapple. Delivery and takeout only. All gluten-free. 6412 Latona Avenue NE, Seattle. frelardtamales.com

Sasquatch spotting

Clover Toys in Ballard provides a welcome break from screens – and a chance to play with toys made of wood and fabric, like this fluffy Bigfoot made by Aurora. The independently owned local business has a stockpile of unique toys, including well-crafted finger puppets, which, coincidentally, come in handy for tech – namely video calls with the little ones. 5333 Ballard Ave. NW, Seattle; shopclovertoys.com 

Chocolate for a cause

Sales of Theo Chocolate’s organic All in WA 70% dark chocolate bars help workers and families who are most affected by COVID-19. Theo reports that 100% of net proceeds will go to the charity coalition All in Washington, making sure Washingtonians get the emergency resources they need during the pandemic. Bars available at theochocolate.com

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Reservations for in-person Santa photo visits are strongly encouraged, and social distancing will be enforced. The jolly old elf and his staff will have daily health screenings and temperature checks. At University Village, visitors will also be screened and scanned upon arrival.

Kirkland Urban has will also have socially distanced Santa visits and photos, by appointment only, on Saturdays from Nov. 28 to Dec. 19. The shopping center also has a mailbox for letters to Santa. Through Dec. 20, letters that are dropped off (and display a return address) will receive a letter back! The mailbox is located in front of 400 Urban Plaza.

Contactless Santa photos are also available by appointment at the Snowflake Lane Factory in Bellevue Square’s Center Court. (Masks required for everyone, including Santa, who will be behind his oversize desk until Dec. 24.)

Nordstrom won’t host Santa photos in 2020, but its stores will connect kids to the North Pole for 15-minute virtual chats (RSVPs have already begun), and collect emails and handwritten letters to Santa.

Southcenter is also offering online visits and photos with Santa, for people and for pets.

Virtual Santa: A Seattle couple has launched meetingsanta.com so that families can have virtual meet-and-greets with Santa via Zoom: “Just what your family needs to get into the holiday spirit this year!” they say. A variety of package options are available.

Southcenter: whereissanta.com; University Village: santaphotos.com; Nordstrom: nordstromrsvp.com

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Personally, this year has brought caring for sick parents while supporting my young children in remote learning. Like a lot of my peers, I’m part of the sandwich generation, pandemic style. I’ve adjusted to remote work. Navigated a breast cancer scare. Been convicted of my own role and complicity in a racist system.

When I think through the gifts of these months – an unexpected amount of time with my kids, unscheduled talks with neighbors from one driveway to another, and the time I’ve spent writing instead of commuting – I’m grateful. I’m also grateful I’m able to support my kids in remote learning during the school day when many families don’t have that luxury.

Heading into the winter holidays, families come from traditions that offer their own celebrations: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Las Posadas and the Dongzhi Festival, to name a few. One practice my family especially looks forward to during the holidays – and tries to practice during the rest of the year – is Sabbath and Shabbat dinner.

A little history

Sabbaths are common in the Jewish and Christian faith traditions. A day set aside for rest is based on the creation account that God rested on the seventh day, and the Fourth Commandment in Hebrew scriptures: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

My dad is Jewish, and as a kid his family attended a Reform synagogue. Dad was bar mitzvahed and observed the High Holy Days. But the most regular part of his family’s rhythm began each Friday night at sundown, when my grandmother Roslyn prepared a Shabbat meal. When I was a kid, hearing Dad remember what was served at Shabbat always sounded unsavory: pickled gefilte fish, tough brisket, or cow’s tongue. A formal dining room and a stiff button-up shirt and slacks.

It wasn’t until I was much older and had my own kids that I began observing the Sabbath and serving Shabbat dinner. The regular weekly rhythm it offers has especially been a balm to my husband, kids and me during the uncertainty of the pandemic.

The basics

While the Jewish tradition begins the day of rest at dusk on Friday evening – starting with the Shabbat meal and ending at dusk on Saturday – some families choose a weekend day with the least amount of activities planned. Families with a parent or caregiver who works on the weekend could pick another rhythm, or try a half-day of rest.

We’re far from perfect in our practice. Our weekly rhythm is easily thrown off by a vacation, illness or lack of planning. But every time we pull it off, family members tend to emerge more rested and present, with each other and ourselves.

Traditional Jewish Shabbat meals include challah bread, potato kugel, gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, and sometimes in winter cholent, a slow-cooked stew. As card-carrying Presbyterians, we bend the rules and add a Pacific Northwest flair: gefilte fish is swapped for salmon. Challah is traded for my husband’s very good homemade sourdough loaves. The dinner is simple, easy to prepare, and quick to clean up.

We light candles and begin the meal, reading Gospel and Hebrew scripture passages that correlate with each portion of the meal. Wine is poured for adults, grape juice for the kids, while we read Psalm 23. The bread is cut and served after we read from John, where Jesus is called the bread of life. Salmon is served after reading about the disciples, fishermen, catching so many fish their boat almost sinks.

Settling into a day of rest

Our day of rest begins at dinner and continues after the meal, when we settle in for a family activity. Sometimes, that includes starting a fire and telling stories from our family’s past – something the kids have never heard from our own childhoods – or their own embarrassing moments and favorite memories from the summer.

We plan simple meals during the remainder of our family’s 24-hour rest day and try not to do the dishes, fold laundry, clean or run errands. Sometimes, we watch a movie, listen to old “Live From Here” radio shows on NPR, play board games or read. If the rain holds off, we go for longer-than-usual walks.

Digital day of rest

Whether or not you’re interested in or able to carve out time for a weekly day of rest, putting in place digital restraint practices is a practical way to care for yourself and be a little more present with the people you love. Try to approach a digital Sabbath with self-kindness. My goal is to set 24 hours each week away from my phone and laptop. That includes not checking the news or scrolling through social media. I do my best to stay away from the New York Times homepage, with mixed results.

You could try turning your phone off completely, which quickly breaks any subconscious compulsion to reach for it. A friend takes her family’s digital Sabbath a step further, nixing all movies, video games, phones and digital devices from Saturday to Sunday.

Even with the occasional sulky teenager, she reports the benefits of more time together have more than outweighed the complaints.

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This year, that’s all changed. For many kids, 2020 will be the year without a grandma.

Because of fears of picking up and passing on coronavirus to elderly relatives, or to relatives with conditions that make them much more vulnerable to its effects, a lot of Puget Sound families have decided to stay put this year and celebrate on their own, often for the first time ever as a family with kids.

Seattle parent Becky Mackle is disappointed. This year, she won’t get to see her mom, who usually visits from Tennessee for a couple of weeks as she’s done every Christmas of her two teenage grandsons’ lives. Because her mother suffers from emphysema, it’s just too risky to make the trip this year or to have visitors fly in.

“I usually host Thanksgiving here, and just people from around the city come. I’m not going to do that either,” says Becky with a sigh.

How are her sons handling the news about the holidays without travel?

“I think they’re going to be sad to not have Grandma here – she’s been here every single year since they were born, every Christmas here,” says Becky, who is an only child.

“She just had her 80th birthday on Saturday so they spent a lot of time talking with her, and she’s more on their minds right now.

“I think it’ll be hard.”

The Mackles have recently been trying to get her a device to make video calls, though it might be tough to help her set up a new smartphone, tablet or smart home center from many miles away.

And a video call just won’t be the same as making Christmas cutout cookies together as a family this year.

Tracy Osheroff of northeast Seattle usually hosts her mom and brother from Iowa to celebrate Thanksgiving with her husband and three kids – twin sons Nolan and Caleb, 11, and daughter Alana, 8. But this year, she’s looking ahead to holidays without travel.

As Tracy points out, the only practical option, with family being more than 2,000 miles away, is flying. And because of location, they can’t fly directly and would have to incur the potential exposure risk of switching planes, too.

“It’s a lot of travel and a lot of risks,” says Tracy. “Not only for her, but also even for us because Nolan has type 1 diabetes, so he is in a higher-risk category also.” She had considered extensive masking and looked into N95s, but decided against that.

“We’re just sort of stuck in this,” says Tracy. “We have no idea when we’ll ever be able to see them again.

“This whole pandemic makes you realize just how far away you are from family when maybe you didn’t realize that before, because it just seemed so easy to be able to jump on a plane and go anywhere you wanted to go.”

Marlene Mejia Weiss of Seattle and her husband, Matt, have two sons, Russell, 8, and Robinson, 11. In a normal year, they would travel to the East Coast on winter break to meet up with family in Philadelphia and New York – or to her parents’ new place in Florida.

But this year, it’s all up in the air.

“I don’t think we have a real fear of flying, COVID-wise. I just don’t know that we have a real strong desire because when you’re there, there’s just not much to do there,” says Matt, noting that once they arrived, they wouldn’t be able to visit with most relatives because of COVID precautions, and that there wouldn’t be many places to visit safely either.

Marlene notes that family gatherings would be severely constrained this year compared to previous years. “When we do go back to visit, it’s like, we’re seeing everyone,” she notes.

“Is it worthwhile to travel across the country to just sit in another house?”

The kids are at impressionable ages, and as Matt points out, they are at times
“really profoundly upset” that they can’t see their grandparents and other relatives.

But the kids understand the dangers, even at these younger ages.

“They’re pretty scared too. Russell’s 8, and he’s growing up – he’s
spent seven months – in a world of COVID.

“It’s dominating, I think, his memories. And so they really don’t want to get it.”

So this year, the Weisses have decided to figure out holiday plans as they go.

“One half-baked idea,” says Marlene. “We take a road trip somewhere, just to get a change of scenery.

“Maybe getting together with one other family that’s been in our pod.”

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“I like trying new recipes, and they don’t always turn out great, but it’s fun to try them,” says Nina, 13.

She and her little sister are now prolific coronavirus bakers, tackling a lot of complicated recipes. Nina says she tends to gravitate towards yeast-based recipes, including challah and babka.

She has even woken up the family to freshly made morning doughnuts, coated in cinnamon sugar. “She did the yeast batter the night before, and then she woke up before school to make the doughnuts,” says their mom, Melissa Cox.

“It’s very pleasant, as a parent, to wake up to the smell of doughnuts!”

Margot, 10, has ventured into developing her own recipes during their coronavirus baking.

“I have my own recipe for banana-chocolate chip muffins and I also have oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies,” says Margot. (Bon Appétit, take note.)

Margot’s favorites include an apple cake she’s made. “I really like making cakes, because you can decorate them however you want,” she says. Since they’re both fans of Gamewright’s board game Dragonwood, she created frosted cupcakes in the image of the Bucket of Spinach card found in the game.

The girls have found baking can be a very calming and tranquil activity after online schooling ends.

“I think it’s very relaxing,” says Nina. “It’s just really satisfying to follow a recipe through and then have the result.”

But despite the fun, there comes a point where you can have too much of a good thing, even with coronavirus baking.

“We had a problem for a while where each of them would bake every day, so I had just way too many baked goods … and they were all good,” says Melissa.

“That’s why they started taking turns,” adds dad Landon Cox.

Thankfully, they haven’t had issues with the flour and yeast shortages other coronavirus bakers encountered in the spring, but there is one ingredient they can’t seem to find anywhere: pumpkin purée, for Melissa’s pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins.

“The whole city is out!” says Melissa.

When being interviewed, the girls were looking forward to an upcoming family weekend at a Hood Canal cabin near a beach packed with oysters. They would not be unprepared, as Landon was already planning how they could make food writer Mark Bittman’s no-knead bread for the occasion.

Priorities. Put baked goods at the top of that list.

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