Grammie Camp #3

With a day in between to recover I was excited have the older kids for Grammie Camp. Groups 1 and 2 are between 10 and 14 and they are so much fun. Their lives start getting complicated as they get older. Our oldest grandson Max had just returned from EFY at BYU and Elle had spent the week at tennis camp, also at BYU. I have been combining groups 1 and 2 through the years so this year, we had a little talk about sibling and cousin rivalry before we started as by this time last year, after being together for a whole month there were some small issues but they were great to follow the rules: no crying, not teasing, no whining, no sibling rivalry at Grammie Camp. We had a ball!

Group 1 is Max (14), Ashton (11) and Elle (almost 13).

Group 2 is Aniston (almost 10), Isaac (10) and Grace (10)

The plan was to go to Minetonka Cave, a famous cave in Bear Lake County with a guide who knows all the stalactites and stalagmites like they are his children (knowledge from a previous visit five years earlier). After we climbed the steep uphill road for five miles through spectacular scenery, we found that their was a 90 minute wait.  We turned around and decided to go to the Bloomington Cemetery and then find the famous Paris Ice Cave which none of us had ever seen instead. 

 

Once again we scavenged for the graves of our ancestors. This group remembered a lot of what they had learned last year and loved seeing the creek where Grampa Jacobson was baptized about a hundred and two years ago. They love/hate the story of the cousin who many years ago was wrestling with a friend who accidently broke our cousin’s neck and he died. 

 

On to the Paris Ice Caves. A wild place that isn’t very big but sports ice all year round. The kids loved it as our warm flip flops and tennis shoes instantly froze to the ice. 

 

 

 

I don’t know how much you can see in the picture below because we were in the shadows and I took this picture with my Iphone 3 but Ashton who was the “king of the hill” scaling the cliff (see above) dropped his flip flop in a hole and it promptly froze there. They are trying to dig it out (below). We thought that it was a gonner but Max, with his long arm managed to rescue it. It was quite a dramatic moment!

From there it was on to a three-year tradition of going to see our favorite melodrama at the Pickleville Playhouse in Garden City.  Some of the kids had the DVD memorized from last year and Grace even used one of the vignettes to win an election for treasurer at her elementary school. This year it was called “Who Shot Juanito Bandidto” and we all laughed our heads off, cheered, booed and loved it! 

And then it was home to the traditional flour game. By midnight the kids were all pretty punchy but it’s always fun!

 

Because Aniston was leaving, Grandfather picked up the “sensational six” the next morning at 7 a.m. for a trek to “Single Tree” on the mountain behind the Lighthouse to participate in a new tradition started last year….Grandfather’s Secrets.  Details coming in a future post.

They loaded in the truck and had a wild and wonderful , even magical adventure.

 

Sadly we kissed Aniston good-bye as her family left us. We’ll have fond memories of this fun reunion and the great job Jonah and Aja (Aniston’s parents) have done to make it so fun and memorable for everyone…here’s a final glimpse of cute Group 2 with their flag complete with badges of honor!

Grammie Camp is over for another year!  

 

Grammie Camp #2

The next group of Grammie Campers (see previous post for details) was five little boys! They are hysterical to listen to. Oliver, Silas, McKay and Charlie are just such a great mix. We ended up driving to Logan about 90 minutes away to pick up our fifth little Grammie Camper, Camden, who is a bit older, and the natural leader. His parents had car trouble getting him back to Bear Lake so we met them in Logan to pick him up. I would give anything for a recording of the hilarious conversations that took place on those two 90 minute rides. Camden called roll every time we got back into the car and made sure that everyone was “seat belted”.

As luck would have it, our darling 88 year old Grandma lives in Logan so we met Camden’s family there and had fun with Grandma’s puzzles and taking pictures with her. Grandma got to meet Camden’s baby sister Poem for the first time (as you can see they were pretty taken with each other). Grandma Ruthie has dementia and is sadly getting a little foggier every day! These pictures will be priceless in years to come.

Next stop….the USU Creamery where we enjoyed some great ice cream.

 

 

From there it was back to Bear Lake and a great conversation about Family History.  Swedish fish were prizes for anyone who could answer questions about their ancestors and I was amazed at how much they remembered from last year when treats were in the mix. We stopped at the historical marker where Grampa Roy gave Grandma Hazel a ring and asked her to marry him on the shores of Bear Lake just outside of Fish Haven.

 

 

And then it was back to the cemetery in Bloomington where the boys had a wild romp finding Grandpa Roy’s grave. Camden’s middle name was Roy so he was the most excited to be there:

 

The “weed drill” was next and that was very entertaining!  Most of the boys are five and six and couldn’t really count to three hundred so things were  a little more complicated. Some “miraculously” made it to their goal of 250 in no time at all! In the end they helped Camden who was the only one who really could count to finish his goal of 400 weeds.

They all loved those really big ones because they were “fivers” (worth 5 cents)!

Just before going to the Dollar Store we stopped at the Arctic Circle where they couldn’t be happier to play at playland and enjoy a little “junk food”!

The most popular purchase at the dollar store for these little guys were these handcuffs.  We soon learned that not everything (in fact very few things) at the dollar store were actually a dollar. These babies cost 250 weeds but they thought they were totally worth every weed! Their uses seem endless!

Sleeping at The Lighthouse with this crazy crew is always interesting and so fun once they quit bouncing off the walls!

Sorry Silas, you were in the bathroom!

At bedtime, Grandfather came and told them his famous “Old Ephraim” Story. Even though teenagers have been known to be scared by this story which was presented with “over the top” gusto, by grandfather, when we asked the boys afterward if they were scared, Silas said, “Actually I thought it was kind of funny.”

Even these little guys know the Grammie Camp song and the first part of the scripture (Heleman 5:12) which we reviewed in the morning after a pancake breakfast. The finale was a squirt gun fight. Needless to say…everybody won!

Could anything be more fun than spending a day with this crew without their parents? They kept me rolling with laughter.  I sure love these little guys!

Grammie Camp #1

Our official reunion with everyone together lasts from Wednesday at dinner to Sunday afternoon. Even though husbands start departing for work after that and people are coming and going in order to keep up with their work lives, the fun just goes on for me! After a day of recovery and a night out with just the moms for dinner, I get to start the one-on-one time with my extraordinary grandchildren.  They are divided into groups and we call our time together “Grammie Camp.”  This year we had three different groups, all held according to who was here when. 

The first group consists of three little girls who adore each other (most of the time) and who love learning…about everything! We usually start Grammie Camp after lunch one day and finish after breakfast the next day. 

 

We try to do something a little different each year but there are a few things  that are dyed-in-the- wool traditions. Because my parents were both farmers, one thing we learned well when we were home was how to work! In my efforts to carry on this tradition, the kids actually have fun doing what they call “picking weeds”.  Every weed they pull is worth one penny and the money they earn will be spent later that afternoon at the dollar store in Montpelier.

These girls made a goal of “picking” 300 weeds and they worked their little hearts out!  Here they are with their gloves on…ready to work:

It wasn’t so fun when they got into the prickles, but they persevered and reached their goal. Pretty magnificent weeds huh? (Secret… I watered them before we started so they were pretty easy to “pick”).

Here they are with their proud purchases from the dollar store after all their hard work:

 

 

These three are also pretty amazing artists!  We had them go pick a bouquet of flowers and then use pointillism to paint their pictures with watercolors and Q-tips.  They came up with some really creative paintings!

 

 

Here are the finished products without Claire’s who had already taken it home by the time I thought to take pictures. Shawni send me a picture and I’ll insert it.

 

 

Another traditional thing we do at Grammie Camp is to hear Ancestor stories and then visit some of their graves. Many of my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are buried in the Bloomington Cemetery, just across the lake. It’s so fun to have a scavenger hunt for graves in the cemetery.  At my mother, Hazel Jacobson’s grave these cute kids rejoice in finding their GREAT grandmother. On the left is Claire Hazel, in the middle is Hazel Jane and on the right Eliza Sage. Plenty of Hazels to go around to remember this extraordinary woman! She must be so proud of these kids! Looks as though they’re pretty proud of her too!

 

This year we found this T-shirt which was appropriate since two of these little girls’ mothers went to Wellesley College and the other practically lived at Wellesley with

Of course dancing and a talent show is always part of these girls’ Grammie Camp. There’s a Grammie Camp song that these girls know word perfect and a the first part of my favorite scripture which is Heleman 5:12.  Every word they got perfect was worth a gummy bear and they have that thing flat!

We found this old T-shirt this year that made me smile because two of the mothers of these girls went to Wellesley College and the other mom practically lived with her sister there while she attended Boston University. She even named her oldest daughter Wellesley!

In the morning we cooked waffles and bacon under the direction of Hazel (sorry…blurry, but these kids just can’t quit moving…and neither can I) and a grand time was had by all!

I LOVE getting my grandchildren all to myself in small groups. I learn so much about their personalities and their abilities to interact with their cousins. It’s pure joy!  Group 4 coming next!

Baby Blessing

There’s nothing quite like a baby blessing at Bear lake. I love the excitement in the air, the aunts, uncles and cousins all anticipating an once-in-a-lifetime event…at least for that particular baby. This year on the last day and the last hour of our “official” reunion our good son Jonah Jacobson Eyre pronounce a blessing on his darling baby girl: Poem Therese Eyre. 

 

The cousins, aunts and uncles were as excited as the parents!

This year the blessing was given on the deck of the Lighthouse. Can you imagine the power that was present as all these wonderful men joined in the blessing of this little baby?

The short guy on the end is our beloved Dr. Wolff who lives in Montpelier and has bailed us all out more times than we can count with almost every imaginable malady. Everyone calls from all acrtoss the country whenever there is a health emergency. They all have their own doctors but trust Cub’s wisdom more!  We all LOVE “CUB”! 

This little girl is going to have an incredible life. Her Dad, Jonah, reminded us that the book of Jonah is a poem. Perfect name for a child whose family is also a poem. A pretty amazing poem at that!

Reunion Mania!

Well, the time has finally arrived again when (luckily this year) all 39 of us gathered together at our beloved Bear lake (with two new babies "on the way” who will join us next year). With three of our families on the West Coast and three on the East Coast, two in Phoenix and one in Ogden and even though they do somehow manage to see each other quite a bit during the year, we’re never really ALL together except for four days in July. Little cousins who were two last year and now three (or almost) and getting to know each other!

Glad they have their life jackets on in that kiddie pool…but they’re going to need it when they get to the lake behind them. It’s FULL! 

Parents are slathering on Suntan Lotion

And enough sand castles were built that if they were lined up, they could reach all the way to China:

And bunnies show up again to eat the flowers in my flower gardens!

And the eclectic collection of shoes outside the front door is back:

 

Kids fill up the hot tub after a cold dip in the lake…

 

“Ye Ol’ Montero” is put back together again (by our in-house mechanic Jonah) and kids LOVE covering it like flies on rancid meat….

 

This year the worst happened….after 15 years of running like a top, the boat wouldn’t work!  Even after paying a guy in Logan a hefty amount to get it going, it still didn’t work.  Once again our mechanic Jonah along with his very knowledgeable assistants Jeff and Jared, somehow after many hours of trying, failing and trying again, got it going!  Take a look at these kids’ faces when they thought they weren’t going to be able to waterski/wakeboard this year: 

 

The biggest cheer of the reunion occurred when it actually started!

THE BONFIRE

This year, the reunion was planned and organized by Jonah and Aja.  What great ideas they came up with along with following the traditions of previous years.  The first night of the reunion we had a big bonfire where we listened to everyone’s favorite songs of the year (including the kids) on a CD. Jonah and Aja had begged, pleaded and threatened people to send their songs and we loved listening to the CD together and guessing whose song was whose!  Those CDs are played in all our cars during the year and even though dad and I can’t keep track of them, every kid know who sent which song.

THE TEAMS AND FLAGS

Our fearless organizers also had the kids organized in teams each with a team flag. They got special badges for fulfilling certain requirements. Little kids were coming up to me in droves asking what they could do to help!  It sure helped at mealtime with washing dishes and emptying that forever-full dishwasher!

 

 

 

THE TALENT SHOW

 

 

…including pole-climbing

And during a fun skit, Nurse Julie and her husband Eli taught us all how to do the Heimlich Manuever

THE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Every year we have a tennis tournament and with 18 adults entered, we have to be pretty serious about playing those matches!  These are the semi-finalist: Eli and Julie and Shawni and Dave:

 

And the other semi-finalist: Noah and Kristi and the Magnificent Granddaughter Elle who was on her way to BYU Tennis Camp

And the winners were:

 

Grandfather and Elle! As Elle kisses her trophy, hope you can read the caption:

OTHER EXCITING EVENTS….

included McKay learning the Grandfather trick of taking his thumb off:

Wild and crazy dancing with a Wii game…

 

REVERSE CHARADES

A spectacular double rainbow framing the Lighthouse….

 

PICTURE TAKING AT SUNSET

 

AND PICTURES ON SUNDAY MORNING ON THE DAY SOME HAD TO LEAVE

And the individual pictures of the Shumways, Pothiers and Jonah and Aja’s family and Tal and Anita will be showing up in future posts. Somebody else has them in their cameras.

What a grand time we had celebrating together. It was wild chaos at mealtimes and crazy fun at the beach. There were forever-messes to clean up, lots of kid-fights to quell, games until midnight and mellow talks one-on-one and in groups.

One of our most important items of business is an Eyrealm meeting where we figure out humanitarian projects that we can support each year with money from The Eyrealm Foundation. Our children are all members of the board and Saren, our oldest is the Chariman of the Board. Many of those projects are ones that our children are intimately involved with. It always brings forth great ideas to give back!

Thanks to Jonah and Aja for a fabulous reunion! How very blessed we are!