Visiting the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County & the Charles Schulz Museum

Last weekend was the second anniversary of my mum’s passing. We took the kids to do something fun, taking a weekend away to drive up to Santa Rosa and staying over night. We visited both the Charles Schulz museum and the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, both in central Santa Rosa. I think my Mom enjoyed laughing along with her grandson as he read all of the Peanuts comics out loud with big belly laughs. Her spirit that I carry in my heart certainly did.

I get so emotional on my kids birthdays because I know she’d be upset to miss out. Their birthdays also anchor the passing of time in a much more obvious way for me. But the anniversary of her death? I know her spirit rejoices that she is not trapped in a body that can’t feed or clothe itself or talk. This day was the day she was delivered from the pain and suffering and indignity of the ICU and she saw her dad again. I miss her but I’m glad I got to witness the end of misery and the departure of her soul to something better. She sends me signs all the time that she’s not far, that she is happy. And just that my heart felt at peace last weekend tells me she’s at peace too.

The Trip

We drove up on a Saturday morning, a two-hour drive from our home in Silicon Valley, California. We stopped for chocolate chip pancakes at Denny’s along the way, and then pulled into the shaded parking lot of the Charles Schulz museum. I used my North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Membership that I bought through my local Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum and got free admission for my entire family, saving us $34.

Charles Schulz passed away in 2000. The date surprised me, that it was so long ago, before 9/11 – because his legacy is still very much alive and whole new generations of children have grown up with his long-lasting work. Watching the Peanuts classics with my kids on Apple TV+, his stories have a timeless feeling. My son has been reading his dad’s copies of the Peanuts comics. This puts this little ache of love in my heart -a combined feeling of nostalgia and love for when your child loves something you loved as a child. (side note: is there a word for that?). This feeling is made all the more sweeter when it is married to a love for reading.

If I could have changed anything about our visit to the Charles Schulz museum, I would have worn pants and a sweater so that we could go next door to where Charles Schulz built an ice skating rink next to his studio. The rink is attached to the Warm Puppy café where he ate his breakfast and lunch every day. My kids and I could have gone ice skating, which would have been so much fun – just not in shorts! Oh well, next time.

To complement our visit to the Charles Schulz museum, my son also read Who was Charles Schulz? by Joan Holub and many Peanuts comics.

After the museum, we stopped by to visit an old friend and bandmate who lives up in Santa Rosa. Have I ever told you that my husband and I used to be in a cover band called the Duvets, in our life before kids? It was so nice to catch up with her and remember old times singing together.

We stayed over night, staying at the Holiday Inn Express just off highway 101. It was a predictable Holiday Inn Express – exactly as you’d expect and included breakfast. It had a pool, but it was *right next to* the US 101 freeway, so it was noisy and windy. I probably wouldn’t choose this hotel to stay at again. I’d pick one with a pool in a better location.

The next morning we headed to the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County. I had no idea what to expect and WOW, I was blown away. To any of my friends and readers with young kids – this museum is definitely worth a visit! It had so many cozy inviting spaces for imaginative play: A dental office; a hospital; a tree house; a train table; a doll house; a space area complete with rocket ship, lunar module, and mission control command center desks; an outdoor area with tricycles and child-sized rickshaws, climbing structures, an old helicopter, a water table, a rocky river area, an art area, and musical instruments made from junk. There was so much to do and around every corner, something else was inspiring and inviting my kids into play. We were there for almost 3 hours. The museum had easily accessible bathrooms, water fountains – and even had an empanada vendor if you forgot to bring lunch.

After the museum, we stopped at quaint brunch place called The Twins in Cotati for more chocolate chip pancakes, and drove home.

Travel is getting easier with my kids – and these spots in Santa Rosa made for a great family-friendly weekend away.

Special shout out to my friend Val for dog-sitting our dog, Olive. Thank you Val! Her black lab and Olive are now besties. How cute are they?

Your friend,

-Heather

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