It was not cheesy. Much to my surprise, the museum was actually spacious, well done, kid friendly, and hey it has a playground with great climbing equipment, that's a star right there.

Seattle has a large Nordic population, so it's reasonable that there's a museum devoted to Nordic immigrants: why they came, how they got here, and what they did.

The first part of the museum has you walk through a village, complete with cow sounds; past a store selling the kinds of things an emigrant might need; and on to the boat to Ellis Island. On the way, the kids got to try on typical Nordic clothing like wooden clogs. I didn't get to read all the blurbs, but the one about getting to Seattle struck me. They walked. New York to Seattle, that's 3,000 miles.

Upstairs, they had rooms devoted to fishing and logging, the main Nordic businesses, and each country got their own room. Only one hundred and years ago there was a logging camp one mile from where I live now. Right here was the edge of the wilderness.

The kids had a good time, and I would strongly recommend it for a rainy holiday afternoon.