When I started my "Gramma Camp", I had one grandchild who lived in Florida. I guess I forgot to do the math. I have five children and now TEN grandchildren, seven who live in the same town and three who live about two hours away. But it is a tradition and traditions must continue.
We stepped up the t-shirt game this year with my youngest daughter's purchase of a cricut machine. We made three different shirts that could rotate through the six days of camp. We also made additional shirts for a family event with even more "cousins" and a special shirt I will show you at the end.
The theme for this year was "Star Wars, A Grandparents Galaxy Far, Far Away". We began with just the "littles" since the bigs had to finish some tournament baseball games and a final swim meet. One of the day 1 activities was pool noodle lasers which were a big hit. They are wearing "paint" shirts from another project.
Day two was our annual trip to the lake. High water levels and a dangerous undertow resulted in two drownings the week after our camp and another drowning this week. We will no longer be traveling to the beach.
And we had our annual lunch at our favorite pizza restaurant.
We worked on some shoe box robots, played some games and headed to our favorite Mexican Restaurant for supper.
Day Three started with rescuing Star Wars Characters who were encased in death star balls (of baking soda playdough). We had to shoot them with vinegar lasers to melt the death stars.
Camp week had temperatures close to 100 degrees. We decided to visit an indoor playground that is air conditioned in a neighboring town.
Could these cousin be any cuter?
And how scary are these cousins!
Even Baby Leo got in on the fun!
Day Four welcomed the Bigs! We tried for some official camp photos. Looking at the camera is not our strong suit.
I put them to work making paving stones for my fairy garden.
We had a day full of crafts including these R2D2 cutouts and some painted rocks (they were supposed to be Star Wars Themed).
Then we headed back to our favorite pizza place for a family reunion with relatives from Florida and Georgia!
The next morning was the Fourth of July and we all headed to our small town parade. It was in the high nineties and so humid it was insufferable. How did those marchers stand it?
And trying to get some shade (and hide from the drummers)
And while we were at the parade:
Grandchild #10 - in case you were counting only 9 in previous photos. The day finished with fireworks.
Well, one watched the fireworks.
Day, who remembers. It was supposed to be Bigs only, but we had Big Sister for the next few days and the mother of two of the Littles had to work, so it was a full car load. And since it was forecast to be 100 degrees again, we headed to the indoor playground.
And then a road trip to take the Bigs home for one last baseball tournament.
And the ride home.
The Last Day - we took another trip up to help the Bigs put up a fair booth. This is their first year in 4-H and the first year in the club that their mother and a friend started. As a former 4-H advisor for a measly 25+ years, I agreed to give them a hand.
Pretty great job by these new 4-Hers!
So - it was a pretty long week for Gramma Camp. We started at breakfast and had full days of crafts, activities, field trips and meals before ending after dinner. It is getting harder to schedule with all the different activities the grandchildren are involved in. And the past two years have been uncomfortably hot which means activities have to take place indoors. I think we are going to make some changes for next year. We are thinking of camp "weekends" where we will do maybe two days of camp with a theme. The grandparents are getting tired and the campers are getting more energy! We will have to see what next year brings.
And here is that "special" shirt:
