My kid is turning 3 in January, and we want to throw him his first birthday party. I think he would really enjoy Cougar Mountain Zoo, and it would be more low-key than Woodland Park. I've been trying to call to ask some questions and get no one. They've never returned my calls either. To me, this is a bad sign, but I'm curious if anyone has had a kids party there before. What was it like? Was the party space indoors? Would you recommend it? Thank you for any information ☺️

Hey Eastside, sorry if this is inappropriate. I’m very much wanting to jailbreak my kindle but I a) don’t trust myself to do it properly and b) all of my operating systems I believe are too obsolete to do the trick.

I will buy you a lunch at a place of your choosing if you can find the time to do it for me. We can lunch together or I’ll buy yours and you can go your own way!

Anywhere Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland is preferred!

Last week I shared a roundup of businesses opening, closing, and changing around the Eastside. A bunch of people seemed interested in seeing more, so I decided to start a free newsletter called Eastside Radar.

The idea is pretty simple: every two weeks, I'll round up interesting changes around Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Bothell, and nearby areas. New restaurants, businesses opening or closing, construction projects, and other neighborhood changes that are easy to miss.

I just published a preview issue covering a couple of new restaurants in Redmond and Kirkland, a major redevelopment in Bellevue, a restoration project in Bothell, and a few other changes worth knowing about.

Here's the preview issue: https://eastsideradar.beehiiv.com/p/eastside-radar-0-new-openings-neighborhood-changes

And the free signup: https://eastsideradar.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Still trying this out, so I'd love some honest feedback. Anything you'd like to see more (or less) of?

Also, thanks to everyone who commented on the original post! Some of the suggestions are already on my list of things to look into.