Grandma Camp

My new grandma blogging friend Susan, is my guest contributor this week. She recently had her first Grandma Camp and shares her experience. If you have any Grandma Camp ideas I would love to feature you also.

Inspired by some of the Super Grannies that I know, I decided that I wanted to hold a summer Grandma Camp. I also decided that spring would be great for a mini Grandma Camp, sort of a warm-up for the real thing.
Grandkids aged 13, 12, 9, 7 and 5 joined me on Friday evening. The cousins hadn’t seen each other in a while, so they had unstructured play until bedtime. The next day, we headed out to a free festival hosted by our local community college. When we returned after two hours of bouncy houses and face painting, the last camper had arrived, my 6-year-old granddaughter.
For the rest of the day we alternated free play with more organized activities, like fusible beads and balloon animals. Saturday night was a little tough. I was dog-tired. As I lay sandwiched between a whiny 5-year-old and a squirmy 7-year-old, I was thinking that perhaps Grandma Camp isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.
The next morning I awoke refreshed in spite of having been a Grandma Sandwich. While the younger grandchildren were bathing, we discovered that the bathtub jets could be used to fill water balloons, and I had a brainstorm. We filled a clean trashcan with water balloons, and I created a treasure hunt that ended with the stash of water balloons. It was a little chilly for the kids to get wet, so we threw the balloons at the fence and driveway. The grandkids roared with laughter. By then the parents were arriving. My first Grandma Camp was officially over.
I’ve decided not to host another Grandma Camp. The best thing about the weekend for the grandkids was getting to be with their cousins, so our next event is going to be called Cousin Camp. I learned that I need more help, including someone to take pictures. I need a chore chart to get the kids invested in helping out. I also need a younger body. Anyone know where I can get one before summer?

MORE IDEAS FROM SUSAN