Grandkid Camp

Grandkid Camp was held later this year-the last weekend before school started.  That worked really well for everyone and gave us something to look forward to at the end of the summer.  I went this year as the mom helper since Justin was gone on high adventure with the young men.  The theme this year was Harry Potter and my mom completely outdid herself.  She had gone up to the cabin earlier in the week to decorate the basement and that area was off limits when the kids first arrived. It was really fun for them to walk in and see all the floating candles.

Brynn, Chloe, Ivy-waiting for the fun to begin!

My mom dressed in her Hogwarts robes and had all the kids sit under a sorting hat.  She had hidden a walkie talkie in the hat and I had the other pair in a different room and would call out what house they belonged to.  My mom and Ben had decided where everyone would be sorted beforehand.  They also picked their wands.  They were blindfolded and led to a table with wands set out and that is how they picked their wand.

They decorated their house badges while they waited for the Great Feast. In the invitations my mom had sent (by owl post-aka, being left on the front porch one night for kids to find in the morning), she had asked everyone their favorite food and favorite dessert.  And then she went ahead and prepared everyone's favorite food and favorite dessert.  So it really was a Great Feast and everyone was very happy with the spread!

my mom didn't want help with the feast but I did make these cauldron cupcakes

After the feast, the kids got to practice the Expecto Patronum spell and see what kind of patronus they had.  My mom had also asked them their favorite animals and had found a nifty thing on her ipad that would produce patronus's. We also had a round of Harry Potter trivia that Ben had worked on before settling outside to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on the outdoor screen.

Spencer and Molly

The kids woke up the next day to house shirts at their doors and my mom had so many games planned for the day.  There were several times when I thought we had just played the last game and she would pull out another one!

They drew Harry Potter-related words out of a jar and then had to form the word out of playdough while their house guessed what it was.

Stockton, Grant, Seth

We had a dueling club.  It worked like paper, rock, scissors but with three different spells instead.

Tessa, Brynn, Molly

Ivy and Tessa

Grant and Stockton

They made their own magical creature out of playdough.  They made up a name for it and what magical quality it possessed.

They went to potions class. This was the favorite of the day-and for good reason.  It was amazing!  My mom had collected jars of all variety and concocted several different potions with labels on them.  She made a few for the group and then gave each of them a small jar to make their own potion.  They had to write down what ingredients they used, what their potion was called, and what the potion did when you drank it.  When everyone was done, they stood up and explained to everyone else what they had created.  They were so creative and had a blast experimenting with all the different ingredients.  The ultimate potion was at the end-some Diet Coke + Mentos.

Gryffindor girls: Tessa, Molly, Grace, Brynn, Ivy

Ravenclaw: Seth, Grant, Harper, Ben, Stockton

Spencer, Chloe, Ivy, Grace, Abby, Harper, Molly, Brynn, Seth, Tessa, Gavin, Ben, Stockton, Grant

We played a game where my dad was the Whomping Willow and they had to rescue a stuffed owl from underneath his "branches."

They had to lead a blindfolded house member to find something but I honestly can't remember what the treasure was.

Ivy, Tessa, Brynn

Tessa and Molly

Ben, Stockton, Grant

We played Quidditch and that was fun!  Everyone got to take turns being the snitch.

We did a scavenger hunt.

They each got 100 pennies to spend at Honeydukes where my mom had several different prizes they could use their money on.  She had kept a jar for each house where they could put crystals for good behavior and added them up to see who won House Cup at the end.  That house got to visit Honeydukes first.

There was a pinata after dinner, night games on the golf course, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on the outdoor screen when it got dark.  I was so glad I was the helper this year and got to see all the work that went into this particular camp.  It was a good one and I was amazed at the time and effort my mom put into it-and she's never even read the books!

There's not much to say about Saturday and I'll let the photos speak for themselves.  A day on the lake and beach with cousins is pretty much one of my kids' favorite things to do ever.  Grandpa had a new tube so a lot of time was spent doing that along with jet ski rides and playing in the sand.

Tessa, Chloe, Brynn, Spencer, Gavin, Harper

Abby, Chloe, Molly

Ivy and Jeff

Tessa, Brynn, Abby

Molly, Ivy, Grace

Seth, Lucy, Stockton, Grant, Harper