I really, really dislike spiders – but I do know that some kids (little & big ones) are fascinated by them. The Los Angeles Natural History Museum has its annual Spider Pavilion going on now through November 8th – what a great (educational) Halloween adventure! Check it out! Here’s the Activities and Programs page.
LA Natural History Museum Spider Pavilion
October 8, 2009
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Indoor Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, LA Natural History Museum, museum, Places to Go, rainy day, spider pavilion, spiders | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Seal Beach 13th Annual Japan America Kite Festival
October 6, 2009What a string of kites last Saturday! Jonathan Smith, Staff Writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and Stephen Carr, Staff Photographer, had a great article “Winds of tradition” in Monday’s paper. The front page has a super photo of Grandfather Tony Kwon helping his grandson Clay fly a kite. Here is the link for all the pictures. Here is also The Orange County Register version by Jaimee Lynn Fletcher with photos by Michael Goulding. A blog post by Long Beach Family covers the festival. (This blog covers local family things to do.)
The festival was sponsored by The Japan America Society of Southern California (JASSC) and the Up Up & Away Kite Club. It’s free to the public and attracts around 10,000 visitors a year.
Japanese Kite Master Mikio Toki visited from his home and kite workshop in Chiba, Japan, to share his kites. Mattel sponsored workshops where kids could build their own paper kites. The Japanese Taiko drumming corp Daion Taiko performed a traditional drumming show to excite the crowd.
In spite of the strong wind, it was a lot of fun!
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Healing Exhibit by Linnea Lenkus
October 5, 2009Linnea Linkus has a very special exhibit called ‘Healing’ of 35 portraits of children with special needs displayed to benefit The Steel Magnolias, the fundraising group of Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s Center in Long Beach, CA. I read about it in the Long Beach Press-Telegram in an article written by Sue Manning of The Associated Press. Linnea Linkus’ photography is absolutely beautiful. Do explore her website and her blog! Perhaps consider purchasing her special book Healing which will also benefit The Steel Magnolias.
The ‘Healing’ exhibit opened last Friday, October 2, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. On October 10 the GLOBAL public debut of ‘Healing’ will be at the Phantom Galleries LA, 390 E. 3rd St in Long Beach at 8 pm.
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, People Who Make A Difference, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, children with special needs, daughter, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandson, Healing Exhibit, Linnea Linkus, Long Beach, Miller Childrens Center, Photography, portraits, son, special needs children, Steel Magnolias, Stramski Children's Development Center | Permalink
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What Grandchildren Remember
September 29, 2009The grandparents.com website has a great article here on starting new family traditions. Remember what your favorite things to do were with your grandparents? Create some memories now with your grandchildren!
Share your memories on this page!
1 Comment | People Who Make A Difference, Routine Activity, Special Moments | Tagged: child, Childhood Memories, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, Making Memories, Memories | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Daredevil World Record Motorcycle Jump
September 27, 2009Daredevil Ryan Capes successfully jumped 316 feet between metal ramps with his motorcycle in Reno, NV, as part of the Street Vibrations celebration. First he broke the world record of 252 feet with 287 feet. Then he did a second jump to try to clear 300 feet, his stated goal to the crowd. Here are the Reno Gazette-Journal front page story, sports page story, photo and video. Our Grandson Austin totally LOVES motorcycles! Lots of grandparents and parents were at the ramp jump with their grandkids and kids. In the RGJ front page article, Frank Greenwood of Reno brought his granddaughter to watch the attempt. He explained the dangers involved on the drive over to the Grand Sierra Resort and is quoted as saying: “She [granddaughter] has already asked me about the possibility, and I explained to her just how dangerous this would be. So she understands.”
The event celebrated the grand opening of the Xtreme Sports Bar + Lounge located inside the Grand Sierra Resort. Some estimated the crowd to be more than 20,000 people, to make this event the largest held at the resort ever.
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Posted by mygrandmasue
Teaching Kids to Read
September 17, 2009I taught my daughter to read when she was three. Now she has a three year old and she wants to teach him to read. I think we started out just reading her favorite books over and over again and later we got workbooks to do, too. I did find some interesting websites that have suggestions on how to go about it now:
The Well-Trained Mind
starfall.com
Reading Buddy 2.0
Succeed to Read
Preschool Express
WowzaBrain
If you have a suggestion, feel free to add a comment!
1 Comment | Routine Activity | Tagged: child, children, daughter, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, learning games, learning to read, prereading activities, preschooler reading activities, reading, Routine Activity, son, teaching reading, teaching reading at home, Toddler, toddler learning | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
Grandparents Day – Sept 13
September 1, 2009Jimmy 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 all about it!
What impact have grandparents had on you?
If you are a grandparent, what impact have you made on the younger generations?
My first book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! is all about making an impact – whether you know it or not! It makes a perfect Grandparents Day present for a grandpa who has a grandson. (Granddaughter will be born at the end of December 2009 – so then we’ll create a granddaughter book, too!)
1 Comment | Book Notes, Routine Activity, Uncategorized | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, grandma, grandpa, Grandpa Do It, grandparent, Grandparents Day, grandson, kids, New Books, New Children's Books, Playing with Children | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 