FREE for the long days and short years Rain , Ra in G o Away. .. egg hunts | school open houses | seed start project | reader poll results Listen up! our NEW PODCAST is LIVE! details pg. 6. PDXPARENT.COM PORTLAND | VANCOUVER | MARCH 2018 Adventure Club FOR KIDS IT’S FREE! 1st TUESDAY of EVERY MONTH • 9AM - 10AM Inside the Food Court Kids will enjoy meeting a new character each month, fun activities, dress up, snacks and more! March 6th May 1st August 7th November 6th 2018 Animal Safari Guide Tinky the Fairy – Movie Pirates and Fairies Snow Queen SCHEDULE April 3rd Release Celebration September 4th December 4th Easter Bunny Hunt June 5th Super Hero Play Elf Workshop Events are best Cars! suited for kids up October 2nd to 8 years of age. July 3rd Circus Fun 4th of July Fun Exit 17 off I-84 • Troutdale • (503) 669-8060 • ShopColumbiaGorgeOutlets.com Exit 17 off I-84 • Troutdale • (503) 669-8060 • ShopColumbiaGorgeOutlets.com Contents FEATURES Parents of the Silicon Forest .................................................... 14 Some of your kiddo’s favorite apps were dreamed up right here in PDX. Story by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore. Photos by Jamie Carle. Vive La Différence............................................................................... 22 Celebrating the season’s new performing arts productions. By Erin J. Bernard. PDX Parent Picks.................................................................................28 Our reader poll results for lessons and camps. DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Note ...............................................................................................6 Play Room .....................................................................................................8 Adorable picks for Easter basket treats, great graphic novels for kids and a dino-themed getaway. Field Trip ......................................................................................................30 Cracking the laser tag code. By Julia Silverman. Hands On .................................................................................................... 32 A sweet seedlings project, just in time for spring. By Eve Hansen. Baby Steps ................................................................................................33 Plant a tree with your kiddos to help the planet (and have some fun). By Catherine Ryan Gregory. Family Supper ........................................................................................34 Exploring the menu and play area at etc… eatery, an eclectic new restaurant in SW Portland. By Denise Castañon. Recipe File .................................................................................................35 A healthier spin on chips and dip, just right for after-school snacking. By Joanna Sooper. Time Out .......................................................................................................36 Kinder, gentler Easter egg hunts, Purim parties and robots take over OMSI. CAMPS GUIDE 2018………………… ....................................………………….41 Do Your Kids Need Camp This Summer?....................... 42 Let our fab flow chart guide you through the camp-choosing process. Text by Julia Silverman. Design by Susan Bard. RESOURCES School Open Houses ...............................................................................19 * cover stories JAMIE CARLE JAMIE pdxparent.com | March 2018 5 Editor’s Note for the long days and short years here are any number of true crime podcasts out there, and fraught politics podcasts. There PDX Parent P.O. Box 13660 are superfan TV recap podcasts galore and even podcasts aimed at your kids, perfect for a T Portland, OR 97213-0660 long car ride. What there hasn’t been is a podcast that’s just about being a parent in Portland — Phone: 503-460-2774; Fax: 503-331-3445 until now. Just in time for our annual Family Tech issue, we’d like to introduce you to the PDX Publisher Rose Caudillo, 503-460-2774 Parent Podcast, a longtime dream that we’re [email protected] finally turning into a reality, thanks to great Editor support from our whole team. Each month Julia Silverman, 503-922-0893 (and hopefully more often, once we get the [email protected] hang of it), Denise, Ali W. and I will gather Managing Editor Denise Castañon for some frank, funny talk about what’s on [email protected] our minds and yours. We’re having a blast Art Director recording it, and are just thankful that the Susan Bard bits where we trip over our words or blurt Web Editor out something especially mortifying to one Alison Wilkinson [email protected] or the other of our children can be edited Calendar / Newsletter Editor out. (A *little* bit mortifying is okay though, Amy Conway right?) This month’s episode features me and [email protected] Ali schooling Denise on how to navigate Web Coordinator DENISE CASTAÑON Michelle Carew, 503-914-6151 the summer camp shuffle, now that her [email protected] Ali W. cracks me up on the regular during our podcast tapings. daughter Adela is old enough to dip a toe Customer Accounts Manager into those crowded waters, plus our regular Christie Kline, 503-810-9817 [email protected] restaurant scorecard and our picks for what we’ll be doing for fun with the kids in March. It’s all Distribution Coordinator set to our fun and poppy theme music, graciously given to us by PDX kindie superstar Red Yarn. Melissa Light In future episodes, we’re hoping to bring on some special guests, so let us know who you’d like [email protected] to hear more from, at [email protected]. And we’ll even be going live at the first-ever Senior Account Executive PDX Parent Celebrates the City, presented by KEEN Kids and Hopworks Urban Brewery, at Ali King, 503-331-8184 [email protected] Oaks Park on June 16. Bring the kids and come tell us your story! Until then, please tune in, give Account Executive us a rating and a review if you’re so inclined, and subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode. Kristy Olsen, 503-914-6481 [email protected] — Web Administrator Casey Rhodes [email protected] P.S. Also this month, we’re rolling out the first wave of winners in our annual PDX Parent Picks President readers poll! We’re starting with your picks for the best lessons and camps around — find the results Keith Goben, 503-460-2774 on page 28 — and stay tuned. In the months to come, we’ll be publishing more of the winners, many [email protected] of whom will be on hand at PDX Parent Celebrates the City. More than 22,000 votes were cast in For distribution issues, e-mail us at [email protected] this year’s poll, which is a record for us — thanks for voting and sharing your family’s favorites! For calendar submissions, e-mail us at [email protected] PDX Parent is published monthly by Metro Parent Publishing, Inc., and is copyright 2018 Metro Parent Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part On our cover: We think without written permission is prohibited. photographer Lindsay Baca’s PDX Parent is distributed free of charge throughout the Portland, OR / Vancouver, WA photo of local kiddos Ava and metropolitan area. Darius in their backyard captures PDX Parent reserves the right to refuse the March mood around these advertising for any reason. Distribution parts perfectly — we’re ready to of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services say goodbye to the rain. But as advertised herein. long as it is still around, you might PDX Parent does not discriminate on the as well accessorize with a cute basis of race, color, national origin, religion, umbrella and some rad boots! sex or sexual orientation. See more of Lindsay’s work at Although every effort is taken to ensure the lindsaybacaphotography.com accuracy of published material, Metro Parent Publishing, Inc., and its agents and em- or on Instagram, where she ployees cannot be held responsible for the documents the adventures use or misuse of any information contained of her labradoodle, Louie, herein. The contents of PDX Parent and its website are for informational purposes only at @puponoodles. and are not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or treatment. 6 March 2018 | pdxparent.com Play Room Take Five: Erika Probst Erika Probst, a mother of two, felt right at home when she He kept repeating things like, “I can’t believe you do this, you just moved to Hillsboro in 2009. Her neighbors have everyone come!” “This is the best street ever!” “Everyone needs were friendly and welcoming — and came to see this street, it is what truly represents America!” from across the globe from Barbados to South His words resonated with me and I really did want to Korea to Mexico and Hungary. After the share the beauty of our street. 2016 election she was saddened to hear that her friend who wears a hijab was scared Q: You self-published. What was that process like? to walk down the street. So she wrote a A: I looked around at several companies that worked children’s book, Friends on My Street, to with authors who self-published. Ultimately, I went show the value of love and acceptance. It’s with Gatekeeper Press. Their prices were reasonable, available on Amazon. For more info on and I was familiar with their work. In March of 2017, I cultural celebrations, visit: facebook.com/ was one of 80 women who had an essay published in a FriendsOnMyStreet. collection of essays and poems written by women from 48 states across the country. Because the proceeds of that Q: What’s so special about your street book went to a non-profit, Gatekeeper Press published in Hillsboro? that book pro-bono. That showed me the integrity of the A: Washington County is the most diverse company, and I wanted to county between Vancou- support that. ver, B.C. and San Francisco. With Intel and Nike, we Q: What do your have a lot of people moving neighbors think about the to this area from other book? countries. When a new My neighbors have all neighbor moves in, we A: been so excited. Many from welcome them to the street, different countries are also introduce ourselves, and invite them to our neigh- touched that I took the borhood get-togethers.