Logan's Candies - Ontario

I have heard folks raving about this candy cane making demo for ages, so I was determined to go this year.  We went with a homeschool field trip, but families can join a demo in November & December.  The calendar is at http://www.loganscandies.com/candydemos.php .

If you want to make an evening of it (and try to avoid the traffic) consider going to Vince's Spaghetti for dinner.  It is reasonably priced and can seat large parties with no problem. (Photo by Kohl Tabori)

The demo begins outside the store with the candy maker pouring the hot liquid candy onto marble.

Both colors of the candy cane start out the same, then color is added to the red part.

To make the white part, the candy is pulled over and over again.  It's amazing how it turns white when air is mixed in. (Photo by Kohl Tabori)

After the colors are arranged on the candy, the puller cuts off a small length to be bent into shape.

Freshly made candy canes!

Holiday Events 2013!

Local holiday events that you don't want to miss!
Cut a virtual snowflake!

Until December 6: Holiday Mail for Heroes - send a card to a soldier
Until December 23:  Marionette show - free - 7pm - 3314 Country Club Drive, Lakewood
Until December 24: Have Santa send a personal greeting to your child! - free
Until December 24: Macy's will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish for every stamped letter to Santa that is dropped off at special letterboxes in their stores
Until December 25:  ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas movies
Until January 4: Festival of Lights, Mission Inn, Riverside - ice skating
Until January 5: CHILL at the Queen Mary - $40/adults, $20/kids
Until February 15: Monarch butterflies in Goleta, CA 

December 5: Sound of Music Live - NBC
December 6: Tree Lighting at Nino's - First Fridays Bixby Knolls - 6pm
December 6: Shark Lagoon Nights - Aquarium of the Pacific - free
December 6: Free admission to the Grammy Museum
December 7: Winter Wonderland - St. Isadore, Los Alamitos - free - 4pm to 8pm
December 7: Belmont Shore Christmas Parade - Long Beach
December 7: Snow Day at Drake Park - please donate a canned food to Food Finders - 1pm-5pm
December 7: Yule Ball & Toy Drive - St. Luke's, LB - admission $10 toy/family
December 7: Rancho Los Cerritos - Creation Station: Christmas crafts 1pm-4pm  - free
December 7-8: Victorian Christmas - Banning Museum - Wilmington - free
December 8: Winterfest & Christmas Musicals - First Baptist Church, 5336 E. Arbor, LB - free
December 12: Family Art Workshops - LB Museum of Art - free
December 12: Holiday Sing - Cypress - 6pm - free, $3 dinner
December 13: Snow Night! Good Neighbor Park, 2800 Studebaker, LB 5pm-9pm - free
December 13: Shark Lagoon Nights - Aquarium of the Pacific - free
December 13-15: Prince of Peace Christmas pagaent - Long Beach - 7:30pm-9pm free
December 14: Snow Day! Good Neighbor Park, 2800 Studebaker, LB 10am-8pm - free
December 14: Daisy Lane Holiday Parade - 5pm - free
December 14-15: Goodyear Blimp Open House - Carson - suggested donation: toy for Toys For Tots
December 14-15: Dickens Holiday Celebration - Int'l Printing Museum, Carson $18/person, includes lunch
December 14: Free picture with Santa - Shops at Rossmoor, Seal Beach - 2pm to 4pm
December 14: Snow Day! (weather permitting) Balearic Community Center- 1975 Balearic Drive, Costa Mesa 9am-12p – FREE for all!
December 17: Free day at South Coast Botanical Garden, RPV
December 18: Mary Poppins - ABC Family channel 8pm
December 18: Free Shipping Day
December 21: Naples Boat Parade & Caroling - 6pm - free
December 21: Astronomer's Club - Columbia Space Center, Downey - $2, free for members
December 24: LA County Holiday Celebration - downtown LA - free
December 24: Track Santa - NORAD
December 27: Shark Lagoon Nights - Aquarium of the Pacific - free

Where to see lights/decorations:

• Naples
• Sleepy Hollow, Torrance
• Bass Pro Shops, Rancho Cucamonga

Exploring Your Universe - UCLA

Sunday, November 17, Noon-5pm
Rain or Shine! (In case of rain, all outdoor activities will be moved indoors)
Free & Family Friendly!

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~outreach/eyu2013.html

This is the most exciting day of science all year in Southern California.  They have many activities and demonstrations open to the general public, including outside groups like STAR Eco Station.  Activities for all ages include workshops, faculty and graduate student talks, planetarium shows, solar telescope viewing, comet making, weather tours, dinosaur fossils, physics demos, and more!

This event includes participation from Astronomy Live!, the Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Earth and Space Sciences, and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, the Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, and IEEE.  The program was developed by graduate students, faculty, and staff in each of these departments.

DAYTIME ACTIVITIES

Astronomy (12:00 - 5:00 pm) (Court of Sciences unless otherwise noted):
- How the Sun works and solar telescope viewing
- Stellar Evolution
- Bottle Rockets
- Comet Making Demo
- Pocket Solar System and Asteroids
- Constellation Detectives
- Discovery methods for finding new worlds beyond our solar system
- Planetarium Shows (Mathematical Sciences 8th floor): Every half hour starting 12:30 pm! Pick up tickets to planetarium at the Information Booth.

Physics (12:00 - 5:00 pm) (Physics and Astronomy Building - PAB):
- Physics Demonstrations
- Lasers and Optics
- Waves and Vibrations
- Rotational Motion
- Electricity and Magnetism

Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (12:00-5:00) (Court of Sciences):
- Exploding Marshmallows--Expand marshmallows using a vacuum pump!
- Can Crushing--See how pressure can crush soda cans!
- Tornado-in-a-bottle--See and create your own vortexes!
- Cloud-in-a-bottle--See clouds being made right before your eyes!
- Portable Weather Station--Talk with experts about conditions and get an updated forecast for the day!

Chemistry (12:00-5:00 pm) (Court of Sciences):
- Find out how to make a bubble bomb for baths
- Find out what floats on top of what... and what floats on top of that!
- Watch food get frozen with liquid nitrogen
- Eat liquid nitrogen ice cream

 

Summer 2013

Most of this info is from last year, but I just found out about open swim time at CSULB (thanks RMT!).

Lakewood residents are so lucky.  They have six parks with wading pools.  Good thing LB'ers can join in.
Open 11am-4pm for kids 3-7 years old
Open everyday: Mayfair, Palms
Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, & Sunday: Del Valle & San Martin
Open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, & Sunday: Bloomfield, Boyar
Wednesdays: Boyar, Del Valle, Mayfair, San Martin will be open 5pm-7:30pm

Weekends: all pools open 11am-4pm
http://www.lakewoodcity.org/services/recreation/aquatics/default.asp

In Cerritos, Liberty Park has a great little splash pad for the toddler set.
You can also cool off at the water play areas at Long Beach Towne Center and the Cerritos Library.

Splash Pad at Sigler Park in Westminster is free and open every day from Noon-5pm starting June 18 to September 3.  7200 Plaza St., Westminister.

And apparently the water was turned back on at Dotson Park in Stanton.  Free.
10350 Fern Avenue, Stanton

Atlantis Park in Garden Grove. $2 admission.  13630 Atlantis Way, Garden Grove, CA 92844

A little bit further is the Lemon Park Spray Pool. 701 S. Lemon, Fullerton 

For the older kids, CSULB has open swim hours during the summer: 11am-6pm; $2/person

Buccaneer Bay in La Mirada.  The family-fun “Buccaneer Bay” combines the excitement of a water park with pirate themed features throughout. Buccaneer Bay features a flowing river channel, three water slides, a children’s interactive play structure, zero-depth beach entry and two spray pad areas. Pirate themed elements include: a marooned ship, a dramatic skull rock, shade canopies that resemble sails, cannon walls, wharf plank benches, and crow’s nests.  Open daily in summer 10:30am-5:30pm.  $17.95/person, under 48" $12.95.  Family Friday Nights 4pm-8pm. $14.95/person, under 48" $10.95.  Parents do not need to pay if not going in the water.
13806 La Mirada Blvd.
La Mirada, CA 90638
Phone: (562) 902-3191

Art of the Brick - Glendale

 
We checked out the new LEGO exhibit at Forest Lawn Glendale.  It might seem like a strange place to have an art exhibit, but Forest Lawn has a long tradition of offering educational programs.  FL-Glendale also has an art museum where the LEGO exhibit is housed.



Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya
http://brickartist.com/ 
May 21, 2013-July 21, 2013
Forest Lawn Glendale
1712 S Glendale Ave, Glendale, CA
http://www.forestlawn.com/EventDetails.aspx?ID=245&Park_id=3
Free admission and free parking
Museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm



Nathan Sawaya has specialized in creating sculptures out of LEGO bricks.  Sawaya’s ability to transform this common toy into something meaningful, his devotion to spatial perfection and the way he conceptualizes action, enables him to elevate what almost every child has played with into the status of contemporary art.

There are about 25 sculptures in this exhibit, ranging from a multicolor peace sign to large crayons with the paper coming off of one.  Most of the sculptures are of the human form.  A bust removing his face from his head, a boy looking at his reflection in water, a figure in despair.

This is a small exhibit, so don't drive an hour to just see this program.  Like I said this location also has an art gallery and the current display "Light and Color" is a collection of remarkable stained glass.  There is also an impressive display of bronze statues.  And in the Hall of The Crucifixion-Resurrection next door are hourly showings of The Crucifixion and The Resurrection paintings.  Walk out the back of the museum for restrooms and an amazing view of Glendale.

But don't stop there.  Forest Lawn Glendale is 300 acres and has its own sights.  Check out the mosaic of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 13ft tall statue of George Washington.  There are, also, white swans on the lake.  Of course, many famous people are interned at Forest Lawn.  The mega famous like Michael Jackson are behind locked gates, but you can see the final resting places of such stars as Jimmy Stewart and Elizabeth Taylor.

And since you're already in Glendale, perhaps get a bite to eat at Americana at Brand.  This is a mall designed by the same firm as the Grove in LA.  I recommend the Granville Cafe on Brand Blvd outside of the mall proper.

Is someone in your family a science fiction fan or loves old bookstores?  Remember those old bookstores that used to be in every city?  Well, there's still one left in Glendale.  Mystery & Imagination is at 238 N Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91203. http://www.yelp.com/biz/bookfellows-mystery-and-imagination-glendale


If you're not tired, yet, you can end the day at the Griffith Observatory which is about 10 minutes away.

May Events

Until May 19: Renaissance Pleasure Faire - Irwindale - weekends only - adults $17.50

April 27, 28, & May 5: Ramona Pagaent - Hemet
April 27: Children's Day - El Dorado Park - free
April 28: National College Fair - Anaheim
May 4: Free Comic Book Day - participating comic shops
May 4: Turtle & Tortoise Show at El Dorado Nature Center - $7/car
May 5: Rossmoor Community Festival - Rush Park
May 11: National Train Day - Union Station Downtown LA
May 16-17: Anatolian Festival - Costa Mesa
May 17-19: LeaLA (ReadLA) - Spanish book festival - LA Convention Center- free
May 18: Armed Forces Day parade - Torrance
May 21: Free day at South Coast Botanical Garden, PVP
May 21-July 21: Art of the Brick - Forest Lawn, Glendale

March Events

March 19: Free day at South Coast Botanical Garden,PVP
March 19: Return of the Swallows - Mission San Juan Capistrano - $10/adults
March 21-23: FIRST Robotics Competition - Long Beach Convention Center - free to the public
March 23: Penelope Lane Boutique - Seal Beach - $1
March 27-30: LBCC Plant Sale - PCH campus
March 30: Spring Carnival & Egg Hunts - Little Cottonwood Park - Los Al