Grandkid Camp

Every year that my mom does Grandkid Camp, I think that there is no way that she can top that camp but then she somehow ends up doing an amazing job the next year. This year was no exception. Out of all the fun things we did this summer, this was up there at the top for the kids. A perfect way to end our summer-our kids went back to school the very next Monday.

The theme this year was Holidays (+ what you missed during quarantine). My mom had activities for every holiday throughout the year. I drove up with my kids and met everyone else on Thursday afternoon. The first holiday we celebrated was New Years Eve and New Years Day. We put on party hats and made a lot of noise with noise makers. The kids filled out an "All About Me" paper.

We played games. My mom had a big ball of wrapping paper and tape with treats and prizes hid inside-when you rolled doubles you got a chance to rip it apart and find a prize. And then a game where you had to move an M&M from one bowl to another with a straw. Don't worry, everyone had their own straw. We played Bingo. We had a scavenger hunt where everyone had to find a picture of themselves. We made ornaments that we saved for a future activity/holiday. It was a happy bunch of kids that night before going to bed.

Josie, Lucy, Ivy

Ben, Gavin, Chloe, Molly, Abby, Tessa, Grace

Ivy, Josie, Lucy

Gavin, Molly, Tessa

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

When they woke up, they found their Grandkid Camp shirts by their doors.

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

Valentine's Day was next. That meant heart-shaped waffles for breakfast.

Spencer, Tessa, Ben, Brynn, Erin W., Harper

St. Patrick's Day was Minute-to-Win-It games. Everyone got a turn. Props were either green or rainbow-colored. There was another scavenger hunt for a St. Patrick's Day goodie bag-colored licorice and Rolo's. Mid-morning snack was green rice krispies and rainbow fruit.

Ivy and Lucy sorting Skittles

Abby and Molly

Tessa and Stockton

Josie and Molly

Easter was an egg toss, a jelly bean game (my mom had collected water bottles, taped two together, and you had to shake jelly beans from one water bottle to the other), and an Easter egg hunt throughout the cabin.

Josie and Molly up front

Lucy and Ivy

Abby, Chloe, Molly, Tessa (Gavin and Ben in the background)

This is where we took a break from holidays to do "what you missed during quarantine." Basically, field day and missed field trips. After lunch, we drove over to the new ropes course facility at the bottom of Logan Canyon, on the Garden City side. We were planning on spending a couple of hours there and ended up spending most of the afternoon trying out all the things they had to offer. My mom bought all the kids a wristband that allowed them to try three larger things and gave them 15 slides down the summer tubing slide. All of my kids loved the tube slide and did that as many times as they could.

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

Molly and Chloe

Gavin, Harper and Molly

Molly also did the upper ropes course (she spent a couple hours up there), the swing, and the zip line.

Gavin, Molly, Ben, Grace, Spencer

Stockton tried the lower ropes course, the swing, and did the slide a whole bunch. He didn't love the ropes course because of the height but he really enjoyed the other activities.

Molly, Stockton, Gavin, Chloe, Tessa, Abby, Seth

Ben and Stockton

Brynn did the lower and middle ropes course and the bungy trampoline. She was a rockstar flipper on the tramp.

Harper and Brynn

Ivy did the lower ropes course and the bungy trampoline. She was so funny on the ropes course because she did the same obstacle over and over and over again.

Some of the kids didn't use all three of their punches so the mom's got to use them. My sisters and I all went on the zipline and had a blast doing that.

me, Ivy's head, Erin, Ali

We resumed our holidays when we got back to the cabin. For the 4th of July my mom had a water blob set up. Not only that-she had actually painted the bottom of it to look like a flag. Some of our group had come back early from the ropes course and were able to play on that a little longer, along with some other water games.

Halloween was next. My mom had brought up all the dress-ups and Halloween costumes and everyone picked something to wear. The mom's were placed in different spots around the cabin so that they could go trick-or-treating.

Molly, Tessa, Abby

For Thanksgiving, we had a Thanksgiving dinner. Duh. It was a full-on feast, but grilled turkey breasts, cheesy potatoes, rolls, with pie for dessert.

We had Christmas Eve that night and Christmas morning when we woke up. We hung the ornaments we had made the night before on the tree and then watched Charlie Brown Christmas outside on the grass.

Lucy and Ivy

On the Grandkid Camp invitation my mom had given each kid another cousins name and the instruction to bring a $5 gift for that person. That morning, they did a gift exchange. It was fun to see what everyone got for just five bucks! Molly got soda and body wash, Stockton got dollar store treats, Brynn got a notebook, pens, and treats, and Ivy got a glitter beach ball. They had also hung stockings the night before and "Santa" had filled them with school supplies.

Ivy and Lucy

Brynn, Harper, Grace

Grant, Tessa, Stockton

Abby, Molly, Chloe

Whew! Deep breath! In summary, my mom is amazing. No wonder this is everyone's favorite weekend of the year.

We spent the rest of Saturday at the beach and on the boat. Justin had to work that Saturday so I was solo with the kids but they are old enough that they are easy, I just missed him. My kids love the tube most of all but rides on the boat and jet ski are awesome too. Playing on the beach with cousins is also pretty great and we had a fantastic day in the sun.