Yesterday Grandpa Ron and I went for a fun hour cruise on the Pacific Spirit from San Pedro. Spirit Marine runs the trips. There are several ones to choose from. There are also dinner cruises and party boats available to rent. On our cruise (as with all of them I am sure) the captain narrated points of interest. We saw lots of baby sea lions sunning themselves on the various platforms available to them. They were so cute! It was $12 for adults and $6 for children. Lots of children were on our cruise. They seemed to enjoy it very much, too!
Spirit Marine Boat Cruise
October 19, 2009
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Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, Long Beach, Ports O Call, Public Harbor Cruise, San Pedro, Shoreline Village, Spirit Marine | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Minivans and Yosemite Black Bears
October 18, 2009What a story! Minivan owners with children planning a trip to Yosemite be forewarned! The Black Bears of Yosemite National Park actually recognize and look for minivans according to a scientific study!!
The story is relatively the same one written by Mark Grossi (McClatchy Newspapers) – but you can tell the news folks are having fun with this one! Here are some sample headlines (along with their stories and photos)!
Yosemite Bears Prefer Minivans for Snack Attacks
The minivan: lunchbox on wheels for Yosemite bears
Yosemite bears love their minivan buffets
Yosemite bears love their minivans
Yosemite’s bears prefer to break into minivans
Mmmm, minivan! The favorite vehicle of Yosemite’s black bears
Minivans buffets for bears in Yosemite area
Yosemite bears break into minivans most, study shows
Yosemite Black Bears Preferred Vehicle? Minivans.
Yosemite bears’ car of choice: the minivan
It’s Official: Picky Yosemite National Park Bears Prefer Their Meals in Minivans
Minivans are as good as honey pots to Yosemite bears, study says
Black Bears Looking for Fast Food Choose Minivans
Your minivan is one big pic-a-nic basket, say Yosemite’s black bears
Here is the actual study: SELECTIVE FORAGING FOR ANTHROPOGENIC RESOURCES BY BLACK BEARS: MINIVANS IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
STEWART W. BRECK (stewart.w.breck@aphis.usda.gov), NATHAN LANCE, AND VICTORIA SEHER
United States Department of Agriculture–Wildlife Service–National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 LaPorte Avenue, Fort
Collins, CO 80521, USA (SWB, NL)
Yosemite National Park, P.O. Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389, USA (VS)
in the Journal of Mammalogy, 90(5):1041–1044, 2009
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Posted by mygrandmasue
The Queen Mary in Long Beach
October 17, 2009The famous Haunted Halloween Terrorfest Shipwreck of the Queen Mary is a fun event of the locals. There are 5 different mazes within the ship. Here is a list of interactive maps of attractions.
Facts and history from the Queen Mary website and another interesting note from LongBeach.com. If you want to visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach, here are some reviews on TripAdvisor and the Calendar of Events.
This video tells of the renovations going on by the new owners. So the “tired” ship will be restored to her old grandeur. That will be awesome!
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Aquarium of the Pacific Whale Count
October 16, 2009The Aquarium of the Pacific, one of my favorite aquariums, just blogged how many whales they’ve seen on their outings this summer. They have some pictures, too. They saw all kinds of whales: Blue, Fin, Minke and Humpback!
Tomorrow the aquarium is having their great Seafare Evening. Should be pretty awesome.
Here is their on-line Learning Center.
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New View for Grandpa!
October 15, 2009
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Labyrinths
October 14, 2009Writing my blog about corn mazes reminded me of the really neat labyrinth at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. There are actually two of them there. One is inside and one is outside. I think walking the labyrinth is so peaceful and cleansing. The labyrinth only has one path so you can’t get lost and mixed up like you can in a corn maze!
A world-wide labyrinth locator is available from The Labyrinth Society and Veriditas. If you think you want to create one of your own, check out angelfire.com for more information. Grace Cathedral also has an online finger meditation you can try – choose your icon and trace your mouse tracks through the labyrinth – with or without music playing. It’s very nice. Give it a try!
This could be a hard activity for the whole family to do – at least with younger children. It’s just not quite the same feeling when you are chasing after way-stepping little ones. And I certainly would not want to explore it with little ones if other people are there trying to walk it either, as it would probably interrupt their meditation. It is a much more personal experience probably more in line with some “me time.” I do believe that with the proper explanations and expectations first worked out with older children, that they might come to enjoy it.
I just know that I really, really love to walk the labyrinth.
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Be Out There!
October 13, 2009From an email I received today , here are some good words to get our kids playing ouside:
For many of us, childhood memories are synonymous with outdoor moments like climbing trees, skipping stones, or gardening. But today’s kids spend twice as much time indoors as their parents and grandparents did, missing out on the simple pleasures and lasting mental and physical health benefits of daily outdoor time.
Studies show that children who spend time in nature are healthier, happier, and become better stewards of the environment. National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is launching
Be Out There, a national movement to return to the nation’s children a connection to the natural world around us and the joy and sustenance it brings.
– Want to play “Wild Things Bingo”? Check out our Activity Guide for Kids — adults can play too!
– Get ideas for planning your own Wild Rumpus Day.
– Start your Be Out There adventure by heading outside to watch for animals near you with help from Wildlife Watch.
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Giant Corn Mazes
October 11, 2009Giant Corn Mazes are getting more and more popular as an October or Halloween family activity. Grandson Austin and the rest of the family went to the pumpkin patch and giant corn maze this weekend. I did some more research and came up with some fun Giant Corn Maze websites. So here they are below!
Visiting Corn Mazes with Kids – Photos as well
Corn Mazes and Pumpkin Patches in the State of Oregon
Portland, OR Family Fun Mazes and Patches
The Corn Maze Pumpkin Junction 10 acre maze – Train Ride & a Maze!
Kackleberry Farm in Louisville, GA
Depner Farms in Caseville, Michigan – Haunted Dino Maze and Maze-O’-Saurus
Cows-n-Corn 9 acre maze, Washington, DC
Kelley Farms in Lexington, KY – giant corn maze & pumpkins
Past Mazes at Pendleton’s Country Market in Lawrence, KS – Pumpkin Patch this weekend
Corn Mazes in the US
Corn Mazes in Canada
Corn Mazes in the UK
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Autumn Leaves
October 10, 2009I love AUTUMN! I love the swirl of color of reds, golds, yellows and greens! I remember raking the leaves into a pile and then jumping into them! It’s a great time to do some family hiking in National Forests or National Parks or reserves or city parks or along the river or …..! The mixes of color are different at every curve in the path.
I found some really fun sites of additional information for you – For my niece Michele here is The Chemistry of Autumn Colors. Google images of fall colors are totally beautiful! The Wikipedia cornucopia of knowledge is bountiful. Here are color cams of colorful foliage. This New England Travel site has several webcams to cyber-watch the New England fall colors. Here is the Mono County, CA fall foliage guide. The Eastern US fall color guide is full of info, too! Any arboretum or park will be gorgeous, but here is a beautiful site from Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Iowa fall colors are described in USA Today. Mount Rushmore is also awesome! The Smokie Mountains are also changing color. In Alaska, Denali National Park is awesome in autumn, according to Margaret Bauman. The Western Michigan Tourist Association offers 26 different scenic driving tours for enjoying the autumn colors. Also a very decent website on autumn color is Total Escape on California off the beaten path.
Here is a science project for kids on Autumn Leaves.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
LA Natural History Museum Spider Pavilion
October 8, 2009I really, really dislike spiders – but I do know that some kids (little & big ones) are fascinated by them. The Los Angeles Natural History Museum has its annual Spider Pavilion going on now through November 8th – what a great (educational) Halloween adventure! Check it out! Here’s the Activities and Programs page.
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MyGrandmaSue 