March 14, 2010
Grandpa Ron and I had a great Sunday! We started by going to the Wayfarer’s Chapel for the Sunday service. The celebrant, Jonathan Mitchell was brilliant as always. We really get a lot out of the services. The chapel is a very special, spiritual place for us. To top it off, the Wayfarer’s Chapel Gift Shop ordered more copies of my book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! as they had sold out of the ones they had! Woo! Hoo! After a wonderful patio lunch in the warm sun and light ocean breeze at the San Pedro Doubletree Hotel, we did a quick tour of the harbor and then did our weekend chores. It was a super day!
Check out ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂
Leave a Comment » | 
Places to Explore | Tagged: Doubletree Hotel San Pedro, Rancho Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Wayfarer's Chapel | 
Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
March 12, 2010
Known as the “shortest railway in the world,” the Los Angeles landmark Angels Flight is planned to reopen on April 15th with its runs up and down Bunker Hill. Current plans are that it will still only cost a quarter, but that might change in the future. It had closed following the death of an 83 year old man and injuries to seven others when the brakes failed on one of the cars in 2001. The California Public Utilities Commission has recertified the railway after Angels Flight Railway Company fixed the defects that caused the accident.
Joe Thompson, the Cable Car Guy, has this Angels Flight info on his website. Dace Taube’s Angel Flight page has a 1996 Quicktime movie and several old photographs from 1898-1960. Try this link from LAist of the funicular railway for a Rich Alossi video of test runs last January as noted by Zach Behrens. Check out Mike Ebert’s Virtual Ride from Saturday, Feb. 24, 1996, when it reopened a short distance away from its original site after an almost 27 year absence.
Check out more ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! 🙂
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: Angels Flight, Bunker Hill, California Plaza, child, children, Dace Taube, Downtown LA, family, fun, funicular, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Hill Street, Joe Thompson, kids, LAist, Los Angeles, Mike Ebert, Places to Go, railroad, railway, Rich Alossi, Shortest Railway in the World, transit, transportation, Zach Behrins | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
March 11, 2010
When our daughter was small she loved to go to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose, CA. A couple years ago it closed. Just saw that there will be a great Re-Opening on March 20, 2010. Check out the photos in the San Jose Mercury News article By Mayra Flores De Marcotte! How great will that be for the young adults with small children of their own who remembered the fun they had in the park so long ago! As part of the Measure P Safe Neighborhood Parks and Recreation bond measure approved by voters in 2000, the park closed in 2008 to undergo a $72 million green renovation. Sneak-A-Peek of the ‘new’ park here! Here’s a list of the Yelp Old Memories – it will be fun to see how the new ones after March 20 will compare!
Check out other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! 🙂
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, garden, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Green Hour, Happy Hollow, Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, Happy Hollow Zoo, kids, Mayra Flores De Marcotte, nature, nature study, Places to Go, San Jose | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
March 10, 2010
Help Monterey Bay Aquarium‘s Executive Director Julie Packard in her latest action alert to save sea otters like Kit. The Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program has been trying to save the threatened southern sea otter since 1984.
See my other sea otter mentions on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com, a website about and for grandparents, parents and their special children in their lives by award-winning author Grandma Sue. 🙂
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities, People Who Make A Difference, Places to Explore | Tagged: Julie Packard, Monterey, Monterey Bay, Monterey Bay Aquarium, sea otter, sea otter babies, sea otter baby, sea otter research and conservation, Sea Otter Research and Recovery Act (H.R. 556), SORAC | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
March 7, 2010
The Orange County Register (6 March 2010) ran an article Barn Owl webcam a surprise hit about the webcam at Starr Ranch Sanctuary. That got me googling for more barn owl info and I found some very interesting links!
We thought we had a barn owl that loves to perch on our chimney in Reno, almost always at night but sometimes at dusk. There is another one in the neighborhood that answers his/her calls. It’s neat but also seems to follow the old Apache Indian folklore of predicting a death. According to the same owl mythology link in the Sierras (where Reno is), native Indians believed the Great Horned Owl captured the souls of the dead and carried them to the underworld. Thanks to the recordings of the different owl calls on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site, we now realize it is a Great Horned Owl. We reviewed all the recordings on the owl pages and “our owl” call is exactly like the one recorded for the Great Horned Owl – only it can go on and on and on and on….. Ah, according to the Oregon Zoo, mating season can be as early as February – so maybe that was the reason! It was February that loooong night of owl calls. I also learned that the female has the lower voice, but the response was too faint to distinguish which was lower…. 🙂
Here’s a radio show dedicated to birds called Birdnote.
The Hungry Owl Project has a camsite and photos as well.
I have other birding blogs and other child activities at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 😮
1 Comment | Backyard Activities, Nature Activities | Tagged: Audubon Society, Barn Owl, child, children, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Great Horned Owl, Hungry Owl Project, kids, Oregon Zoo, owl, owl calls, owl webcam, owls, portland, Reno, Starr Ranch Santuary | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
March 1, 2010
The new Polar Bear Plunge is due to reopen with new features on March 26, 2010, at the San Diego Zoo! Until it opens, you can learn a little about polar bears right at this San Diego Zoo link. I have other links at my 11/11/09 blog here – just in case you missed it! 😉
The San Diego Zoo is very excited to have the exhibit with new activities for people to explore a day in the life of a polar bear.
Check out other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too!
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, Chinook, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Kalluk, kids, nature, Places to Go, polar bear, San Diego, San Diego Zoo, Tatqiq, zoo | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
February 24, 2010
With all the snow we got in the last several days, this article by Maggie O’Neil of the Reno Gazette-Journal is quite timely! Check out For tubing adventures, it’s all downhill for reviews of the local resorts: Boreal Mountain Resort, Donner Ski Ranch, Granlibakken Ski and Snowboard, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort, Soda Springs Mountain Resort, Squaw Valley USA, and Tahoe Donner. There are other links here at NewToReno.com Winter Sports.
Check out the Reno-Tahoe website on your own – here’s the tubing page. For organized trips check out Sierra Adventures.
Personally, I liked the kids activities at Soda Springs the best – especially the tubing carousels at Planet Snow Kids.
For more ideas and activities, check out my other blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities, Sport Activity | Tagged: Boreal Mountain Resort, child, Donner Ski Ranch, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Granlibakken Ski and Snowboard, Heavenly Mountain Resort, kids, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Mountain Resorts, Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, Places to Go, Playing with Children, Reno, Reno area, Reno Snow Activities, Reno-Tahoe, Reno/Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort, Snow Activities, Soda Springs Mountain Resort, Squaw Valley USA, Tahoe Donner, Tubing | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
February 21, 2010
The National Park Service has a great Kid’s page called Webrangers and you get to the fun stuff through the entry gate page by clicking the Enter button. I had fun solving the two train mysteries – click on the New Activity Railroad Connection to learn how to drive the steam engine and blow the whistle – among other things – while earning clues to solve the mystery. The Railroad Connection also has a nice rail/national park connection in the second mystery. I entered the site as a visitor. It looks like you have to sign up to do the other activities. Ah, ha! No – I was given the key. Tom Davies, from the WebRangers website, wrote me to say you can get in to the other WebRangers activities without signing up. From the entry page, just click on the “Just Visit” button and then, on the next page, “Come in and look around.”
More than 108,000 people have signed up to become WebRangers and he knows that many of them are not kids! You can read his note by clicking on the 1 comment at the end of this entry or by clicking on the title to get to its own page where the comment will be at the end. 🙂
You can find more of my notes at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂
1 Comment | Indoor Activities | Tagged: locomotive, National Park Service, National Parks, railroad, steam engineer, train conductor, train engineer, trains, Webranger | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
February 19, 2010
I was “googling around” for toddler activities the other day when I came across Jean Warren and her fabulous preschoolexpress.com with wonderful ideas and activities for parents and teachers to do with toddlers and preschoolers. Do check it out – over and over again! Of course I loved the train theme (so does Grandpa Ron!) but all the ideas for learning, skill building, reading, singing, games, activities, parties, food and cooking with kids, etc., etc., etc., just go on and on! You’ll surely find some stations that will keep your toddler engaged and eager for more! Do check it out!
You can also check out my other blogposts at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/ for ideas and activities that I have noted! 🙂
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, Routine Activity | Tagged: child, child art, childhood games, children, Children's Arts & Crafts, children's crafts, Children's Imaginations, children's music, children's songs, Cooking with Children, Jean Warren, New Children's Books, Playing with Children, preschool, preschool activities, preschoolers, rainy day fun, teaching reading, teaching reading at home, Toddler, toddler games, toddler learning, toddler parties, toddler party, Toddler Self-Esteem, toddler singing, toddlers | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
February 17, 2010
Here’s something fun to try with your kids! It’s the Lost Ladybug Project! There’s Ladybug Learning, How to Participate, and How to Find and Photograph Ladybugs. I discovered this project by reading my newsletter from Kids Garden News.
Do check out my other ideas and kids activities at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, insects, kids, Kids Garden News, lady bug, lady bugs, Lost Ladybug Project, nature | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 