Hi there,

My name is Shelley; I'm mamma to a beautiful 14 month old girl, McKenna.  My husband and I currently live in Milwaukee, but will be relocating to Seattle within the next 6-12 months.  It's time we are closer to family, not to mention mountains and water again!  We are so excited for the move.  We just sold our home here in Milwaukee and are leasing for the time we have left here before our move.  I was hoping to get to know some mom's, or dad's, in the area to find out what outdoor activities and playgroups we might fit in to!  We are so excited to make the move and I would love and appreciate any tips, advice or suggestions anyone can give us during our transition to your area!

I look forward to meeting new parents here and can't wait for my daughter to make new friends when we get there.

Shelley

Hi Shelley,

I have a 14 month old girl too - her name is Nova. Welcome (back?) to Seattle! I've been working on finding play groups for Nova recently because we don't have friends with kids her age to play with, and we don't plan to put her in daycare.

I'm having some luck with meetup.com, we found a stay-at-home-dad's group that my husband is scoping out today actually, and another play group that's in a nearby neighborhood that I'm interested in.

We also have a membership to the Children's Museum, which is a great place for kids to go and burn off some energy. Another great resource are the community centers, they have toddler play areas and toddler play times and are pretty cheap. I've heard the YMCA also has lots of kids programs. Lastly, I take Nova swimming at Family swim time in several of the pools in the city and she gets a kick out of that.

So far that's what I've found for good stuff for Nova.

Hey Donni thanks for the info!  We actually aren't moving "back" to Seattle, but we will be A LOT closer to family.  I do have some family in Seattle, but the majority of our family is in Alaska, which is where my husband and I are both from. 

Since I left my career, I have found alot around our area, but since this won't be "our area" much longer I was hoping to hear what you told me.  There are a few indoor play groups (Gymboree play and music, childrens art museum...) that we go to, but I have yet to find or meet any other mom's to connect with.  It's wierd, it seems that some mom's and dad's want to stay in their own bubble when they are out with their own kids..maybe it's just this area, I don't know. 

We are in the same boat you and your husband are in.  We don't have alot of friends with kids so now that McKenna is out of daycare, I want her to meet up with kids to socialize with...not to mention me meeting some other mom's (or dad's) who I can relate to and have some support =) 

So, thanks for all the help and please keep in touch.  Maybe we will run into each other at the same place when we get to Seattle.  Have a great day!

I've heard it's really hard to meet people in Seattle, regardless of your kid situation. I've always thought it depended on what you were doing. Living in a dorm? Lots of friends. Working from home? No friends. I'm thinking that making friends is like dating, and I never got dates until I started asking guys out, so maybe it's the same with the mommies. :)

Another thing that's difficult is that the age of the kids of people you meet is so important because you have to have a pretty close fit. (That's why your 14 month old made my eyes light up!) You should email me when you get here and we can show you around the kid-friendly sites. (There's a bar/restaurant here that has a play area in the middle of the dining room - it's wonderful, microbrew beer and toys!) My email address is d8nni@yahoo.com.

Hi Shelley and Donni!

My husband and I are first time parents to our 13 month old son, Ethan.  We moved to Seattle last June due to my husband's career.  I agree with both of you, it seems like it is hard to meet other mom's in the Seattle area (it DOES seem like moms and dads tend to stay in their own bubble) and it feels like "dating all over again" LOL.  Much easier to meet people in college although that was about 10 years ago, so I'm outta touch. 

Donni mentioned the Children's Museum, Community Centers which is usually where we take Ethan so he can play.  There is a Kidz N Coffee (we never been, and I'm sure they are all over Seattle) where my husband and I are planning to take Ethan this weekend.  It's a place where you can have coffee, socialize, etc while your little ones play in the play area and their are attendants watches them. 

So I hope to meet the both of you sometime at a playdate or something fun! :)  Take care!

Hey Lily,

Nice to meet you!  So, how has your transition been to Seattle?  My husband and I are pretty excited to get out there.  It may be sooner than later since he is currently interviewing for a position in Kent right now.  We should know something in the next few weeks. 

I'm excited to get out there and start getting to know my way around the city.  It's pretty sweet to have family there already, but I definetly want to meet other mom's with kids McKenna's age (ish) so she has a social life too =) 

After hearing from Donni and you, it sounds like there is plenty to do out there if you just get out and look.  We'll have to keep in touch and try to get a play date scheduled when we are finally there! 

Have a great afternoon and I look forward to keeping in touch.

Shelley

Nice to hear from you Shelley!  The transition in Seattle has been smooth.  Seattle just reminds me of a big version of Portland, OR (that is where we moved from).  So we are pretty much used to the rain during this time in the Pacific Northwest!  If you love the outdoors you are at the right place, 'cause there is so much to do especially during the summer.  Lots of hiking trail, parks, fishing (I grew up fishing with my dad a lot!), etc.  Cabelas is 2 hours south of Seattle! 

Transitioning to being a stay at home mom (used to work as a financial analyst) took a lot of adjusting, but I enjoy being there for Ethan's milestones.  I get a chance to watch him grow, as they grow up so fast! 

Do keep in touch at lilyjmah@yahoo.com and I look forward to meeting you!

Hi Lily!

How was Kidz N Coffee? Sounds interesting! Which part of Seattle are you in? I'm up for a playdate too - maybe we could plan something.

I couldn't believe how great the weather was this past weekend, didn't it just snow a few days back? We mowed the lawn and hauled a few toys outside. Nova's loving it! She doesn't want to be in the house anymore. I can't say I blame her.

Donni

Hey Donni and Lily,

Guess what?  My husband accepted a position in Kent!  We will be in Seattle next week!!  We are super excited and can't wait to get out there and start getting settled in.  I wanted to touch base with you guys in hopes to plan something so we can get together with the kiddos!  We leave on Friday and will be there Monday; I'm sure we'll need a few days to recoup from the trip and get settled in with our family, but for sure I would love to plan a play date within the next few weeks if you guys are up for it! 

Talk to you soon!

Shelley (and McKenna)

Hey Donni and Lily,

Guess what?  My husband accepted a position in Kent!  We will be in Seattle next week!!  We are super excited and can't wait to get out there and start getting settled in.  I wanted to touch base with you guys in hopes to plan something so we can get together with the kiddos!  We leave on Friday and will be there Monday; I'm sure we'll need a few days to recoup from the trip and get settled in with our family, but for sure I would love to plan a play date within the next few weeks if you guys are up for it! 

Talk to you soon!

Shelley (and McKenna)

Hi Shelley,

That's awesome! Let's definitely set something up.

Donni

Welcome to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, Shelley!  We are super stoked!  Hope you have a safe trip and can't wait to meet all of you soon!

Hey Donni and Lily!! 

So, we have been here for 4 days now!  We LOVE it and can't get over how beautiful it is.  It's funny since Brian and I are both from Alaska...we just forgot how beautiful the mountains and just the color green is!  The drive went great!  We are staying with my family right now, in Lake Tapps, until we get our household stuff within the next few weeks.   My husband started his job on Tuesday so McKenna and I have just been exporing.  We went to the Gymboree play gym today but I wasn't extremely impressed =(  She was the only one in the class so it kinda defeats the purpose of getting her around other kids.  At least she got to run some energy off though.  Our next venture is hopefully going to be the Childrens museum!  I'm dying to check that out! 

I would love to get something set up with you guys so we can meet up and let our kiddos get to know each other (and some other "mommy" support would be great too!)  Let me know what your schedules look like and any ideas you have.  We are up for just about anything!! 

Look forward to talking to you soon!

Shelley

Hi Shelley!

I'm so glad to hear that you made it to Seattle safely!  After living in the Pacific Northwest for so long I tend to take the mountains, lakes, trees for granted.  I do totally agree, it is just beautiful and I don't think I can imagine living anywhere else! 

I'm pretty much free during the week except when Ethan takes his 2 PM nap.  I'm pretty much open for anything, we just like to go out and socialize.  I can't believe how nice the weather is today so hopefully it's stay that way for quite a while so we can go exploring the outdoors.  We've been to the Children's Museum in Bellevue, but like the Children's Museum in downtown better, it's bigger and more things to do.  We are going to check out the other Children's Museum in Everett and see how that one is.  We might check out Discovery Park this weekend, heard it is nice there!

Hope all is well & look forward to meeting you all!

Lily

Hi Shelley and Lily,

Jefferson community center has Toddler play time from 10 AM to 2 PM, and we like their play stuff. They also have an outside play area if it's nice. Just down the street is a great Mexican restaurant that is kid friendly.

Would either/both of you like to meet up for a little play time and lunch tomorrow? I was thinking of 11 at the community center?

http://www.seattle.gov/parks/centers/Jeffercc.html

Donni (d8nni@yahoo.com) You can post here or send me an email.

Hey Donni and Lily!

Sounds great to me!  McKenna and I have nothing on our agenda so we can make it at 11.  If anything changes let me know, my cell is 414-745-4678.

See you tomorrow!

Shelley

Hi Donni and Shelley!

Ughh, I'm SOOO BUMMED!  Ethan has a cold and I don't want him to be spreading it around so we are going to skip this one and hopefully he will be better soon!  Hope to meet up with you two soon...

Total bummer Lily!!  I hope Ethan is feeling better soon! I'm confident there will be more play dates set up so we'll shoot for you and Ethan to be there for the next one!  Looking forward to meeting you!