Friday, July 23, 2010

Grammie Camp #2

Grammie Camp gets more and more fun as the kids get older!  With six cousins, 13, 11, 10, and three 8 year olds we can really cover a lot of territory!

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We started out this year with an ancestor quiz, which they were better on than last year and received Swedish fish for the right answer! They’re going to be excited to meet those ancestors some day!

This year we had fun with a little art lesson on the impressionists. After talking about it for a while, they did their own impression of Bear Lake with watercolors. Pretty good stuff!

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We even played a match game of impressionists so the kids could get familiar with the work of some great artists!

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We piled into the car for our 2nd annual trip to Pickleville Playhouse production of El Bandito Rides Again and just as we pulled up to the raspberry shake stand, I realized to my horror that in our rush to leave, I had forgotten my purse! 

As I announced the disaster, cute Aniston piped up from the back that she had $45 that we could use. A miracle! We all rejoiced and really enjoyed that money!  Luckily I had bought the theatre tickets online.  Hoorah for Ana!

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The play was hilarious. So fun to just laugh with those cute kids and watch to see which jokes the “got”!  They loved the hissing and booing and were repeating lines from the play all the way home.

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It was a 5:00 show so it was still light when we got out. We drove the rest of the way around the lake and right on back to our cabin where I snatched my purse and we went back to the Bear Cave for dinner. After buying a $10 can of mosquito spray so we would be eaten alive and a game of Red Rover while we waited for our dinner, we chowed down on those good hamburgers and fries!

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Whilst driving around the lake, they talked about their best and worst experiences of the year and their favorite books and movies.  Very telling!

We settled down in the sleeping bags at the Lighthouse (always a challenging experience to get them to go to sleep) and were treated to crepes made by Elle in the morning. 

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At breakfast they learned the first part of my favorite scripture in Heleman 5:12 and it was fun to hear them zip it off in no time at all! Grandfather came to have a short session on “Grandfather’s Secrets”, a new idea for this year which they loved. It includes a secret rock that they each will carry with them this year to help them remember certain principles that are “secrets”.  He helped with an  unexpected lesson on honesty too.

 

We reviewed what we had learned, sang the Grammie Camp song and played the fun “Penny in the Flour” game which the kids love!

 

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And last we headed for the grand finale’ which is always a part of Grammie Camp:  WORK! 

We pulled weeks for a while at the tennis house which is desperate need of care. Some lasted longer than others, but it was actually fun (at least for me) to work together.

Another Grammie camp down….a lot to look forward to in the years to come. What a great blessing these GRAND kids are!

3 comments:

April Perry said...

You are a wonderful grandma! I'm so glad I get the chance to learn from you.

Jonah and Aja said...

thanks so much for doing that with our children. they love their grammy and always remember all the stuff you teach and instruct them on.

Anonymous said...

I just finished reading your book “A mother’s book of secrets” and now I found your blog. I just want to tell you how much I LOVE your ideas and your daughter Shawni is such a darling mom she has taken your example and continued to expand on your great parenting expertise. Thank You so much for your willingness to share your lives and ideas. I am in the middle stages of parenting, I have 6 children ages 23, 21 and 12 year old quadruplets. I am watching my older children grow up way to fast and realizing my limited time with my 4 tail enders. Parenting Young Adults is not a topic you find around much, I have great kids but would love tips on making their transition from home/college to on their own,.... that would be a great book. Your family is an inspiration to me, I love your grammie camp ideas and hope to create our own extended family traditions. Thanks again for sharing your lives so openly, you probably don’t realize how many mother’s out there are better people because they have read or heard words of encouragement from you.
Thanks again -
joanne mccolm
jpmccolm@aol.com