El Dorado Nature Trail Post-Holiday Walk

December 19, 2009

A park naturalist at the El Dorado Nature Center will be guiding a post-holiday trail walk on December 26 from 10 am until noon. The cost is $3/person and you must register in advance. Call 562-570-1745. Walk off some of those Christmas Dinner calories! 🙂

The El Dorado Nature Center is located at 7550 E. Spring St in Long Beach. Here are some Yelp reviews.

The Center is across the street from the El Dorado Regional Park, which has picnic areas, archery range, stocked lakes, pedal boats, physical fitness course, radio controlled model sailboat and model airplane areas, Caboose Corners train ride and other activities.

Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD) holds free archery instruction with their equipment or your own. There is a one hour safety/orientation class held regularly. For more information, to confirm class schedule or to schedule groups, call Aletha Donathan, Head Archery Instructor at (562) 688-9666.

For more interesting info, check out my website at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com


Cooking with Children

December 18, 2009

Some of my favorite memories are making Christmas cookies with grandma over the years. The grandparents.com site has a great page for various recipes to try with children in the kitchen! Gluten-Free Recipes, Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, Marshmallows, Snacks! Check it out here! Tips for who should do what are here. Have fun!


2009 Seal Beach Holiday Parade

December 9, 2009

This year’s Seal Beach Holiday Parade was just as much fun as it has been in the past. Fifteen reading therapy dogs from Beach Animals Reading with Kids (BARK) participated in the parade for the first time and handed out books to children along the parade route on the beautifully decorated Main Street of Seal Beach, CA. The Orange County Register reported that approximately 8,000 people watched the parade. It was a brisk night as reported in another article in the OCR so people cuddled up to stay warm. It still had lots of fun and enjoyment as the floats, dogs, cars and almost 100 groups participated – along with Santa at the end – in the 29th annual event! See OCR photos by clicking the photo tab here.

Read more of my blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com


Christmas Gifts for Children

December 6, 2009

Grandpa Ron and I went shopping for gifts for the grandkids today.

I was going to write about the experience but then I couldn’t get on wordpress tonight! So, I couldn’t write a blog! Now it is after the magic midnight somewhere (it is only a little after 11 pm in CA where I’m in front of my computer!) and I was able to finally get on! But then it didn’t work right…. So no blog for Saturday but here’s one for Sunday:

I found several websites that have good information about buying Christmas/Holiday toys for kids that are right for their age! That is so important when you don’t want something bad to happen because the kid did something you never dreamed that they would try! Here are the sites I found:
From Kidsafe Australia:
“Age guides for toys are linked to safety and to child development – they are not a measure of intelligence. Although it is tempting to think a child is smart enough for toys suited to an older child, it is safer and wiser to follow the age guides.”

dentalplans.com – a very nice, short, comprehensive blog about choosing safe toys
Hot100ChristmasToys.com by age
topchristmastoysthisyear.com Top Board Games
coolchristmasgifts.net by age
Best Toys Guide.com
fatbraintoys.com by age
christmastoy.wordpress.com on choosing gifts kids will flip over (from 2008)

Check out my other blogs on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com too!


Here’s 5 Ways to Bird Watch With Kids!

December 3, 2009

The Duncraft Facebook page referred to this blog on 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids which has super suggestions. Check it out!

I have other birding blogs and other child activities at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂


Fun Places for Kids

December 2, 2009

Grandparents.com has a great list of “idea-sparkers” for you with the photo list of 9 Places For Hands-On Fun. They’re great ideas and each one has an opportunity to look for similar places near your home! Have Fun!!

Read more of my blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/


Petroglyphs in Sparks, NV

November 30, 2009

In an effort to save over 200 panels of petroglyphs between the Interstate 80 and the Truckee River, the City of Sparks, Nevada, has joined a cooperative agreement with Nevada Department of Transportation and Washoe County. The non-profit, Reno-based Nevada Rock Art Foundation hopes to develop the Site. See more info in the Associated Press article I first saw in the Reno Gazette-Journal but here from the Nevada Appeal. According to research by the non-profit, present day American Indians do not know the meaning of the petroglyphs. Here are a few interesting articles, however:
Moonshineink.com
Field Trips for Families & Rockhounds from UNR
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Bureau of Land Management
Cooperative Libraries Automated Network – Nevada

Read more of my blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/


Nevada Trails for Green Hour Activity!

November 29, 2009

A great website for searching on Nevada trails is nvtrailmaps.com for running, hiking, biking, mountain biking, cycling, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and even more activities. You can search by location (county), activity, length of trail and elevation. Easy way to explore possibilities for spending some Green Hour Time with the kids and grandkids. 🙂

The information and maps on the nvtrailmaps.com website are developed and organized by Great Basin Institute.

See my other blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/


Reno, NV: Keystone Canyon Trail

November 28, 2009

The Reno Gazette-Journal had a nice article written by Maggie O’Neill on the Keystone Canyon Trail. It is a nice hiking, running and mountain bike trail. Maggie refers to several books/guides in her article, including Mike White’s Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe. More info here as well.

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Great Present for Grandpa or Grandson!

November 27, 2009

Don’t forget to consider giving Grandpa Do It! I Do It, Too! as a Christmas or Chanuka present for Grandpa or for Grandson! Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! is an Award-Winning Finalist in the Children’s Mind/Body/Spirit category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards sponsored by USA Book News.

The boys and girls love the book when I read it to them at daycare centers and libraries. They get right into it and tell their own stories about their grandparents. Grandpas, on the other hand, sometimes get teary-eyed and nod their heads and say “Oh, yes, I remember when……” Grandmas take one look at it and say “It’s darling. I must have a copy!”

It’s available at Amazon right now – get it today on Black Friday and take advantage of the special shipping deals Amazon is offering!

Check out my other blogs on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/