Happy New Year! Please be safe and healthy! May this year be the best one we’ve had yet! There is so much to accomplish!! Take your kids/grandkids to a favorite museum or to one they haven’t visited before! Get them outside in the fresh air more than they were last year! Set some personal goals! I hope to get two more books published! I hope to reformat Grandpa Do It! I hope to get my marketing up a notch or two! Regards to all of you and your families!
Here is a fun look at the Plankton in the ocean that look like Christmas decorations, snowflakes and angels. It was a neat surprise to find it on the Monterey Bay Aquarium blogsite.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a display of Sea Drifters in the Outer Bay that has been there quite awhile and is now going to get a new look – so you can visit the drifters until May 1. Here is a neat video on Jellyfish from the aquarium.
Joe Rao on space.com explains the 12 stages of the total lunar eclipse that will occur on 12/20-21. The article has all kinds of additional links for related interesting information including a time table for different time zones. Here are some pictures of other lunar eclipses.
Inspired by my friend Rob’s Facebook status today about Special Education Week, I decided today had to be the day I shared an old article I ran across the other day. I had saved it because I wanted to share it with friends whose new baby has spina bifida. It is Ticket to Ride in the October 4th People Magazine.
Because I know several families with special needs kids, the article struck me as very special. Here was a dad who could do something – and DID it – to make the world a better place for not only his own special needs daughter Morgan, but for others as well.
Gordon and Maggie Hartman created Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio, Texas. It is a place where kids can ride a train, a carousel, a swing or they can experience sensory activities such as the interactive music garden – all independent of their physical or mental abilities. Actually it is even better than that because special needs adults can also have these great experiences – maybe even for the first time in their lives.
Jimmy Carter declared Grandparents Day a national holiday in 1978. Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day. Read the history on Grandparents.com. There is a whole page of info and activities all about it!
What impact have grandparents had on you?
If you are a grandparent, what impact have you made on the younger generations?
If you are any where near Long Beach this weekend, this is an event you surely would have a laugh at! Lots of teams have been working very hard in preparation for their flights:
Saturday Details:
What: Long Beach Flugtag Competition
Where: At Rainbow Harbor (Pine Avenue and Shoreline Drive)
When: On Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010
What Time: Gates open at 11 a.m.
Cost: No cover charge
Schedule:
First flight of 35 at 1 p.m.
Last flight at 3:30 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony
Listen in on the radio at 91.1 FM
No food, alcohol, tents or pets are allowed but food and beverage vendors will be available inside
Road closures: Eastbound Shoreline Drive from Aquarium Way to Pine Ave will be closed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To get a reserved parking spot with the city, go to www.thepermitstore.com/lb/event/ and also be sure to utilize the free downtown buses.
America’s Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better this year with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees. Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.
Mark your calendar for fee-free days left this year:
* August 14-15, 2010
* September 25, 2010
(Public Lands Day)
* November 11, 2010
(Veterans Day)
And to make the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors on this summer’s fee free weekends with the their own special offers.
Here’s a tip – many of your 392 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee. So start Planning Your Visit!
Do click the links to get to additional information!!
If you are in the San Francisco area with your family, a fun adventure awaiting you is the Presidio Habitats exhibition at the Presidio of San Francisco, a 1,491-acre National Historic Landmark and national park site. The FOR-SITE Foundation is partnering with the Presidio Trust to sponsor the exhibit through May 2011, Wed-Sun. See the Walking Map to find the eleven artworks scattered in the northwestern corner of the park. The pdf brochure can be downloaded here. The July 2010 Sunset Magazine had a nice article about it but I could not find it on-line. Here is another Sunset Magazine article about rediscovering the Presidio.
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MyGrandmaSue 