Portland family fun!?

Guess what you find when you Google "portland family fun?" You find yourself driving to Wilsonville to Bullwinkle's Family Fun Center. Woo hoo! I'd never heard of this place, though I've lived here 15 years, but I also recognize that I live under a rock most days. When I couldn't convince my husband to take a family excursion to the Earth Day party at Woodlawn Park (c'mon, suck it up, it's just a little rain) I asked Google what to do, which is how we ended up at the Family Fun Center. And actually, it wasn't a bad way to kill a rainy Saturday morning.

The indoor area is full of video games and carnival-type games -- you buy tokens to play the games, which spit out tickets that you can redeem for cheesy toys. Most of the games were too advanced for a 5-year old, but we found a few, like air hockey. The 2.5 year old was just mesmerized by the lights and noise; he didn't really care if he played or not. The place is VERY noisy. My husband and I found a couple of semi-fun games (like the one where you try to catch falling chicken eggs in a basket; good times!!) I think we spent $10 over an hour, and the kids each walked away with a lollipop, monster teeth and some fake money. There was also this huge, climbing playland for little kids, but it cost $5 per kid, so we skipped it. Outdoors on a more pleasant day, you could drive go-karts, play miniature golf, hit balls in the batting cages and climb a rock wall. We had a pretty good time, though I don't know that we'd go back. Anyone ever been there? What are some other fun family excursions on a rainy weekend?

Comments

[Robyn]

We often head to one of the indoor pools around town. On the west side, SW Communtiy Center has a great pool with fun areas for all ages. Conestoga also has a kids pool. On the east side, Mt. Scott is worth a visit and in Milwaukie is North Clackamas Aquatic Park. If you don't live near there, it's still worth the drive on a rainy day -- great indoor water park.

Other random thoughts: Oaks Park Roller Rink is a good old-fashioned roller rink and has skates small enough for toddlers. And believe it or not, have you tried bowling with your kids? Sunset Lanes in Beaverton is really kid-friendly and has bumpers on all lanes you can program to pop up during your child's turn and a ball-roller contraption for little ones who aren't strong enough to roll their ball down the lane.