Pavilion of Wings at Natural History Museum an annual favorite and must see
Pavilion of Wings at Natural History Museum an annual favorite and must see
An annual favorite in Los Angeles from April to September, the Pavilion of Wings provides you the rare opportunity to be surrounded by hundreds of butterflies, some that may just land right on you. The enclosed tent on the grounds of the Natural History Museum will be home to more than 40 species of butterflies and moths in various stages of metamorphosis. A knowledgeable entomologist is usually on hand to answer everything you want to know about what you are seeing. Timed entrances ensure that it doesn’t get too crowded in the pavilion and that everyone gets ample QT with the butterflies! At $3 per entry (and free if you are a Natural History Museum member) this is a spring staple not to miss.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Pavilion of Wings
900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, 90007; (213) 763-DINO
April – September (call museum for exact dates and times)
Ages: All
Cost: $3
Website
The release of 80 endangered adult Palos Verdes Blue Butterflies into their native habitat at Deane Dana Friendship Park in San Pedro this past weekend was a success in the continuing environmental efforts to revive the Blue Butterfly population. Listening to Dr. Jana Johnson speak about the Blue Butterfly captive breeding program at Moorpark College and the immense care required by the process and provided by her students reminded us of the fragility of these beautiful creatures and reignited our own love affair with butterflies. Lucky for us, spring is right around the corner, and everywhere we look, opportunities exist to learn about, see and experience the wonder of these winged beauties.
It’s not just because our 3 ½ year old recognized artist Hanoch Piven’s Barack Obama face comprised of chewing gum and an Aladdin lamp that we love the exhibit Making Faces: Playful Portraits of People You Know at the Skirball Cultural Center now open and running through July 18, 2010. You’ll find that the creative portraits and pop culture icons will be fun to identify for your toddlers, teens and everyone in between. 
Sixteen large scale, imaginative, humorous, and spot on photographs of Piven’s work are fun for all ages. Created from everyday items—such as bananas, toy trucks, screws, Barbie® dolls, articles of clothing, and light bulbs—Piven’s whimsical yet highly recognizable portraits of public figures offer an incisive and often irreverent perspective on celebrity and American popular culture.
If Piven’s Albert Einstein can sport an electrical wire mop of hair, Barbra Streisand can don a microphone nose, George W. Bush can furrow his hotdog-bun eyebrows, and Homer Simpson can gaze through donut eyes, surely they will spark the creativity in you and your kids. Whose face can you create with everyday objects around your home?
The cherry trees at Schabarum Park in Rowland Heights are still relatively young, but their blossoms are no less stunning. The first blooms have already started to appear along both sides of the mile-long walkway in the pristine park. Pack your kids, your family and a picnic and hurry 
to the park to take a storybook stroll alongside the iconic beauties. The cherry trees bloom for just a teeny bit of time, maybe two weeks, each year, and once they are at their peak, only mother nature and her winds and rain will determine how long they will stay. If luck and nice weather are on your side, you may have until April to enjoy the views.
Salchow, lutz, axle and toe loop don’t have to be words firmly entrenched in your vocabulary for you to be inflicted with Olympic fever these past few weeks. One look at the glittery outfits of the ice dance and figure skaters, and my 3 ½ year old has declared her first—of many I’m sure—grown-up professional aspiration. Even without children announcing their fondness for the Olympic ice skating sports, we bet that more than a few parents are also dreamily off in the gold-medal futures of their kids. We talked to some local Ice Skating Rinks to see if Olympic fever has been warming their venues (and pocketbooks) and got the deets on how you can take your kids (and yourselves) for a whirl on the ice.
The oldest ice skating rink in the Valley, Iceland boasts a history of old-school Olympic-sized patrons, including Brian Boitano, Christopher Bowman and Sonja Henie. And according to community relations manager Martha Avtandilian, this very skating rink is where legendary Linda Fratianne mastered her triple toe loop and double axle. For those who don’t know, Fratianne was the first woman figure skater to land two triple jumps in a competition. (
Olympic-sized Culver Ice Rink in Culver City didn’t name drop any past or present Olympians, but they have been busting at the seams nonetheless this Olympic season. “All of our classes are at capacity,” says Shannon Takahashi, Skating School and Youth Hockey Coordinator. Fifty-five classes that normally enroll 400 students are currently teaching twice as many ice skating fans. Public skating sessions on the weekends are equally twice as busy. (
Olympic-sized Culver Ice Rink in Culver City didn’t name drop any past or present Olympians, but they have been busting at the seams nonetheless this Olympic season. “All of our classes are at capacity,” says Shannon Takahashi, Skating School and Youth Hockey Coordinator. Fifty-five classes that normally enroll 400 students are currently teaching twice as many ice skating fans. Public skating sessions on the weekends are equally twice as busy.
The oldest ice skating rink in the Valley, Iceland boasts a history of old-school Olympic-sized patrons, including Brian Boitano, Christopher Bowman and Sonja Henie. And according to community relations manager Martha Avtandilian, this very skating rink is where legendary Linda Fratianne mastered her triple toe loop and double axle. For those who don’t know, Fratianne was the first woman figure skater to land two triple jumps in a competition.
The Los Angeles Urban Rangers are back for the Free Public Beach Safaris that will give you the inside scoop on how to get to those public Malibu beaches that otherwise might not seem so public because of the multi-million dollar houses that are behind them! But mark your calendars for The Last-Hurrah Malibu Public Beach Safaris on Saturday, February 27, 2010 because this will wrap up their three-year project that will give you the skills to find, park, walk, picnic, and sunbathe on a Malibu beach legally and safely. Find and use the other beaches in Malibu–the twenty miles that are lined with private development. Kids are welcome on the tour and though they might not be taking notes, can still frolic on the sand.