The Grandparents.com website is logging the number of hours grandparents spend outside with their grandchildren this summer. For every hour logged Grandparents.com will donate to KaBOOM! to bringing play into the lives of children. Remember my blog about KABOOM!, finding Playspaces and Julianne Hough earlier? This effort to log outside activity is a fun one for grandparents to get involved in!
Go Play Outside!
June 5, 2009
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Places to Explore, Routine Activity | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, Green Hour, KaBOOM, kids, playspaces, Routine Activity | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
A Children’s Place – Portland, OR
June 3, 2009Special “Summer Thursday” events are planned all summer long (6/18-8/27) at A Children’s Place located at 4807 NE Fremont St in Portland, OR. At 1 pm each Thursday the store will host fun and artsy activities. See Summer Thursday at ACP on the main page of the store.
A Children’s Place Bookstore Story Time! meets every Thursday morning, 10:30-11:00. Parents and little ones are welcome for warm cheer and wonderful storytelling.
Some of the photo/drawings in my book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! are from the Portland area – because that is where Austin, the grandson in the book, lives!
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Children’s Museum at La Habra – Free Saturday
June 1, 2009The first Saturday of every month is a free day at the Children’s Museum in La Habra, thanks to funding from Target. Ring of Fire is the theme from the current exhibit (through June 14th) about volcanoes, earthquakes and other causes of earth movement. They are open 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday. For more info check out www.lhccm.org or call 562-905-9793. I also have more info on an earlier blog here.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Knott’s Chicken Memories Needed!
May 31, 2009Calling all Knott’s Chicken dinner lovers! That means you, Leilani!! The Orange County Register is looking for memories (email them to mmello@ocregister.com) for an upcoming story on the Knott’s Berry Farm – Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant in honor of its 75th birthday. Here’s the story. Leilani had us laughing with her stories, so I am sure there are lots more out there. Maybe I can get Leilani to share her story here! I’ll try!!
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Attention, Grandma! A Great Father’s Day Gift For Grandpa!
May 30, 2009Attention, Grandmas!!!
Consider getting Grandpa Do It! I Do It, Too! for Grandpa for father’s Day!
Every day experiences turn into special moments for Grandpa Ron and Grandson Austin. The book captures some of those moments. It is a picture book with Austin-like sentences to describe the pictures. Most of the pictures are from photographs when 2 and a half year old Austi spent a week with us in Reno. Others are from Seal Beach and Long Beach, CA and the Portland, OR area. I turned the photos into drawings using photo applications.
It hits on the message that we may seldom be given the opportunity to know the impact we make on another, even very young, individual. Live as though it will happen always and then cherish the memories. It demonstrates “family relationship togetherness” and little ones watching and learning from grown-ups – namely grandpa! It helps foster self-esteem and demonstrate how every day activities can be special. Just taking the time to go places, explaining things to kids and playing with the kids can be something they remember for the rest of their lives.
There are some blank pages at the end of the book for you to put your favorite family photos or memories or the kids could draw themselves with their family. When they are all grown up 20 years later it will be fun to rediscover those special pages at the end!
The story has a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 1.8.
The book is printed in the USA.
I call it a children’s book. Grandpa Ron calls it a grandparent’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. Oh, and moms and dads get their own flashbacks, too!
I do it, too!!
Click the Amazon link on the right hand side of this page or click here to purchase!
Resellers, Non-profits and Libraries can obtain copies at a discount from BookSurge Customer Service 1-866-308-6235 Option 6. It only takes about 10 minutes to set up an account.
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Thinker Toys
May 30, 2009One shop Grandpa Ron and I ALWAYS visit when we are in Carmel, CA, is Thinker Toys. It is on the corner of 7th and San Carlos. There are educational toys galore! There’s trains and books and games and just all kinds of play things! We must admit that we do enjoy seeing all the games we grew up with as well! 🙂
Their Motto is: “Cool Toys for Thinking Kids of All Ages”
On-Line Motto is: “Great Toys for Thinking Kids of All Ages”
There is also a shop at 480 DelMonte Center in Monterey, CA.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
The Huntington – Library, Art Collection, and Gardens
May 29, 2009The Huntington is a beautiful place once owned by Henry E Huntington of railroad and Southern CA real estate fame. During his lifetime he collected fine and rare books to create one of the best libraries in the world, accumulated an impressive collection of British art – including Blue Boy and Pinkie, and constructed 130 acres into beautiful botanically-significant gardens.
The camillias are gorgeous – and one of the largest collections in the US.
The Huntington is at 1151 Oxford Rd in San Marino, Ca.
626-405-2100
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Fort Atkinson, WI, Indian Mounds
May 27, 2009Growing up in Fort Atkinson, WI, we periodically visited the local Indian Mounds in Indian Mounds Park as a school trip. There are eleven mounds consisting of tapering linear, conical, bird and turtle mounds. I found them fascinating back when I was 10 but I never thought I’d be studying Indian civilization when I was all grown up! Here is a list of Indian mound parks in Wisconsin (You have to scroll down to Jefferson County for Fort Atkinson.). The Princess Mound is at the Lake Mills Aztalan Museum at the Aztalan State Park, the site of a ceremonial and residential Native American town established around 1100 AD.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Bonneville Dam
May 27, 2009Austin and Bella had fun watching the fish going up the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam in Cascade Locks, Oregon near the Columbia River Gorge. In May, a huge ball of sturgeon was discovered at the base of the dam by fisheries biologists, who at first thought it was debris. Sturgeon are one of the Columbia’s largest and most ancient fish. We have enjoyed feeding the fish and strolling the grounds at Bonneville Dam on several ocassions.
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Fishing or Birding with Grandpa
May 25, 2009A great place to fish or birdwatch with Grandpa is Horseshoe Lake in Southern Illinois near Cairo. It has lots of large-mouth bass and catfish. The whole lake is 4 feet deep (3 ft average). It used to be part of the Mississippi River. There are 15 bald eagles in the Horseshoe Lake area in winter – they like the over 150,000 Canadian Geese that show up too! There is another Horseshoe Lake closer to St. Louis that has Cahokian significance and also the same kind of outdoor experiences available: fishing, boating, hiking, camping, birding and picnic areas.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 