Chico, Calif. Partying College Students and Kid Friendly Locale

When I think of Chico, I think of Chico State and I always think of it as a top 10 party school. The school itself has a lot to offer, don't get me wrong, but its partying reputation precedes it. My own alma mater also suffers from a similar reputation.

Located in the foothills of the Sierras, I never thought that I would say great kid friendly city and Chico in the same breadth ... but in last month's visit we discovered two more kid friendly restaurants and the boys had a blast.

We went to the small town of Oroville, Calif. near Chico to surprise my friend Stephanie on her birthday.  We were really there to see Stephanie, and not to tourist around. However, if we go back, and we're pretty sure we will, there is a wonderful lake and plenty of outdoorsy activities for the boys.

Eating wise, we went to a brunch restaurant that makes our top 10 best kid friendly restaurants. Cafe Coda located on Humbolt Ave in Chico does a kid menu like very few other restaurants. Warning they don't post it online ... but it is themed after monsters, dinosaurs and trains. Caleb and Xander loved their meal. And like our favorite kid friendly restaurants, the adult fare was amazing, and the kids fare didn't pander with chicken nuggets and fries.

We also took the boys to the Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant, which despite being a brewery, had a great menu, and fantastic kid friendly service. We'll have to go back to enjoy more of what the region has to offer... but for a short two day trip it was great.

Enter the School Age Years

Today we dropped Xander off at kindergarten. There were no tears. The teacher came out at 8:40 am and all the kids filed in without their parents. Xander waved happily and joined his new friends. I was surprisingly tear free too. It could be because I've been anticipating this date since we registered in April, since we went to the first school visit ... I worried about everything, from uniforms to after school care and strabismus... The day itself seemed fine.

Then at about lunch I started feeling anxious. How was Xander's day going? Was he fitting in? Was he meeting new friends? Did he like his teacher?

I left work early to pick-up Xander and get his glasses from the eye doctor (to treat the strabismus ...)

He said he had fun at school, but was so tired. He is a big napper, and today was his first nap free day. He lost his back pack, and only had his lunch bag. He didn't eat all of his lunch. He told me that he got a bloody nose after another boy hit him. He had dried blood on his white shirt ... it seemed like a very stressful day to me. But this is a right of passage, and for the first time I don't have the full report from his preschool teacher. I have limited information -- other than what my five-year old shares, and I just have to deal with it.

The school age years will offer us plenty of opportunities for new adventures. Budget cuts means that my little Xander will be off for a week in October, two weeks in December, one week in February and one week in April ... school ends on June 5. We are already starting to plan our 2011 trips ...

Today I started the process of letting go a little. I'm told that the first month of kindergarten is the hardest. He is a sweet, happy kid and he'll find his way. Trusting that strangers will be as kind to my child as he is to everyone he meets. But I can only escort him to the door.

Heading Up Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Near the end of our trip to Michigan we packed in the van and headed to the Upper Peninsula to Soo Junction to ride the Tooneyville Trolley. The train runs through a marsh and ends at the Tahquamenon river.

The Upper Peninsula begins a journey that we would like to take the boys on ... maybe even next year if we don't go to Europe. We'd like to circumnavigate Lake Superior, and roadtrip into Montreal. Jonathan wants the boys to experience a culture where English isn't the predominate language.

We still haven't finalized plans for 2011, but our Michigan trip in July made us want to explore more.

We left first thing in the morning to make the 12:30 pm train. We didn't plan for a radical temperature drop, but that is what we got. When we arrived at the Tooneyville Trolley store we not only got our tickets, but we bought blankets and sweatshirts for the boys.

The train itself was a whole lot of nothing. In fact at first we thought the little green engine would shunt the real engine into place, but that was not the case. There are two trips to select from, one that leaves at 10:30 am and returns at 5 pm and includes a riverboat ride to Tahquamenon Falls. The falls have definitely been recommended, but at $45 for adults, $29 for kids age 9 to 15, and $20 for kids age 4 to 8 that was a very expensive way to see it (kids 3 and under are free). It would also mean getting up and ready early and we were not prepared to do that.  We opted for the second ride where prices were more reasonable -- $15 for adults, $9 for kids 9 to 15,  and $7 for kids age 4 to 8 -- the ride was a one hour and forty five minute ride back and forth from the marsh to the river.

In the marsh we saw cranes and bears. The train operator actually feeds the bears (far from civilization I was assured), so that the mother and cubs know to make an appearance. I'm still not sure how I feel about that.

The boys loved it, although their favorite part was the train table at the store. Go figure. They slept on parts of the train ride. But Xander did get to sit in the engine, Caleb wasn't interested.

After the train ride we stopped at a small friendly family restaurant on the way back for fish, we picked up smoked fish to go. Which was wonderful. The kids fish and chips was excellent as well. 

We also did a last stop by the Point Iroquois light house, before crossing the Mackinac Bridge and heading back to Cheboygan. We packed a lot into the day, but still made it back by 6 pm.