The San Diego Zoo polar bears are having fun. The polar bear trio, whose names are Kalluk (The Athlete), Tatqiq (The Princess), and Chinook (The Stalker), take turns in the Polar Bear Plunge. Here is the video cam. Learn some Polar Bear facts here. Here’s the Polar Bear Blogsite.
More info on the San Diego Zoo is here.
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Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, Chinook, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Kalluk, kids, nature, Places to Go, polar bear, San Diego, San Diego Zoo, Tatqiq, zoo | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Grandpa Ron and I had a great time at the California State Railroad Museum yesterday in Sacramento, CA. We wandered through the Lincoln Exhibit and learned many new tidbits of information. For example, neither of us knew that Abe Lincoln floated down the Mississippi River on a flat boat to take items to market in New Orleans. It gave him a small impression of how large the United States is and helped ground his firm belief that railroads were a way to unite the country. The name of the exhibit is “The Rail Splitter and the Railroads: Lincoln, the Union and the Golden State.” It will be showcased in the Museum’s Theater Mezzanine Gallery through February 15, 2010.
We also got to tour the inside of the beautiful Gold Coast Observation car which was a special treat not normally offered during regular visits to the museum. From the museum website: “Georgia Northern No. 100 Gold Coast Central of Georgia 1905 Private Car Ex Central of Georgia No. 97; Georgia Northern No. 100; Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg’s private car. Gift 8/1969 of R&LHS, Pacific Coast Chapter. Restored by CSRM to 1948-50 appearance.”
Here’s the special Kid’s Corner.
We were there for a special Trainmaster Reception event for museum donors. We had a really wonderful time meeting other patrons of the museum and tapping our toes to the music of the Black Irish Band as they sang lots of railroad songs along with their Irish and Italian numbers.
The museum is a great place to take the grandkids and family – the kids get to see up front and close just how big the train cars are! Train rides are also possible. Here is visitor information. Here is the 2009 Calendar of Events.
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Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: Black Irish Band, California State Railroad Museum, child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, Lincoln Exhibit, museum, Places to Go, railroad museum, rainy day, Sacramento, train, train museum, train ride, Trainmaster Reception | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Grandpa Ron (with a little bit of my help) finished installing his Davis weather station last night. It was fun to get readings on the wind gusts! Now we won’t be guessing when those cold winter winds blow down the Eastern side of the Sierras any more – we’ll have an accurate reading of just how fast they are going! We discovered we need another data-logging piece in order to become part of the on-line WeatherLink, Weather World ‘Round net, or the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather net. We do want to be a part of it though, so looks like Santa knows what to bring this year! This will be fun! It will be fun to see if the grandchildren will catch the weather-fever! It could be a fun family activity.
1 Comment | Nature Activities | Tagged: child, children, Davis Instruments, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, NOAA, weather, weather station | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Cyndi, Aron, Austin and Grandma Teresa had a chance to see baby Abigail today in 3D/4D Ultrasound. Cyndi posted the pictures on her Facebook. Abigail slept through the whole thing! She’s so cute! Here are sample photos of babies at 29 weeks, the same age as Abigail. Here are some fun before & after photos!
Leave a Comment » | Wonderments | Tagged: 3D/4D Ultrasound, Babies, Baby Pictures, grandbaby, grandma, grandpa, grandparent | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2009 
Media Contact: Susan Winter
grandmasue.grandparon@yahoo.com
Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! Finalist in USA Book News National Best Books 2009 Awards
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.
LOS ANGELES – USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE NATIONAL “BEST BOOKS” 2009 AWARDS (NBBA) on October 20, 2009. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in over 140 categories covering print and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2009 and late 2008.
Jeff Keen, President and CEO of USABookNews.com, said this year’s contest yielded an unprecedented number of entries, which were then narrowed down to over 500 winners and finalists.
Keen says of the awards, now in their seventh year, “The 2009 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States. With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of NBBA, this year’s winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season.”
Winners and finalists traversed the publishing landscape: Simon & Schuster, Penguin, W.W. Norton, Revell, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons, Thomas Nelson, American Cancer Society, Greenleaf Book Group, Sourcebooks & hundreds of independent houses contributed to this year’s outstanding NBBA competition. Keen adds, “NBBA’s success begins with the enthusiastic participation of authors and publishers and continues with our distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise.”
USABookNews.com is an online publication providing coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community. USABN Magazine Online is the monthly electronic magazine e-mailed free to a large cross-section of the book buying public. JPX Media, in Los Angeles, California, is the parent company of USABookNews.com.
A complete list of the winners and finalists of the USABookNews.com National “Best Books” 2009 Awards are available online at www.USABookNews.com.
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1 Comment | Book Notes | Tagged: award winning children's book, Award-Winning Books, child, children, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, Grandpa Do It, grandparent, grandson, kids, USA Book News National Best Books 2009 Awards | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Yesterday Grandpa Ron and I went for a fun hour cruise on the Pacific Spirit from San Pedro. Spirit Marine runs the trips. There are several ones to choose from. There are also dinner cruises and party boats available to rent. On our cruise (as with all of them I am sure) the captain narrated points of interest. We saw lots of baby sea lions sunning themselves on the various platforms available to them. They were so cute! It was $12 for adults and $6 for children. Lots of children were on our cruise. They seemed to enjoy it very much, too!
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, Long Beach, Ports O Call, Public Harbor Cruise, San Pedro, Shoreline Village, Spirit Marine | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
What a story! Minivan owners with children planning a trip to Yosemite be forewarned! The Black Bears of Yosemite National Park actually recognize and look for minivans according to a scientific study!!
The story is relatively the same one written by Mark Grossi (McClatchy Newspapers) – but you can tell the news folks are having fun with this one! Here are some sample headlines (along with their stories and photos)!
Yosemite Bears Prefer Minivans for Snack Attacks
The minivan: lunchbox on wheels for Yosemite bears
Yosemite bears love their minivan buffets
Yosemite bears love their minivans
Yosemite’s bears prefer to break into minivans
Mmmm, minivan! The favorite vehicle of Yosemite’s black bears
Minivans buffets for bears in Yosemite area
Yosemite bears break into minivans most, study shows
Yosemite Black Bears Preferred Vehicle? Minivans.
Yosemite bears’ car of choice: the minivan
It’s Official: Picky Yosemite National Park Bears Prefer Their Meals in Minivans
Minivans are as good as honey pots to Yosemite bears, study says
Black Bears Looking for Fast Food Choose Minivans
Your minivan is one big pic-a-nic basket, say Yosemite’s black bears
Here is the actual study: SELECTIVE FORAGING FOR ANTHROPOGENIC RESOURCES BY BLACK BEARS: MINIVANS IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
STEWART W. BRECK (stewart.w.breck@aphis.usda.gov), NATHAN LANCE, AND VICTORIA SEHER
United States Department of Agriculture–Wildlife Service–National Wildlife Research Center, 4101 LaPorte Avenue, Fort
Collins, CO 80521, USA (SWB, NL)
Yosemite National Park, P.O. Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389, USA (VS)
in the Journal of Mammalogy, 90(5):1041–1044, 2009
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: bears, black bears, child, children, conflict, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, honey pots, humans, kids, minivan, Minivans, nature, resource selection, Ursus americanus, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
The famous Haunted Halloween Terrorfest Shipwreck of the Queen Mary is a fun event of the locals. There are 5 different mazes within the ship. Here is a list of interactive maps of attractions.
Facts and history from the Queen Mary website and another interesting note from LongBeach.com. If you want to visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach, here are some reviews on TripAdvisor and the Calendar of Events.
This video tells of the renovations going on by the new owners. So the “tired” ship will be restored to her old grandeur. That will be awesome!
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: Annual Halloween Terror Fest, child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, haunted maze, kids, Long Beach, Places to Go, Queen Mary, Queen Mary Shipwreck | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
The Aquarium of the Pacific, one of my favorite aquariums, just blogged how many whales they’ve seen on their outings this summer. They have some pictures, too. They saw all kinds of whales: Blue, Fin, Minke and Humpback!
Tomorrow the aquarium is having their great Seafare Evening. Should be pretty awesome.
Here is their on-line Learning Center.
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: aquarium, Aquarium of the Pacific, blue whales, child, children, family, Fin Whales, fun, grandchild, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, humpback whales, kids, Long Beach, Minke whales, Places to Go, rainy day, whales | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Leave a Comment » | Book Notes | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, Grandpa Do It, grandparent, grandson, kids | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 