Weekender: Top Family Events for Seattle and the Eastside

Could it be? A holiday weekend with sun in the forecast? That seems about as rare as spotting a pod of orcas cruising by in the Sound. Must be our lucky day. In between looking for orcas, we've got plenty of ideas for family time, including ways to remember the reason for the holiday.

• Climb to the top of a real working lighthouse and take in the epic, expansive view (opening Friday).
• The butterflies are back! Visit the zoo to frolic among free-flying butterfly beauties (opening Friday).
• Dance and play at Seattle's biggest music and culture fest and find out how to rock it with kids (Friday–Monday).
• Get eye-to-eye with real vintage tanks and other cool military vehicles, plus enjoy games, a scavenger hunt and more family-friendly fun (Saturday).
• Snag a ticket to a Lego play fest with a local Lego guru; and tour this fancy new spot while you're there, admission required (Saturday).
• Explore some urban wild space on a free family nature walk led by a ranger — no RSVP required, just show up (Saturday).
• Climb aboard the workhorses of our maritime economy: tugboats, fishing vessels and emergency response boats at a free dockside fest  (Saturday–Sunday).
• Investigate octopi, meet a diver, learn about the lives of marine mammals and more at a science fest for families (Saturday–Monday).
• Be among the first to zoom down the wild water slides on the opening weekend of our local water park (Saturday–Monday).
• Expand your mind beyond Disney and superhero movies with a terrific family film that's part of SIFF (Saturday–Monday).
• All aboard! Take one of two chances to ride the mini rails this weekend, free, amid the trees and grounds of a Port Orchard park (Saturday, Monday).
• Keep on practicing those bike-month bike skills, sans cars, on a family ride along Lake Washington (Sunday).
• Dig into the dig pit, and lots of other kinds of fossil fun, or visit these dino-rrific spots around town any day (Sunday).
• Ever seen a play outside in the woods? It's a fantastic experience. Here's your chance, on a sunny holiday weekend to boot (opening Sunday).
• Hats off for a ceremony and parade honoring local military members who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country (Monday).
• Show your appreciation for our community's military members, both living and departed, at a local Memorial Day parade (Monday).
• Join Renton's community ceremony honoring veterans from all five branches of the U.S. military (Monday).
• Hear from a Vietnam-era Naval aviator at the Museum of Flight's ceremony honoring fallen U.S. service members (Monday).

For more ideas for family fun this weekend, how about these? Hike to a waterfall on a kid-friendly route, or go old-school bowling, playing pinball or visiting a retro cafe. Play with robots and old computers at a totally rad museum exhibit, or skip the traffic and go for a hike right in town on an in-city forest walk or one of these secret pocket hikes. And don't you know it? Our family fun calendar has dozens of great activities for every day of the week.