Summer has officially arrived and traveling season has begun.  This year, let your kid be your tour guide!  Wearing the Egg + Avocado Camera tee with the City Walks for Kids cards in hand, your little tourist will turn your vacation into an adventure you will never forget.  If you’re traveling to NYC, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. or London, the City Walk cards will have you seeing the sites that are fun for you and the kids. (The Walk There book is great if you’re sticking close to Portland!)

Can you tell that we’re crazy about biking? We wanted to share some photos from the awesome Sunday Parkways event that happened in North Portland last Sunday. They blocked off 7 miles of roadway so that only bikes and pedestrians were allowed all afternoon. No cars! It was sunny and glorious, and you can tell, we had a great time!

We had a fabulous and fun art opening with Amy Ruppel!  Amy’s show at Black Wagon is a full house of work: from affordable $10 prints (perfect for new baby nurseries and kids rooms) to her one-of-a-kind Kokeshi dolls and Kokeshi doll illustrations!

Thank you to everyone who came out to see Amy and support her opening! Thanks to Alli for coordinating and to DJ BSMNT JAMZ (Emily Baker) for the killer tunes! We posted some photos from the event on Flickr:

There’s still time to come out and see the show, so come on down!

We’re still wheeling from this past Saturday’s awesome bike festival on our very own Mississippi Ave! Cirque du Cycling was loads of fun — the family ride, the bike parade and thrilling cycling races. Mississippi Ave is THE BEST Street for kids and families in Portland!

We’ve posted some photos we took at the Cirque du Cycling event on Flickr:

Please join us tomorrow night (Thursday), June 11th from 4 to 7 PM for Amy Ruppel’s art opening!  She’s debuting her amazing new Kokeshi dolls and Kokeshi doll illustrations — seriously, they’re so good!  We’ll also have DJ BSMNT JAMZ bumpin’ mad tunes you won’t want to miss!

Also, enjoy 10% off your Black Wagon purchase during art opening hours (offer excludes artwork).

Our friend (and amazing photographer!) Melissa Hathaway is going to be offering some exceptional portrait packages at our store on Saturday, June 27th. Check out the poster below for all the details. We’ll be posting more in the coming week.

Now that it’s June and we’ve had a week of beautiful summer weather, I’m rotating my coats, sweaters and other winter reminders to out-of-reach cabinets. In the process, I’m pulling out favorite old sun dresses, straw hats and sandals!  Upon seeing my beautiful old bikini that I got for my honeymoon, so many, many years ago, I know it’s time to get myself a new swim suit!!  I’m heading to Popina, an amazing Portland swimwear boutique!

Growing up in Kansas, I spent my entire summer at the swimming pool, literally every day, all day!  Back then our swimwear was limited to the one suit that we had to wear for the entire summer.  We were required to sew on our community pool patch, rather than have it pinned on.  I suppose this was to keep us from sharing our patches with others.

Since I’m planning on spending a lot of time at the pool this summer and no longer restricted by the patch, I plan to get myself a couple of suits!  For my love of vintage, I’m going to check out their retro swimsuit.  Vintage suits are so flattering for full-figured gals like myself! And I want to check out their tankini swimwear as a comfortable and flattering replacement for my honeymoon bikini!

Please check out Popina at their Portland store or online at popinaswimwear.com!

While you’re out and about this summer, be sure to protect your skin with our great selection of safe and non-toxic sunscreen! Doctor T’s Supergoop! has a line of organic SPF 30 Sunscreen and eco-friendly, deet-free bug repellent!  Doctor T’s is fragrance-free and with none of the dangerous chemicals found in many sunscreens!  Their spray and pump dispensers make applying it to kids quick and easy!

Hope to see you at one of Portland’s local pools!  Grant Pool is a favorite for swim lessons, and I love The Wilson HS pool for it’s lazy river and shallow area for babies!

Have a fun and safe summer!!
Sarah

Summer break is finally here, and Black Wagon has got just the thing to cure the “I’m bored” complaints before they even start. These new craft kits from The Little Experience will keep their fingers busy! The Stitch-it Dolly Kit and Stitch-it Owl Kit are easy introductions to cut-and-sew patterns, and are geared for ages 6 and up. For the more advanced crafter, the Knit-it Elephant Kit and Knit-it Mice Kit will teach when to knit and when to purl. And for the ultimate project, the Stitch-it Flowery Bag Kit will be the perfect accessory for your stylish girl! All of the kits from The Little Experience make awesome birthday gifts, too!

Black Wagon searches high and low to bring you the coolest in boys clothes, and this summer we’ve got ‘em covered from head to toe! Start off with the rad Surfer tee from Appaman and the Wonderboy Trim Fit Shorts for the outfit. Add the Multi-Dinosaur Slip-ons from Vans, finish up with the Cherry Pop hat from Sand Cassel kids, et voila! You’ll be hard-pressed to find a boy with cooler digs!

We love babies at Black Wagon! They make us totally gaga, even with their drooling and keeping us awake all night. Babies love Black Wagon because of the cool clothes, toys and accessories we carefully select for them. Here are some of their favorites:

• Les Deglingos Discovery toys (including Ratos the Rat, Nonos the Dog and Ronronos the Cat) are big hits because of their crinkles, squeaks and vibrations.
• DwellStudio stroller blankets keep babies rolling with style.
• The list of favorite clothing is ever-growing (just like babies), and they always look fabulous in Appaman, Egg + Avocado, Fig Organics, Winter Water Factory and Trumpette baby socks!