October 10, 2009
I 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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Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: Alaska, Autumn, Autumn Colors, Autumn Foliage, Autumn Leaves, Autumn Photographs, Autumn Photos, California, chemistry, child, children, Denali National Park, Eastern US, Fall, Fall Colors, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Green Hour, hiking, kids, Longwood Gardens, Michigan, Mono County, Mount Rushmore, nature, New England, Pennsylvania, Places to Go, Science Project | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
October 8, 2009
I 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.
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, LA Natural History Museum, museum, Places to Go, rainy day, spider pavilion, spiders | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 6, 2009
What a string of kites last Saturday! Jonathan Smith, Staff Writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and Stephen Carr, Staff Photographer, had a great article “Winds of tradition” in Monday’s paper. The front page has a super photo of Grandfather Tony Kwon helping his grandson Clay fly a kite. Here is the link for all the pictures. Here is also The Orange County Register version by Jaimee Lynn Fletcher with photos by Michael Goulding. A blog post by Long Beach Family covers the festival. (This blog covers local family things to do.)
The festival was sponsored by The Japan America Society of Southern California (JASSC) and the Up Up & Away Kite Club. It’s free to the public and attracts around 10,000 visitors a year.
Japanese Kite Master Mikio Toki visited from his home and kite workshop in Chiba, Japan, to share his kites. Mattel sponsored workshops where kids could build their own paper kites. The Japanese Taiko drumming corp Daion Taiko performed a traditional drumming show to excite the crowd.
In spite of the strong wind, it was a lot of fun!
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: 13th Annual Japan America Kite Festival, beach, child, children, Daion Taiko, family, flying kites, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Jaimee Lynn Fletcher, Jonathan Smith, kids, Kite Flying, Kite Master Mikio Toki, Michael Goulding, Places to Go, Seal Beach, Stephen Carr, Taiko Drumming, Tony Kwon | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 5, 2009
Linnea Linkus has a very special exhibit called ‘Healing’ of 35 portraits of children with special needs displayed to benefit The Steel Magnolias, the fundraising group of Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s Center in Long Beach, CA. I read about it in the Long Beach Press-Telegram in an article written by Sue Manning of The Associated Press. Linnea Linkus’ photography is absolutely beautiful. Do explore her website and her blog! Perhaps consider purchasing her special book Healing which will also benefit The Steel Magnolias.
The ‘Healing’ exhibit opened last Friday, October 2, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. On October 10 the GLOBAL public debut of ‘Healing’ will be at the Phantom Galleries LA, 390 E. 3rd St in Long Beach at 8 pm.
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, People Who Make A Difference, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, children with special needs, daughter, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandson, Healing Exhibit, Linnea Linkus, Long Beach, Miller Childrens Center, Photography, portraits, son, special needs children, Steel Magnolias, Stramski Children's Development Center | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 4, 2009
Grandpa Ron and I went to the Orange County Children’s Book Festival today at Orange Coast College campus in Costa Mesa today. It was the sixth annual one. The weather was perfect – okay, a little windy. Lots of families came out to see the activities and authors, illustrators and other child-related booths. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot! I had the best time talking to the Barrio Writers from Santa Ana and their sponsor, Sarah Rafael Garcia – a writer in her own right! I look forward to the Barrio Writers’ first book to be released this winter. They even have a blog! Sounds like they have been having a lot of fun putting it all together! Bought Willa Robinson’s book for my niece who will be teaching soon after talking to Willa for quite a bit. I also got to meet Ashley Wolff, whose book I Call My Grandpa Papa I had pre-ordered on Amazon before it was published. We also met the co-founder of the festival, Pat Burns, in her booth for GrandparentsRock.com.
Next year we’ll look forward to it! This year we just happened to see it written up in the Orange County Register!
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: Ashley Wolff, Barrio Writers, child, children, Children's Book Festival, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, kids, Orange County, Pat Burns, Places to Go, Sarah Rafael Garcia, Willa Robinson | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 3, 2009
Today’s read from the Long Beach Press-Telegram had a great little story by John Canalis, a writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, about soccer as a bond between the generations. John gave me permission to reprint it here for your enjoyment. He explores his daughter’s love of soccer in comparison with his and his dad’s passion for the game.
Leave a Comment » | People Who Make A Difference, Sport Activity | Tagged: child, children, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandpa, John Canalis, kids, Long Beach, Long Beach Press-Telegram, organized play, soccer | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 2, 2009
Austin has mastered riding his two-wheeler without training wheels! He’s 3 and a half years old. One more time, Austin says, “I Do It, Too!” Here’s his video! Enjoy!
See what else Austin has learned to do in Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too!
Leave a Comment » | Routine Activity | Tagged: biking, child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, kids, Places to Go | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 1, 2009
The King Tut exhibit is back at the San Francisco de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Marilyn Newton of the Reno Gazette-Journal wrote a great article about it and has some great photos posted.
Information for visiting King Tut!
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, de Young Museum, family, fun, Golden Gate Park, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, kids, museum, Places to Go, San Francisco | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
September 30, 2009
My walking buddy and I have been wearing our Sketchers Shape-Ups for about a month and a half now while we do our walk. We are sure they are making a difference in our bodies. Our pants are loose and our legs look better than they have in a long time! We are having fun, too! Renee Moilanen wrote an article With new workout fashions, fitness is on a roll about these various shoes for working your body that was in the Long Beach Press-Telegram and I see it is on the web multiple times as well! I don’t know about not going to the gym to workout because I do that, too. Actually, it is sometimes interesting to wear these shoes as I work out in the gym because my balance point is different. I think it’s fun! On momlogic.com there is a blog about Shape-Ups. Here is the Sketchers website info. walking.org likes them, too!
I love my Sketchers Shape-Ups! I feel my posture is better. I know my butt and legs have felt the work-out and I think they are looking much better – just in the month and a half or so that I’ve been wearing them. I try to walk 3+ miles 3 times a week. People have also commented about my weight loss – but I have been watching what I eat so to lose the weight as well. The shoes are fun to wear. I wear them all day long. I even work out in the gym with them – gives a whole new balance act performance. I would recommend them to anyone trying to get a few more calories wrung out while going through their busy day.
Leave a Comment » | Routine Activity | Tagged: exercise, Renee Moilanen, Shape-Ups, Sketchers, walking | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 