I had a blast shooting this photo assignment for ParentMap! The weather was absolutely perfect, the light was beautiful and the kids had so much fun. One of my pictures even made the magazine cover. The story about play streets is here. Joseph and Paul came with me and got to ride with our beat-up scooter (a $2 buy!) in the street.

One word to sum up Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrors show at SAM: LINES. Colorful and fun, but you'd have to be a brave mama to take little kids in there. My story about the Kusama show is in this month's Seattle's Child (under July 2). Tons of fun summer ideas here!

Soon after I finished this story about bakeries for ParentMap, someone asked if I was expecting. Nope, just a pastry baby. I have a whole new level of respect for the people who write about food full-time. It's a dangerous thing. Hello Robin’s Robin Wehl Martin with a tray of Mackles’mores. Pastries from Salvadorean Bakery. Eating a strawberry Danish at Café Besalu.

Resident Charlotte Zemanek, 87, searches for letter beads with Amelia Stone, 4. (Clockwise from top) Resident Charlotte Zemanek, 87; Amelia Stone, 4; and Theo Ninburg, 5, search for letter beads to spell out their names. Lucille Garcia, 3, watches her teacher, Heidi Fray, string beads. Resident Fern Hamblen, 94, hands a sensory ball to Xander Korn, 11 months. Babies visit with residents every Tuesday morning. Xander Korn, 11 months, reaches out for a sensory ball from resident Fern Hamblen, 94. Resident Helene Walling, 84, plays peek-a-boo with Hazel Barley, 2, and Dylan Williams, 2. Resident Helene Walling, 84, reaches out to stroke 9-month-old Nora Peterson’s hair. Baby teacher Karin Borba is collecting the sensory balls to bring back to their classroom. Both babies – Nora Peterson, 9 months, and Xander Korn, 11 months – started crying when it was time to go. Baby teacher Karin Borba (left) waves goodbye while pulling their wagon away. The residents who came to see the babies are (from left) Fern Hamblen, 94; Harriet Thompson, 94; and Helene Walling, 84. Mayzie Cannady, 4, holds up her completed miniature drawing in her art class. Marie McPherson, 88, of West Seattle, and resident Peter Kok also attended the class. Mayzie Cannady, 4, sitting next to resident Peter Kok, rests her head on the table while listening to the teacher describe the project for the class. Everyone went around the table and talked about their favorite winter activity, and drew illustrations on small notecards.

I got to interview 13 amazing children's authors and illustrators for this month's issue of Seattle's Child. I'm still feeling a little shaky that some of these big time stars wrote to me. Me! Personally! Read the digital version of the June magazine here.

Found this amazing playspace in Ballard. It's been open two years — I can't believe we hadn't been before. It's super clean, super nice and super FREE. The story is on ParentMap here.

My under-6 summer bucket list is in the new ParentMap Family Adventure Guide! It's pretty a summary of my life for the past six years. 🙂 On ParentMap here.