My husband and I were debating where we were going to hold our daughter's 5th birthday party when…read morewe came across Tanya's review of her birthday party experience (see her yelp review below) and we were sold!!!! We booked the Big Birthday Blowout and it was AMAZING!!! Upon arrival, we were given a cart to wheel in whatever food we brought (it is a peanut-free facility, which we appreciate as our child has peanut allergies). The facility provides cups, napkins, cutlery and has cake cutting materials. You can also request they provide pitchers and cups of water) Their staff takes care of both the lab set up as well as the food set up (you bring the food, they set up). *Note - if you have smaller kids, they have a play area that smaller kids can play in with Magnatiles and blocks. We got 1 hour of time in the lab (we chose the slime theme) where the staff did an amazing job captivating and maintaining the attention of all of the kids at the party! The kids each get to wear a lab coat and lab googles which make for super cute pictures. After the Lab session, the staff lead the kids to the bathrooms to wash hands, and sat them down to eat. The staff then donned gloves and helped distribute the food as well as handling the cake cutting when it was time to cut the cake. They literally did EVERYTHING!!!! (The one thing I wished I had done was also ask the staff to set some plates and cutlery outside of the eating area so that parents can eat as well. I was able to move some of the food, plates, and cutlery out to make it more accessible to parents, but wished I had planned it better so that I was not on the staff's way when they were feeding the kids.) After everyone has eaten and gotten cake, the staff then distributed goodie bags (made by them and included in the cost of the party) to all the kids. It was an amazingly well-run machine. They also helped to load the cart of stuff to bring back to the car! We didn't have to clean up, they do it all!!!! Shout out to Mr. Sampson who lead the birthday party from Lab, to hand washing, to handing out gift bags. He was absolutely amazing! I describe him as the "Pied Piper of Science," because he had all the kids just enthralled with everything he did! He is super animated, super engaged - myself and many of the parents there were blown away by this man's energy and his ability to captivate and hold the attention of an audience of 3-5 year olds! We had a great experience, and I know the kids and other parents did as well! I highly recommend doing birthday parties there!

We love it here! Everyone on staff knows how to get a child's attention...and keep it!…read more From the time you enter, your instructor approaches the children to chat and play, learn and explore, and it continues into one of two classrooms. Each class is prepared with activities and experiments, supplies and crafts to enhance the learning that has taken place. Kids are eager, excited and happy, engaged and participate in their own learning. KSL has given us a whole new take on teaching science to little ones, encouraging their thirst for knowledge and making learning so fun, you want to keep doing it!

My niece started attending Covington's new YCA, currently classes are being held in the Covington…read moreCommunity Room but as I understand it, will be moving to a dedicated location soon. She just finished week three and so far has made chicken, Chai-spiced muffins, Korean pork, and three types of sauces, among a few other things. This is exactly the type of 'real' cooking I was hoping she'd learn. Also, she is enjoying it and so far has made the chicken and the muffin recipe at home with just a little help in the background. The instructor is great, she seems very knowledgeable and patient. Highly recommend!

Our experience with Young Chef Academy and Chef Deb has been absolutely fantastic! Chef Deb is…read morepassionate, knowledgeable, and incredibly engaging. She creates a fun, supportive environment where kids can learn essential cooking skills while having a great time. The lessons are well-structured, hands-on, and full of valuable tips that even parents can appreciate. My children have gained confidence in the kitchen, developed a genuine love for cooking and broadened their palate thanks to Chef Deb. I highly recommend Young Chef Academy to any parent looking to inspire their little ones and teach them lifelong skills in a positive, nurturing setting. Five stars all the way!

I'm remiss. I should…read morehave written this long ago but better late than never I suppose. So, first off, this camp is AMAZING and if I wasn't working, I'd find some way to get a fake ID saying I was... oh say 8... and sign up myself. Lindsay and Dillon are both so well matched to this kind of work that it's really remarkable to me that MMSC hasn't been around for years longer. We found them on a camp aggregator website, and to be honest, I was scared to start shouting their praises on high so my little one could attend as much as we could get her in, selfish? Yes. I know. But did I mention the AWESOMENESS? The camp itself is held in the bottom of a Cap Hill/Volunteer Park church-with easy access to lots of fun time at the park-where the space is really well suited for the kind of open and cooperative activities that they provide for the kids. My daughter learned so much about music, made friends, got a little crush on both the camp counselors and best of all, would rather go here than anywhere next summer.

I thought I would try out this new camp solely because I loved the idea of combining David Bowie…read moreand Space Exploration. When my daughter came home with Aladdin Sane lightening bolt face paint, I knew I had made a great decision. She had an absolute blast. We would have signed up for more weeks if we had known how great it would be. I and both of my daughters are looking forward to next year.

Camp Long is the biggest park in West Seattle most people don't know about. It's not on the water -…read morebut that's not a bad thing. Within the boundaries of the park are miles of trails that most people drive hours out of town to walk on. Not to mention owl spottings, blackberries, bathrooms, cabins to camp in, a natural rock climbing wall and a cool events space. I had dear friends get married here and it felt like they had rented a overnight camp to celebrate - but it was a ten minute walk home. Weeds are a bit overgrown with COVID having Parks only doing essential maintenance but not too bad. Spend an hour or an afternoon here - it's worth it!

I grew up in Burien and have lived here all my life. As a teenager with lots of energy and nothing…read moreto do, I can remember going to a church group who took kids, like myself, on weekend trips camping. I can remember going with the group to camp at the park and fell in love with the beauty of the park and all the fun we had playing games and camping. This was in the mid 70's and I haven't been back since but I should revisit the park to remember the great times I had there that helped me stay out of trouble and be productive in life as I got older. Great place to take the family to back then.

Would never go through pinnacle exploration outdoor school. Management is slow and not organized…read more The owner is not responsive and ignorant. Would not recommend!

I am updating my 1 star review to 2 stars. This review is not about the camp experience because my…read morechildren could not attend due to testing + for covid the weekend prior to the camp starting. My 1 star review was based on lack of communication/follow through from management. After my kids tested + for covid, I provided the evidence and email requesting a credit, per the covid policy. The management never responded to my emails (I sent a few follow up emails), yet I kept receiving reminders for my kids to attend that week. The camp session was actually the last of the summer - late August. I basically assumed my money for camp (X2) was gone. Out of the blue in early November I received a one-line email stating my registration for camp was going to be refunded. No signature or contact details. I just checked my credit card statement and confirmed that both registration fees were refunded. I am happy that they followed through, but the 2 star review is because of the poor communication.

I started my Taekwondo journey in ITF. I've practiced martial arts for years, especially Taekwondo,…read morebut I never earned my black belt. I was a competitor, and that was my focus. I trained to compete, not to earn belts. As I've gotten older, I'm not old enough to complain, but let's just say I know my body a lot better now. I always thought I knew a lot about Taekwondo because of how long I had trained, but my journey has taught me how much there is still to learn. My first major change came with Master J of Tiger J Kim in Houston. (Non Kukkiwon school) I have tremendous respect for him. He helped me transition from ITF to WT and, more importantly, helped me get my life together. Here is where I also restarted my belts. He used Taekwondo as a platform to change lives. He would tell me to show up, train, and then talk to me like a mentor while reinforcing the principles and tenets of martial arts. He talked to me like a kid sometimes, but honestly, it was something I desperately needed at the time. Because of him, I developed a completely different approach to martial arts, became happier, and even grew closer to my faith, despite that never being his intention. I never earned my black belt under Master J due to military order, but looking back, I believe God had better plans. After nine months of military training, I moved from Houston to Everett and wanted to get back into Taekwondo. I had already started my transition from ITF to WT with Master J, so I wanted to continue learning WT. I stumbled across Y.S. Lee Taekwondo without doing much research, something just felt right. I have no regrets about contacting this school. Master Lee has shown me just how much I didn't know. I've trained at enough schools to develop a good sense of what makes a school genuine. I've seen schools become too profit-driven, and I've seen others that feel more like short term daycare or simply focus on teaching techniques and moving students through belts. I believe that if you do what is right and genuinely focus on helping people, everything else follows. Master Lee seems to understand that better than any instructor I've encountered and share the same philosophical approach, some in which came from when I was under Master J. Other masters may show you how to do something and hand out belts. Master Lee goes further and DEMONSTRATES the why and makes sure the students are ready to move up. He has opened my eyes to the history, reasons, deeper philosophy, and tradition behind TKD and the form movements. It's so much more than a performance or learning how to kick/punch. Master Lee taught me that there are centuries of tradition, discipline, and study behind day to day practice. I always ask questions outside of the class when I didn't understand or I wanted to challenge my understanding. Master Lee encourages it more than any Master I've seen. He encourages questions, builds on curiosity, and doesn't just demonstrate what I know. He demonstrates what I don't understand. That is the difference! Like Master J, he sees Taekwondo as a way of life and a tool for improving the person, not just the martial artist. I believe when you teach this way, Self-defense becomes a byproduct of that process and it truly does, but you must put in the work for your studies. I'm now working toward the black belt I never got when I was younger, and I'm grateful that I didn't because now I have the opportunity to pursue it under through a Kukkiwon-recognized school with YS Lee. I have lots of respect for Master J for helping me on this path, and I'm equally grateful that life brought me here to continue it. If you're looking for someone who will simply teach you how to kick, punch, do forms, earn belts, there are plenty of options. If you want an instructor who will challenge what you think you know, teach the history and philosophy behind TKD, encourage your questions, and help you become a better martial artist and person, I highly recommend Master Lee and Y.S. Lee Taekwondo. My very long (lost count after 5 years) black belt journey brought me here.

I have been going here for open studio hours for the last several months and I have had nothing but…read moregreat experiences! The studio is clean, well organized, and nicely set up. The staff are all incredibly helpful, friendly and engaging. Katie and Nicole specifically have been so wonderful to me, but the whole team has done an excellent job at fostering a supportive and open creative community.

Our kids attended the Wilderness Survival Craft Day Camp at Wolf Camp this summer and had an…read moreamazing experience. They came home excited each day, sharing what they learned, from edible plants to fire safety and survival skills. The camp makes learning hands-on, engaging, and fun. The staff and founder were friendly, welcoming, and clearly passionate about creating a positive environment. We're so glad we found Wolf Camp, and our kids are already asking to return. Highly recommend for a unique outdoor camp experience.

I've been going to wolf camp for 3 years now, and on the second to last day of my overnight camp,…read morewe all cried on how much we would miss the place wolf camp was. We were told most of the instructors would be leaving, they were some of the nicest people I've met. Also the children there are really nice and the staff there know what there doing and are really really nice.

My 9-year old (4th grader this fall) loved this camp. She went for just 5 days all summer long…read more(never more than once in a week), and that was just right for her (she otherwise felt it was a bit repetitive). It's even better for younger kids. She made bread every time, and loved learning the animation station and using a sewing machine. She did spend one day in the Bellevue location. I thought that campus was amazing - wooded area, huge fields...and everyone was great there, too - but my daughter thought this Seattle site was even better because "it wasn't as confusing to find things" (Bellevue has a larger campus split in two buildings, and Greenlake is in a single, "vintage" school building). Granted, the day she spent in Bellevue was her first day ever of Steve and Kate's camp, which might have been a reason it felt confusing, but she chose Greenlake for the remaining 4 days. Highly recommend this location - the staff even seemed to know us after day one, even though we were only there once a week!

My (then) two 5-year-old kids had such a bad time in 2014 at the Daniel Bagley Elementary location…read morethat my daughter remembered a year later and specifically told me she didn't ever want to go back. Here's why: - One of our kids has a speech delay and was bullied by older kids (name calling and physically hit) and none of the staff intervened or did anything - The camp counselors didn't engage with the kids, they just left them in a room all day and didn't check on them or encourage them to do anything - There wasn't much for younger kids to do In addition, as parents we had a bad experience with the Seattle staff: - They gave us conflicting information - First they said would let us use one kid's account for the sibling, then they changed their minds and tried to charge us extra - The head of the camp was extremely rude in all of my and my partner's interactions with her - The staff told our children (we are a blended family) that they weren't really siblings Overall it was a horrible experience. I was so excited to find out about this camp because of the flexibility, and their marketing is excellent, but it was such a bad experience that it stuck with my daughter as something she never wants to do again.

I swam at Wedgwood Swim Club for 12 years as an away swimmer through the Seattle Summer Swim League…read more(SSSL) approximately 1999 to 2010. My Grandad lived in Wedgwood, and my parents, my sister, and I lived in Innis Arden. So it was fun coming to swim here because my Grandad lived near the pool (now my sister owns the house) and would come to see me swim. So Wedgwood has always felt like a home-away-from-home pool to swim at for me. The pool deck stands out in my mind from the other SSSL swim team pools because of its smooth texture. Concessions were well run and locker rooms well maintained during swim meets. The amount of grass/sitting room is good for dual swim meets (two teams competing) but could get very crowded for the end of the season events such as Prelims, Northerns, and All Cities. The tiered grassy area made viewing the pool during races comparatively easy, though the edges of the pool were typically lined with spectators so we didn't always see the end/turns of every race. All around fond memories of swimming here both in terms of family and competitive sporting events.

If there's one thing I always tell young families...or even couples when they move into the View…read moreRidge/Wedgwood neighborhoods of Seattle is to put your name on the wait lists for the local community pools. Now. Had someone given us that advice upon moving into NE Seattle, we might have had an opportunity to get into the View Ridge or Wedgwood Swim Clubs when our children were actually interested in being at the pool during the summer. Unfortunately that was not to happen. When we finally did have kids and finally did think to put our names on the wait list for these swim clubs, we were jarred to learn that the wait was a decade or more. I kid you not. Each spring we would get an update from both swim clubs altering us to our status on their wait list and every year we would look at each other and ask why no one gave us advice to get our names on the lists earlier. The lists moved in an excruciatingly slow manner, sometimes opening up fewer than a dozen new slots a year. In 2009, at the absolute height of the economic depression, we were finally notified by the Wedgwood Swim Club that our family was eligible to join and we were given a week to decide if we wanted to plunk down the $1700 it would cost ($1000 for membership and $700 for dues). Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Spend $1700 that we really didn't have at that point, or lose our slot that we had been waiting on for a decade. Pay now or go back to the end of the line. Ultimately we decided to buck up and join and we really did enjoy that first summer. The weather was great, the kids were still young enough to want to hang out with their parents and, the novelty of belonging to a pool was still fresh. But, by the summer of 2011, our attendance at the pool had dropped precipitously. It took a very long time for summer to actually arrive in 2011 and combined with summer camps and other activities, I estimate that we only used the pool a total of 10 times all summer. That's $70 per swim based upon our $700 dues. Talk about a bad investment! The situation repeated itself in 2012, so when it came time to re-up our membership in 2013, we opted out. Our decade+ long wait to become members was over with a whimper after just four years. Our disappointing run at the Wedgwood Swim Club was not a reflection on the pool or community in any way. It had more to do with crappy summer weather and the fact that our kids were older and interested in other activities by the time we became members. In fact, I only have praise for the Wedgwood Swim Club. First of all, the facility is great. The pool is spacious, clean and warm. The clubhouse can be rented for a low fee for private parties. The locker rooms are clean. The staff, both year round and summer is terrific. The Board of Directors takes their job seriously and is committed to making sure the facility is around for decades to come. Everyone does a great job communicating to the membership. There are BBQ's available for picnicking and there are many community events throughout the summer, from swim meets to pie eating contests. It's really too bad that the Wedgwood pool didn't work out better for my family. Had we known about the wait list and had we become members when our kids were younger, including getting them on the swim team at a young age, we undoubtedly would have gotten more out of the pool. Pro Tip: The Wedgwood Swim Club offers swimming lessons to members and non-members alike throughout the summer. It's a great option for anyone who lives in NE Seattle.

Can we amend the "Great" summary of our five star rating to "spectacular"?…read more Beach Camp has been the highlight of my son's summer for the last three years. He is already looking forward to next year, and to someday being a CIT and a counselor himself. This is an incredible place, with fantastic counselors, and a plethora of fun activities. The place isn't incredible because it's a five-star, fancy establishment. In fact, some parts are downright rustic or rough around the edges. But it's the opportunities the place presents to the lucky kids who get to go there. The chance to enjoy this magical environment where we live, to get to know nature and get to try lots of moderns ways to take play in it. Imagine spending a week exploring indoor activities (ninja gym, soccer and hockey, climbing walls, a skate park, marine biology lessons, a movie room) and outdoor adventures (swimming docks, a zip line into the water, snorkeling, skimboarding, paddleboarding, kayaking, zodiacs, creek walks, field games, campfires, beach combing, getting up close with wildlife (crabs, fish, bioluminescent aquatic creatures, sea lions), a trapeze into the water, a rock climbing wall over the water, high dives, low dives....and wetsuits to enjoy it all in the cool Puget Sound water). The people are a huge part of making it such a special and an amazing experience. Every one of them that we've interacted with--from the newest CITs to the camp director--really care about the kids having a memorable experience. They are fun and kind and a great mix of serious/ensuring safety (from multiple lifeguards to lifejacket use to an overnight dock watch just in case any campers decide to sneak out for a midnight swim) and silly/letting kids escape for a growth week at camp. My son has such a fantastic time hanging out with these great kids, and he really looks up to them and hopes his favorites return each year. I read the review about the young camper being thrown off the mats and pulled by her lifejacket off the paddleboard. I don't know what happened there, but her experience is different than that of the eight kids I know personally and well who have gone over the last two years, four of whom were repeat campers in 2021. In fact, when you ask, "What was your favorite part of camp?" At least half reply, "The green docks," which is code for the games that they play where counselors AND kids throw each other off the docks in the "Ocean Fun Zone." I don't get why that's more fun than zodiac rides, but they love it. And they assure me that no one is forced to play that game--there are "safe zones" on and near the green docks that are sacred, and you don't even have to go out there if you don't want to be part of that game. We are grateful for the memories already made at beach camp, and excited for more fun in the years ahead.

My son went to this camp the first day he arrived a girl from a different cabin got a concussion in…read moreaddition many other children were put on a very small dock and were told to rock back and forth until everyone fell off many children even got stuck underneath the dock