Sometime in the last few weeks, amid an iOS update or a well-intentioned yet ill-advised choice, the notifications for my reminders on my phone were turned off. The length to which I depend on this function answers the question, Would I remember as much without my phone? The answer is a resounding “no” over the sounds of me asking myself “How did I miss that?!?

This week I have events local to Edmonds, and one not-so-local event, that are definitely worth remembering. The local events are outside, support local groups or small businesses, and have a good chance to find gifts for Mother’s Day. The not-so-local event, Day Out With Thomas in Snoqualmie, is one of those events where it helps to remember to buy the tickets ahead of time since once you start seeing the ads and pics of the event on social media, it can be too late!

The Edmonds Floretum Garden Club is having its 99th annual plant sale on Saturday, May 7, or as it is also known, the day before Mother’s Day. The sale will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the United Methodist Church, though the club says to “Come early for the best selection.”Not only will the plant sale feature plants, but there will be garden tools, big and small, and plenty of decorative options as well. Most importantly for our purpose, there will be a Kid Zone! There will be an “Owelry” with “decorated wooden owls, a creation station for kids to make their own owls, plus fairy gardens made especially for tiny folk.” Kids can also buy or make presents for the occasion. Proceeds from the sale go toward horticultural scholarships, grants and school gardens. For more information on the club and the plant sale, you can visit EdmondsFloretumGardenClub.org.

Edmonds Spring Fest will be held at The Frances Anderson Center Field on Saturday, May 7 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Put on by Urban Craft Uprising, this event features lots of crafty vendors and food trucks. The vendors’ offerings are too plentiful to name, but I noticed incredible birdhouses and lots of paper goods and jewelry booths. While this is not necessarily an event for kids, it is outside and next to a playground, plus, Spring Fest also reminds you that this is a great opportunity to find a gift for a mother in your life. For more information and to “Meet the Makers” visit UrbanUprising.com.

The Watershed Fun Fair will be held on Saturday, May 14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Edmonds’ Willow Creek Salmon and Watershed Education Center. This free event is back after a hiatus due to the pandemic and offers “nature-themed activities just for kids including exhibits, games and crafts.” Susie Schaefer, who helped found the fair 15 years ago, says there are all kinds of neat things in the newly replanted garden. “There’s a bat house, an area where we’ve planted plants just to attract hummingbirds, and a sunning rock for our garter snakes.”

The first 30 guests get their own free potted native plant to take home and the Pilchuck Audubon Society will be there to help visitors plan their own wildlife- and pollinator-friendly gardens which is why I just put the event in my calendar! The chance for my youngest son to feed the juvenile salmon in the hatchery’s rearing pond, and of course the bat house and rescue animals from the Just Frogs Foundation, is how I’m gonna get my kids on board. For more information on the Watershed Fun Fair you can contact Jennifer Leach at jennifer.leach@edmondswa.gov.

While Day Out with Thomas at the Northwest Railway Museum isn’t until this summer, tickets for this often sold out event are officially on sale. A Day Out With Thomas is a train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine, which when we went was a huge hit with my then-Thomas-loving toddler, and a host of other Thomas & Friends activities. There will be storytelling, temporary tattoos, access to the museum exhibit hall, and a chance to meet Sir Topham Hatt, the Controller of the Railway on the Island of Sodor. The museum says to arrive at least a half an hour before your scheduled departure and expect that the activities will take around two hours to experience. A Day Out With Thomas will be held on July 8-10 and the following weekend, July 15-17. Passengers of all ages are welcome though the event is designed for kids through age 8. For more information and to buy tickets you can visit TrainMuseum.org.