The Idea Came to Me

No photos today. I just checked and the last one I took was my tomatoes ready for the freezer. 

I thought I would share what I am currently obsessed with. "Mimi Camp"! 

When my first grandson was born over seventeen years ago, my daughter and her family lived in Florida, over 1,000 miles away. I came up with the concept of Mimi Camp and even bought him a onesie that said Gramma Camp when he came up for a visit before his first birthday. It was a plot to spend a week with my grandchildren every summer.

Little did I know that a few years later the family would move back here and all my children would remain near us. And following my parent's health issues, I became the childcare provider. My grandkids were and are at my house every week! 

But that doesn't stop a good idea. Over the years we have had Space Camp, American Camp, Star Wars Camp, Cowboy Camp and it's repeat Not My First Rodeo Camp. Cooking Camp, Art Camp, Construction Camp - I can't remember all 16 camps, lol.  

This year I was stumped. No ideas were forthcoming. Then, one night, VIOLA - (I worked with a woman who would put that in emails when she meant Voila, it is an inside joke among some old friends). Anyway, the inspiration is - A Trip to Europe!  When I told my husband that evening, he told me that we can't afford to take 10 children to Europe. 

I spent the night with a legal pad and Pinterest.  I mentioned the next morning that I had ordered some passports (they look just like passports and are note pads). Again he said, we can't afford to take 10 children to Europe. 

The total ridiculousness of buying tickets, getting passports and planning an itinerary of hotels and restaurants and points of interest in a few weeks escaped him twice, even after explanation.  

We are taking a land cruise! I mailed out the travel brochures and reservation forms. We will arrive in my dining room every morning and breakfast in a different country. Since everyone plays soccer, we will go to the soccer field before it gets too hot and use up some energy. I have craft and stem activities and themed lunches.  

I am gathering supplies and recipes and grocery lists. I am happy to report that a package caught my eye at Aldi and it turns out they have cookies from other countries.  Monday we will be in London, Tuesday, Paris, Wednesday, Milan, Italy (chosen because we live near a village named Milan) and Thursday Munich, Germany.  Four days because it is a miracle we can do 4 days in a row with sports camps, etc. 

We will be building the London Bridge and Eiffel Tower, painting birdhouses like gingerbread, creating masterpieces and mosaics, building volcanos, making pretzels, visiting a pizzeria. I will be decorating the dining room every day and since, boo hoo, the campers are getting older - I am opening the craft box leftovers from previous years for afternoons. 

I am so inspired and excited. I have my menu plans, I'm working on decorations, tomorrow I will be doing the pages inside the passports.  

Orders are arriving from Oriental Trading (thanks for the free shipping day guys) and Amazon. There have been some visits to the Dollar Stores. 

AND, if my summer couldn't get better, my oldest granddaughter who is going to be a sophomore has asked me to put on a TEA PARTY for her and her friends the week before school starts. I told her I have lived for this day and may be overwhelming her with photos of the insides of my china cabinets.