Monday, August 30, 2010

Children's activity center at Honey Bee Haven Grand Opening

               HONEY BEE HAVEN                  



                                GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION
                         OF HAAGEN-DAZS HONEY BEE HAVEN

Saturday September 11th, 10AM - 2PM


Celebration Includes:
 Garden Tours, Speakers, Hands-On Demonstrations, Complimentary Häagen-Dazs ice cream and Gimbal's Fine Candies, and a children's activity center with arts and crafts, including button-making, face-painting and flower crafting. A “buzz kazoo” is also in the works.
Food will be available for purchase, as will “bee” t-shirts from graduate and undergraduate students at UC Davis. Visitors will be invited to participate in drawings for posters, honey and other items.

Visitors can also tour the Campus Buzzway, a field of California poppies, lupine and coreopsis planted in the fall of 2009.

The bee haven is a half-acre bee friendly garden planted last fall next to the research facility and is marking its first year of growth.  The goals of the garden are to provide bees with a year-around food source for the Laidlaw Facility bees, to raise public awareness about the plight of honey bees, and to encourage visitors to plant bee-friendly gardens of their own.

The garden has drawn pollinators from the Laidlaw facility’s 110 hives, each populated with some 60,000 honey bees. Other pollinators include bumble bees, butterflies, dragonflies, sweat bees and carpenter bees.



SPEAKERS:
 Eric Mussen: extension apilculturist of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, discussing colony collapse disorder;

Ann Baker, a senior landscape architect with RRM Design Group, part of the four-person winning design team;
Melissa “Missy” Borel, program manager of the California Urban Center for Horticulture, UC Davis, who has been overseeing the development of the garden;

Ullman and Billick of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program;

Neal Williams, Native pollinator specialist and assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis.

 To read the full article on the grand opening visit the website at:
http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu/HAVEN/havenopening.html

For more information on the grand opening contact:
 Event coordinator Chris Akins at (530) 752-2120 or crakins@ucdavis.edu.



DIRECTIONS:

1 Biology Road, west of the central campus, University of California, Davis.



From the Sacramento Area
Take Interstate 80 westbound to Highway 113 north. At the eastern edge of Davis, take Highway 113 northbound (toward Woodland); exit at Hutchison Drive. Turn left to go west (away from the central UC Davis campus) toward the campus airport; turn left onto Hopkins Road and then left on Bee Biology Road.

From the San Francisco Bay Area
Take Interstate 80 eastbound to Highway 113 north. At the eastern edge of Davis, take Highway 113 northbound (toward Woodland); exit at Hutchison Drive. Turn left to go west (away from the central UC Davis campus) toward the campus airport; turn left onto Hopkins Road and then left on Bee Biology Road.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

DAVIS PARENTS GROUPS


Looking for a way to connect with other Davis parents? Davis has several groups specifically for parents to connect and offer support, friendship, and information. 


MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)
Meets MONDAYS during the school year from 9:30-11:15

First meeting/Open House Mon. Aug 30th at 10 am.
UCC, 312 Mace Blvd

 MOPS is for all mothers with at least one child not yet in school and expectant mothers. MOPS celebrates motherhood and exists to meet the needs of all moms, recognizing that the years from infancy through kindergarten are foundational in a mother-child relationship, filled with unique needs & challenges. Davis MOPS welcomes all women, from those currently pregnant to moms who have children in preschool, from Yolo County, Dixon, Winters, Sacramento and beyond.

Located at:
University Covenant Church,
315 Mace Boulevard, Davis 95618.
Friends and drop-ins are always welcome!

(Membership fee required for activities, snacks, etc)
Please email DavisMOPS@gmail.com for more information.


CO-OP PARENTS GROUP
Meets TUESDAYS 10 am to 11am.
In the Co-Op Teaching Kitchen building, 537 G Street (Kitty Corner to the Co-Op)

All parents of little ones welcome.
The group starts off with a brief topic/presentation and flows from there. Previous topics have included babywearing, natural first aid, and biking with babies. Delicious snacks are provided as well as a huge blanket for which to put the babies that like the floor :).

It's free and informal.
For questions contact: Lesley Nelson coopbaby@dcn.org


MOTHER AND BABY SOURCE NEW PARENTS GROUP
Meets WEDNESDAYS 8:30-10
 (Because life with a newborn makes being anywhere on time challenging, arriving anytime between 8:30 and 10 is perfectly acceptable)

Come to a warm, relaxing environment and share or just listen. Learning to be a parent can be an enjoyable but uncertain time. Gain support by sharing with and learning from other new parents who are experiencing the same challenges as you. The group is lead by an experienced and perinatal counselor and group facilitator who is also a mom.

All parents of babies from birth to 5 months welcome.

Where:
Mother & Baby Source
714 Second St. Davis
530.756.6667


DAVIS MOMS AND FRIENDS

http://www.meetup.com/davismomsandfriends-meetup-group/
Organizer: Carissa Lewis
Co-Organizers: Tressa Beheim
This is a great group of moms from all over Yolo and Solano County with babies and tots ranging from newborns to 4 years old. Some moms are stay at home. Some moms work at home or in an office. But all the moms have something in common: motherhood and a want for community.

Their calendar is packed with new ideas and ways to meet other moms. They have a regular stroller fitness walk, schedule play dates at least once a week, and even give moms a break with our new Babysitters Club. Once a month they host a Mom's Night Out (MNO) which is either dinner, a movie, pedicure/manicure, etc. It is a good way to really spend some time with the others and just be women. They also like to host a Family Dinner Night once a month for all the families to get together. What a great opportunity for dads to get involved.

($12 annual membership fee required for activities, snacks, etc)

If you are interested in joining or checking them out they offer a free 30 day membership, contact the organizer or go through the 'Join' process.
UC DAVIS RAPTOR CENTER

Looking for a fun (and free) activity for the family? The Raptor Center is one of Davis' little hidden treasures.




The center cares for injured raptors, or birds of prey, including eagles, hawks, vultures and owls, rehabilitating and releasing them whenever possible. Birds that cannot be released remain to take part in the center's education program. Visitors are welcome to come for a self-guided tour of bird cages and one-room educational museum packed with interesting activities like identifying bones pulled from owl pellets.


Directions: Take the UC Davis exit from Interstate 80 and turn south on Old Davis Road. Cross the railroad tracks and continue until just before the Putah Creek bridge. Turn left onto the paved levee road. Follow it for two-tenths of a mile and keep on the pavement as the road veers left, taking you down off the levee. Then make a quick right turn into the free parking area.


HOURS:
Mon-Fri 9 am - 4 pm
Sat 9 am - 12 pm
(Open hours depend on volunteers)

For more information visit:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/calraptor/

Davis Public Library Storytimes


Davis Public Library offers a variety of storytimes for kids of all ages.


HUG-A-BYE BABY
Tuesdays 10:15-10:35
(Interpreted for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.)

An infant-with-parent program for babies 2 to12 months old—A warm and cuddly time of bonding with your baby through books! The librarian will share songs, nursery rhymes, age-appropriate books, and ways that parents can stimulate language and baby brain development with their children at home.
It’s 20 minutes of baby bliss!



MOTHER GOOSE ON THE LOOSE
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 to 11:30
(Interpreted for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing on Tuesdays.)

An award-winning program for children from age 12-36 months and their parents and caregivers that combines music, movement, visual literacy and language development to help children get ready to read. Through fun activities Mother Goose on the Loose helps children develop physically, emotionally and socially, and encourages a positive attitude toward learning!


BILINGUAL STORYTIME
Davis Hora de Cuentos en Espanol
Wednesdays 10:30-11

Para ti que tienes de 0 y 5 años de edad con tus papas y abuelos. Todos juntos pasaremos un momento magico donde el encanto del libro echara a volar tu imaginación como nunca antes. Tambien el asistir ayudara a su hijo a entender Ingles.
Todos estan bienvenidos!


STORIES FOR KIDS
Thursdays 10:15-10:45

Children ages 3-5-years-old are invited to our storytime programs just for them! Stories, songs, movement, rhymes and finger plays make this event lively and fun.

All events take place at:
Mary L Stephens Davis Branch Library
Currently in its temporary location at 2801 2nd Street (Behind Explorit)


The following link offers a Yolo County Library Event Calendar which includes events at Davis, Esparto, Winters, Clarksburg, and West Sacramento libraries:
http://www.yolocounty.org/Index.aspx?page=1737

IMPOSSIBLE ACRES

             U-PICK FRUIT AND VEGETABLE FARM
                                      and
                         PUMPKIN PATCH


Another great activity to do with kids. Pick your own produce at IMPOSSIBLE ACRES, a small family farm just west of Davis that grows a variety of fruits and vegetables. Families are welcome to come either to buy fresh produce or pick their own. Crops include raspberries, boysenberries, blackberries, ollalieberries, mungoberries, marionberries, cherries, peaches, apricots, plums, tomatoes, apples, pumpkins and corn. Generally open May through the end of October. In the fall, they open Grandpa's Barn Pumpkin Patch.


GRANDPA's BARN PUMPKIN PATCH:


Grandpa's Barn opens in the fall and features a pumpkin patch with pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors, as well as a petting zoo with goaties, ponies and chickens, weekend tractor rides, and hay and corn mazes.
For more information on Impossible Acres:
http://www.impossibleacres.com/index.php?pg=home
Call (530)-750-0451

U-Pick Located at:
26565 County Rd 97D
Grandpa's Barn (and Pumpkin Patch) located at:
37945 Rd. 31 (Covell)
Davis, CA



For information on more U-Pick farms throughout the San Francisco and Sacramento areas:
http://www.pickyourown.org/CAsanfran.htm

MOVIES IN THE PARK

                   MOVIES IN THE PARK               


Pre-show Activities begin at 6:00PM. 
Music, Food Vendors, and Trivia Fun for the Whole Family. 
BRING A CHAIR OR BLANKET AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
All movies are in Central Park, 405 C Street.
                                Movies begin at 7:15 p.m.


Saturday September 25, 2010
MADAGASCAR 2


Saturday October 2, 2010
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING


Saturday October 9, 2010
LAND BEFORE TIME


For more information about the upcoming series,
please call the Community Services Department at (530) 757-5626.

TOY LIBRARIES

                     THE TOY LIBRARY                                              
Kids always have fun playing with "new" toys. For a small annual fee, toy libraries allows you to borrow toys instead of buying them so your kids always have something new to enjoy. The Toy Library is a great way for your family to reduce clutter in your home, save money, and meet other like-minded families.




DAVIS TOY AND RESOURCE LIBRARY

Toy Library:
The Toy Library contains a variety of durable toys for young children such as: sand toys, blocks, infant & toddler toys, dolls and doll houses, puzzles, musical instruments, play food and dishes, animal figurines, toys for children with special needs and more! Come and check it out!


Resource Library:
The Resource Library contains an extensive collection of books, audio tapes, CD's and video tapes on parenting issues, child development (birth through teens), activities to do with children, choosing child care, special needs, and much more!

Annual Fee: $20 (prorated to $10 after January 1st)
Can check out up to three toys and three books/videos at a time.
Toys and books may be checked out for a three week period.


 
Davis Toy and Resource Library Hours:
Tuesday:  9am -3pm
Wednesday: 9am -3pm
Thursday: 9am -3pm

Location:
600 A St, Davis, CA



 For more information, please call (530) 757-5695 or (800) 723-3001 or visit:

http://cityofdavis.org/cs/childcare/library.cfm



WEST SACRAMENTO TOY LIBRARY

The West Sacramento Toy Library provides many toys and games for children of all ages. The toys are safe, educational, and most of all FUN!  It also allows you to exchange toys so you always have something new and exciting for your children to play with. A maximum of 5 toys can be checked out for a three week period.


West Sac Toy Library Hours:
Monday 11 am - 2 pm
Wednesday 4 pm to 7 pm
Thursday 11 am to 2 pm
Saturday 12 pm to 3 pm

Location:
Arthur F. Turner Community Library
1212 Merkley Avenue
West Sacramento, CA 95691
(916) 375-6465

LOCATION: 1212 Merkley Ave





WOODLAND TOY LIBRARY



Located in downtown Woodland next to Freeman Park, the Woodland Toy Library (WTL) is a community-based organization open to all Yolo County families, as well as family daycare providers and day care centers. Library has about 600 age-appropriate toys for infants, preschoolers, and grade-schoolers.
 
Examples of the interesting and fun items you will find on our shelves include:


Train sets ~ Dollhouses ~ Musical instruments ~ Ride-on toys ~ Dress up clothes ~ Dinosaurs and animal figures ~ Puppet theatres ~ Fisher-Price ~ Blocks and building toys ~ Wooden puzzles ~ Board games ~ Large play trucks ~ Potato sacks ~ Play kitchens and cookware ~ Little Tykes ~ Ring and beanbag toss ~

Annual fee: $15 or volunteer*
Members can check out up to three items for a three-week period.

Modest fines are charged for late, lost, or damaged toys.


*Volunteers earn their membership by working the front desk and checking toys in and out during library hours. for a 90 min shift each month. (children are welcome will you work your shift)
Volunteering encouraged because the more volunteers available, the more hours the library can be open.

Woodland Toy Library Hours:
Fridays 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Saturdays 11:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Location:
1017 Main Street, Woodland CA