My father-in-law lives in Seattle. We have had great holidays there, two with our three kids, the last time when they were 10, 7 and 2.
Seattle has a lovely climate. Summer can be hot in July and August, but, not as humid as deep south or Florida etc. It is one of the more desireable places for Americans to migrate to. The whole
Pacific North West region is a good experience. Get out your map. We have gone for at least a month each time and have done the tour of the
Cascades, including
Grand Coulee Dam,
Lake Chelan, Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, Snoqualmie Falls, Mount Rainier Park, the tour of
Olympia, including
Port Townsend,
Hurricane Ridge, the great Chinese restaurant at
Forks, down to
Portland (long drive!) where the coastline and beaches (
Cannon Beach) are superb en route. It is also good to rent somewhere outside the city, such as on
Camano Island or
Tulalip Shore Indian Reservation where you can chill out (may be too quiet for teenagers) by going crabbing and whale watching, if lucky. A must-do is the drive and ferry to
Vancouver and
Victoria, using the ferry to
Port Angeles on the return.
Vancouver City and
Island will cause you to have itchy feet all the next winter in Ireland! Stunning is the only word. It is the best city we've visited. For teenagers in Seattle, there are many attractions not least the
music gig scene,
coffee houses and the
Paul Allen Experience Music Project http://www.emplive.org/,
Boeing Field, the
Space Needle,
Pike Place, the
Acquarium, the ferries to the islands,
NBA, NFL, Baseball. And
then there is a trip to
Mount St. Helens, which has started smoking again. This whole region is heaven for anyone into the
outdoors - treking, mountaineering, hiking, cycling etc. Be careful of the 'wilderness' though as bears are around. In Seattle, if you are a bookworm, the
Elliot Bay Bookshop is a must see. Shopping is good, e.g.
Southcenter Malls, Nordstroms. We flew Dublin to London and direct to Seattle over Greenland on British Airways, going at the end of June to save dosh. This is the best when with young children. If you have friends in Seattle and they are game to map out your trips, you will have a better holiday. If they offer to mind your kids (lots of wine works!), escape on your own and blow some of that SSIA at
Sun Mountain Lodge near
Winthrop (the
Virginian was based around here) in the Cascades region like we did ("Yeh! We really missed ye kids!") - check it out:
http://www.sunmountainlodge.com/
Best of luck!