Roadtrip Up the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with Kids

In one day we drove 300 miles. The equivalent of San Francisco to Los Angeles. And on that adventure we fed goats, took a picture with a baby black bear and climbed up and down 200 steps. It was awesome!

Last year when we visited my Aunt and Uncle we ventured across the Mackinac Bridge, and up the Upper Peninsula, what locals call the UP. We road a train, and saw a lighthouse. This time around we were far more ambitious, and the boys had a blast.

We started our day at the Garlyn Zoo. A small, fairly basic zoo that features three different opportunities to feed wildlife. Although only the goats were interested in being fed. Unlike modern petting zoos, you cannot actually pet the animals, they are safely contained behind fences (probably to protect the animals more than the little hands of little kids). The others shied away from the kibble. It was a very simple zoo, you could cover the terrain in less than an hour -- but the boys had fun.

Afterward we headed to Oswald's Bear Ranch where you can have your picture taken with a baby black bear. Now, I was a little wary of the whole taking small kids and getting up close and personal with wildlife. But it was well managed, and overall a pretty cool experience. We also got to see the bear exhibits which were well maintained.

We then headed to Tahquamenon Falls, where we got to hike and climb 200 steps to see the Falls from every angle. The hiking trail is mostly paved, but the view is lovely, and it was great to get out and walk around for a little while.

You would think that this was too much in one day, but the boys, including my 10 year old nephew, all enjoyed the adventure.

Afterward we headed to Wilcox Fish House Restaurant for whitefish. An wonderful day in the UP.

The State of Fairs

One of our excursions while we were in Michigan was to go to the Cheboygan County Fair. Now, mind you, I haven't been to a fair in 25 years (if you don't count a couple of trips to a Renaissance Fair in my twenties). But the thing I didn't like about fairs when I was a teenager is that they seemed expensive. At the time I could easily blow $10 of my hard earned babysitting money on spinny rides and cotton candy.

In fact whenever we go to a park like Legoland or Great America I do the fair calculation in my head to make sure it was money well spent. It costs $2 for a ride, so if you spend $17 on admission you need to ride on nine attractions to break even.

Well, to my surprise the costs of fairs has become more prohibitive. Considering the state of the economy, the rides are now going for $3 to $4 a person (no discount for kids). For unlimited rides it is $17 a person (the same cost as Legoland, with their 2 for 1 coupons). Suddenly a family of four is out $68 (not including admission) before you ever buy food.

So, we skipped the rides, and headed to the 4H attractions. Seeing livestock and free horse shows is always fun, and there was even a place where you could feed the animals -- for $5! Does anyone ever research the price points for their target markets anymore? We did fork over $5 and the three boys split up the food to feed the cows, goats, llamas and sheep.

The fair was pretty empty, even on kids day, and free admission for kids before a certain time. The fair is a throwback. I hadn't been in a long time, and I probably won't go to one again.

Enter the School Age Years: Two

Two in school! Today Caleb started Kindergarten. As I sat next to the nervous mother of Caleb with a K in the Kindergarten playground, I remember feeling the same way back in August 2010. I don't think I breathed all that day, and didn't feel comfortable with the whole elementary school thing until sometime in November.

But with my number two, my youngest, everything seems... well, easy and painless. In fact even empowering.

It helps that Caleb has the same Kindergarten teacher as Xander, and that we really like her. It also helps that we're no longer spending 40 minutes each morning, and each evening shuttling between elementary and preschool and home. Perhaps, I'll even start exercising again. 

And I didn't read as much into Caleb's silence tonight. He really was too tired to talk about Kindergarten, so very, very tired. But that is a plight of a newly minted Kindergartener.

We have now fully entered the school age years! Onward and upward!

Into the Woods ... with Kids: Our Michigan Trip

A couple of years ago I read the book, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, about modern children completely disconnected from nature, what Louv called "nature-deficit disorder." Jonathan and I have made an effort to help our boys fall in love with nature, and appreciate little things like watching fish, or hunting for frogs or berry picking.

This was one of the reasons that, when we realized we wouldn't be able to swing an international trip this year, we decided to take the boys back to Michigan and visit my Aunt and Uncle. The added bonus was that my nephew Finn was visiting, and the boys got the opportunity to get to know their 10-year old cousin.

This trip was wonderful. It was also a strange dichotomy between computers, iPads and iPods and quiet moments bent over a dock watching frogs watch us. In our suburban lifestyle the way we parents get our children off the couch is through sports. In fact soccer practice kicks off this week as well as the new school year.

But my oldest Xander does not like sports. His favorite six-year old joke is "My favorite sport is ... Moo" -- very surrealist of him. So he tends toward sedentary  activities like playing computer games or watching television. But with a lake in the backyard, wild blackberries down the dirt road on a hiking trail and surrounded by woods -- there was plenty of wonderful distractions to get him off the couch and out in the world. Our favorite activities were blackberry picking, swimming in the lake, looking for wildlife (mostly fish, frogs and loons)

It was also fantastic to see him play with his cousin Finn who is also not that interested in sports. It reminded me that there is a whole wide world of kids and activities that don't involve a ball or a stick. Now that we are back to the grind, I'll have to make sure that we take the time to get the boys out and into the woods.