Of course you use Amazon. Who doesn’t use Amazon? 🙂 Many of you probably already know that if you make your purchase on smile.amazon.com (which looks and feels just like the regular amazon.com), Amazon will donate a small percentage of your purchase price to a charity of your choice. As an official 403(b) non-profit organization, Seattle Families of Multiples is one of those choices! Please consider SFOM as your charity of choice for your Amazon purchases, and help us support our great events and benefits!

–Angela Smith, President

On Saturday, July 23rd, the sun was shining (but not TOO much) and the hot dogs were sizzling on the BBQ as 30+ families of multiples descended on the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden! SFOM had private use of this incredible play space, filling the park with the happy commotion that a group of multiples always brings! Kids of all ages floated toys down a creative water feature, preschoolers rode tricycles on the basketball court, toddler twins lined up to slide, big kids climbed up the tree house, infants chilled on blankets, and everyone visited the friendly chickens. Meanwhile, parents from all around the area had some time to chat and connect. Top that off with popsicles and ice cream, and it was another successful SFOM summer picnic!

A great big thank-you to coordinators Tabitha Burns and Sarah Larsen for making this a memorable summer highlight.

See you all next year!

Did you know that SFOM operates on a fiscal year?  Our year begins on June 1st and ends on May 31st of the following year.  Most of the time, the changes are seamless to our membership, but behind the scenes, the SFOM board of directors undergoes turnover and transformation!  This year we bid a very fond farewell to the following incredible board members:  Sarah Bell (Secretary and Year One Co-lead), Jenny Curtis (Treasurer), Courtney Winburn (Sale Co-Lead), and Tabitha Burns (Year One Co-lead).

And we heartily welcome the following folks as new board members or to new roles: Natalie Saint-Johnson (Secretary), Diane Wies (Treasurer), Carolyn Hostetler (5 & Up Coordinator), Bryan Fuller (Website Administrator), Jennifer Addis (Sale Co-lead), Jonelli McGinnis (Sale Co-lead), Katrina Alexander-Stern (Year One Co-lead), Alaina Alexander-Stern (Year One Co-lead), Anna Smith (Year One Co-lead), and Nicole Schick (Member-at-large), Kristin Hutchinson (Member-at-large).

For the full board and for more information, please check out the About >> Meet the Board page on our website.  We look forward to a fantastic year of events and benefits for our SFOM Members!

The SFOM Camp-Outs are an annual tradition and a highlight of the summer for all who attend! Were you thinking about joining a camping trip, but haven’t signed up yet? Two of the three trips still have sites available and are open for reservations to all current members!

All trips are open to all ages of children and all three trips will be at a group site in the super-kid-friendly Rasar State Park off of Hwy 20 in the North Cascades. To view specific dates and details in BigTent (members-only), click the links below:

Early July http://www.bigtent.com/home/calendar/event/96885077
Late July  http://www.bigtent.com/home/calendar/event/97070836
August (full) http://www.bigtent.com/home/calendar/event/97071010

Cost per site is $70. You must RSVP and pay for a campsite to reserve your spot. There are 10 large sites, but families can coordinate sharing a site and sharing the cost (please have one person/family sign-up, and coordinate cost sharing and money exchange offline.) If you are willing to share your site, but don’t know another family to coordinate with, you can note that in your RSVP comments, and leave contact information for someone else to get a hold of you.

Rasar State Park is a 169-acre camping park with 4,000 feet of freshwater shoreline on the Skagit River. It is located just east of Burlington in Concrete, WA and has an awesome group site with large private campsites, all surrounding a big field and large community shelter. The kids had a blast in past years cruising around the private loop (over and over) on bikes, scooters and anything that moved. There is also great hiking in the area if you are so inclined. The bathrooms with flush toilets and coin-operated hot showers are a big plus when you have potty training little ones!

Looking forward to camping and playing with everyone this summer!!!

Almost 200 members showed up at the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett on April 23rd. SFOM had the run of the whole museum, including the rooftop playground, and it was so much fun to see all the kids running around and having a fantastic time. Maybe the only challenge was which activity to choose, from all the many different areas!

Josh and Zach Smith- captive or captivated?

Kids were seen serving pizza in the restaurant, tending to animals in the veterinary clinic, putting on a show in the theater, piloting an airplane, pushing trains around, and getting plenty wet in the water area.

Leo and Alex Saint-Johnson rolling up their sleeves at the Imagine Children’s Museum

There was something for every taste and every kid. Thanks to all of you who came and brought such wonderful potluck items to share with the rest of us. Almost every family commented on how much fun they had, and we hope to make this an annual event!

Want to join in our next SFOM-sponsored adventure? Check out the EVENTS tab!

– Angela Smith