The Los Angeles Zoo will open their new Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel to the pubic on October 27, 2011. Jerry Moss (A&M Records cofounder) and his wife Ann Moss are the carousel’s major donors. Here are some LA Times Carousel Photos. There are some common animals as well as the endangered ones – and a unicorn! All the animals have friendly faces on purpose. Some have funny stories about their inclusion – like the skunk because there are so many of them “freeloading” at the zoo. If you are looking for something-not-so-scary for the family to enjoy around this Halloween or any time, check out the new carousel from Oct 27 on!
When we were in the airport last weekend to catch a JetBlue plane to Chicago, a billboard caught my eye. It advertises a joint effort between JetBlue and PBS that has been developed to keep kids reading! You’ll find fun reading activities provided by PBS KIDS® and helpful reading tips for children of all reading levels. Check it out! Let’s Read is the main page. There are many activities on the Activities page. It is well worth your time to find some fun ways to get your children reading more enthusiastically!
Yesterday Grandpa Ron and I planted 4 rose bushes – two of them replaced bushes that died earlier this year and two are in new spots. Got the drip system working for them and gave new drips to the near-by roses as well. Today I planted about 20 daffodil bulbs….only have about a hundred left to go!!!! I only hope the critters leave them alone!! It sure would be more fun if we had Austin to help us! Too bad he lives so far away! Ah, well…. It would have been fun to have him throw the bulbs and then together we’d plant them where they landed…
Grandpa Ron and I have been traveling every weekend for almost two months! I hope it won’t be so long between posts from now on, but I’m not sure if the traveling is going to settle down soon or not! We experienced first-hand a wonderful family place for those of you in the Madison, Wisconsin area.
We discovered a fun and FREE zoo when we were in Madison two weekends ago for my niece’s wedding. It is called the Henry Vilas Zoo. We got some great pictures!
For the 5k/10k runners and walkers reading this – on Sunday, September 25th at 10 am, the 6th annual Zoo Run Run (a 5k/10k walk and run) will take place past the zoo and through the beautiful Vilas neighborhood.
Here are some videos on the zoo website. The first one is a tour of the zoo.
I’ll post some more photos below.
Seems like the polar bear is saying, ” I forget… Do I even like carrots?”
The promise of another train ride is what prompted us to visit the zoo. However, in our usual fashion, by the time we meandered around the zoo and found the train, the train was already being put to bed for the night. Oh, well, maybe we’ll get another chance some other day! This is a beautiful zoo and a wonderful outing for the famly!
Six brand new, quail-egg-sized baby quail huddled very close together under the bush last weekend. These individual babies are almost impossible to distinguish from the bark shavings and dirt and each other. Do you see them? Once you see the heads in the one picture, if you go back to the other pictures, you can tell head markings from wings and backs. Have some fun! Then there are a few pictures of older babies and their parents.
You are in for a treat if you haven’t done this before — you should check out the the Washington DC fireworks on PBS Television on the Fourth of July! The last two years were just AWESOME!! PBS TV runs the program live and then re-runs it again for those who missed it! Here is the link: http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/
Grandpa Ron calls it a grandparent’s book. I call it a children’s book. Read it and decide for yourself! The kids enjoy talking about the activities and details in the pictures. The adults remember their own special moments – either as kids with their grandparents or as grandparents with their grandkids. Dads and moms get their own flashbacks, too!
The Marble Bluff Fish Passage Facility is located near Nixon, NV at Marble Bluff Dam, on the delta of the Truckee River where it ends at Pyramid Lake. The Cui-ui are spawning in large numbers this year. This endangered sucker fish is found only in Pyramid Lake in Nevada. There is a series of locks, ladders and bypasses to help the fish get up the Truckee River to lay their eggs. Jeff Delong of the Reno Gazette-Journal has a front page article With cui-ui thriving, the whole river teems with several great photos – one with a whole flock of white pelicans waiting for the fish to fly out of the water right into their mouths…well, almost! This year may be a record run thanks to all the winter snow we had.
There are several you-tube videos of the fish ladders from last year’s run. Here’s one. When it is done it will show you more choices as well.
One fun weekend project you could have with your young family members – if you are in the Reno/Sparks, NV area – is to make a bird house from an ‘easy’ (or a ‘more complex’) bird house kit available for purchase at Rail City Garden Center at 1720 Brierley Way in Sparks. They also had a blog post on building bird houses. Here is some on-line help from Birdwatching-Bliss and kits from Bird Watching Now.
Do you have a child who is crazy about horses?
Have you always wanted to ride?
Did you ride when you were a kid and are now ready to ride again?
Have you ridden all your life and still love it?
Come join the fun with a horse-filled day!
Watch demonstrations!
Meet riders, trainers, veterinarians and farriers!
Learn about everything equine on the hill!
This event is FREE for all horse lovers!
The horse community on the Palos Verdes Peninsula offers something for just about every equine enthusiast – from a one-time trail ride to riding competitively – and everything in between! It is all there!
They offer:
Summer pony camps for kids 3 years and older
Scenic trail rides
Pony clubs
English riding lessons
Western riding lessons
Dressage riding lessons
Horses to lease
Junior/adult drill team
Western events (cutting,roping, penning)
Horse shows
Tack sale
For more information contact Kelly Yates at jerseyj2@cox.net or 310-704-7226.
Posted by mygrandmasue 
MyGrandmaSue 