Austin, Bella and Madison enjoyed looking at the birds, insects, koi, frogs and squirrels at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, OR. There are several themed gardens to wander through. So, maybe kids would do fine at the Hortense Miller Garden or other garden spots if mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa, would point out creatures of interest while they enjoy looking at all the plants in the gardens. The Oregon Garden has a special Children’s Garden to play in. Trees are shaped like dinosaurs. There’s a troll house to visit. The kids can also do an adventure hunt for a prize at the end of their visit. Doing the hunt kept them very busy and they learned some new things, too!
Oregon Garden
April 24, 2009
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Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, Children's Garden, dinosaurs, family, frogs, fun, garden, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, Green Hour, kids, koi, nature, Oregon Garden, Places to Go, Silverton, troll house | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Hortense Miller Garden & Oregon Garden
April 24, 2009Following up on my interest in her article on Miriam Johnson’s garden, Lori Basheda sent me another story about a special person, Hortense Miller, in Laguna Beach, CA. She started her garden in 1959 and you can take two hour guided tours by reservation for free. Hortense, who passed away at the age of 99, gave the land to the city in 1976.
Austin, Bella and Madison enjoyed looking at the birds, insects and squirrels at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, OR (This is well worth a visit as well – I gave it its own note!!), so maybe kids would do fine here if mom and dad, or grandma and grandpa, would point out creatures of interest while they enjoy looking at all the native plants in the gardens.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Kennedy Space Center (Orlando) & International Spy Museum (Wash DC)
April 23, 2009The ladies at Triana’s Book Club highly recommended two places that their children really enjoyed.
The first one is the Kennedy Space Center. The museum is really interesting.
The second place is the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. The kids loved it!
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Orange County Model Engineers
April 20, 2009Michele told me about this train ride when she heard about our train activities yesterday. The Orange County Model Engineers give free public train rides on their 7 1/2″ gauge Mackerel Flats and Goat Hill Junction Railroad over 5 miles of track on the second full weekend of every month. They are in Fairview Park in Costa Mesa, CA. Here’s a bird’s eye view of the layout.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Skunk Train – Fort Bragg and Willits
April 20, 2009Grandpa Ron and I took the Skunk Train from Willits to Fort Bragg and back several years ago. It is a great family trip through the redwoods. Here’s their photo gallery.
What is a skunk train??? Here’s the explanation from an April 1, 2009, Skunk Train press release:
With the occasional whistles as it chugs through tunnels, over bridges and past open meadows, the train follows the coastal “Redwood Route” as it has since 1885. Built as a logging railroad, the Skunk line began that year as a logical vehicle for moving massive redwood logs to Mendocino Coast sawmills from the rugged back country. Steam passenger service was started in 1904, extended to the town of Willits in 1911, and discontinued in 1925 when the self-powered, yellow “Skunk” rail cars were inaugurated. The little trains were quickly nicknamed for their original gas engines, which prompted folks to say, “You can smell ’em before you can see ’em.”
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National Museum of the American Indian
April 20, 2009The National Museum of the American Indian is one awesome museum with buildings and activities in Washington DC and in New York City. Since this is one of my interest areas, I have been a member of the NMAI even before it opened the DC museum. I have only enjoyed the magazines and on-line material but friends who have visited said the museums are great, too. Here is the calendar of events for both New York City and Washington D.C.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Griffith Park Travel Town
April 19, 2009Today Grandpa Ron surprised me and took me to Travel Town in Griffith Park in LA. He hadn’t been there in a VERY long time. We strolled around all the old steam engines watching the kids climbing all around wherever they could. We rode the train where we sat behind a little boy who was very concerned that we didn’t bring our son with us. We explained we had no sons, just daughters – but we do have two grandsons. They just lived too far away to come with us today!
We visited Walt Disney’s barn and the Los Angeles Live Steamers, too, since it was right next door to Travel Town. We rode around behind the steam engine and enjoyed the trip around that part of the park. We saw Thomas the Train and got some pictures I’ll have to post later.
The visits were free except for the modest tickets to ride the trains.
I’ll write more later….
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Shedd Aquarium in Chicago
April 18, 2009Another one of my favorite places in Chicago is (guess!) Shedd Aquarium! Another aquarium! I should have majored in oceanography! The on-line exhibits are interactive and quite interesting.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
National Aquarium in Baltimore
April 18, 2009OK. I haven’t done a good job getting good stuff out on the East Coast. One of my favorites is the National Aquarium in Baltimore. So enjoy this website. It is fun to travel around as well! I love the multilevel walkway along one of the big tanks.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Earth Day Celebration at WRD on April 18
April 17, 2009Just got a phone call about an Earth Day Celebration tomorrow, April 18, 2009, at the LA Water Replenishment District Offices in Whittier, CA, from 10 am until 2 pm.
Earth Day 2009 is a free community-wide event that seeks to promote environmental awareness and education for the whole family. The event features educational booths, interactive workshops, water recycling tours, puppet shows, train rides, arts and crafts, activities for children, and entertainment such as music, an environmental magician, and more. Learn what you can do to conserve and protect the environment!
Take the Crossroads exit off the 60 Freeway and follow the signs! The link has a map!
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Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 