Grandma Day Camp 2016 Friday

So, I haven't posted any pics from the flag ceremonies and song time.  I came across these gems...

And of course, Xena the snake came up for day camp. She always comes on vacation with Tom in the summer. She was one of the mapping stops from the other day. And, we have extras for the Friday fun-- we need their parents to help run things..

Then, with their map knowledge, Tom had a treasure hunt for the kids. Everyone had to be there for the reading of the clues.

Next was the thing all the kids were waiting to do... Making knives!  Tom brought some knife blanks, then the kids had to draw the shape that they wanted for their knife, transfer that to the blade, choose the handle, and go out in the shop to cut it out.  Only those older than 13 got to cut their own, unless they had help.

At the end, you have to glue the blade into the handle and hold it forever-- really a few minutes.

 Those who looked at all the sparks and said 'uhhh, no'  finished up their doors from yesterday. They also helped with lunch. Well, Malorie did.

When the knives got finished it was time to go down to the campsite. There they had the knife throwing, hatchet throwing and we couldn't find the BB guns.  I really don't know if they found the throwing knives or hatchets...

They set up their tents and got the fire going for the foil dinners.

This is the most fun, taking kids to the bathroom and back. 

MMmmmm, s'mores...  And I got to go home and not campout!  Another year over and successful with no fatalities.

Grandma Day Camp 2016 Thursday

Today is TV day!!!  We will be doing challenges from some favorite shows...
First the flag ceremony and songs...

Project Runway:  Alternative Materials Challenge!! Each team had a plastic tablecloth, tissue paper, streamers, tape, glue, and whatever else they could find.

 Luke got forced to wear a streamer outfit.  He LOVED it!

And the 3 year old didn't like not being in charge!
Here's a video of the fashion show...

Look at me, learning how to do that!!  Tom gave each of them a dollar for winning!

Next, it was time to open our Chopped basket...

Chicken breast, not quite thawed, potatoes, carrots, apples, cornbread mix and marshmallows . Now cook lunch!

I didn't get a pic of each plate, but the kids had to figure out what to cook using those ingredients and they could add from the pantry. We had soup, stir fry, corn muffins with apples and marshmallows, cornbread smothered in honey, and I can't remember what else!  Very delicious!!

Then, Cup Cake Wars! Each team got a cake mix, a can of icing, and sprinkles, mini choc chips and mini M & M's. And what they could find in the pantry...

 The tie dye ones were made in Mandy's kitchen, and has a surprise inside.  The middle ones were mint Oreo cupcakes and were very gourmet ...they even had a mint leaf put on top for garnish. And the other end ones, were made to look like a watermelon-- pink cupcakes with mini chocolate chips in them and green icing.

When we got out of our sugar coma, it was time for HGTV!  Each team had a door to paint. 

As you can see, Malorie couldn't paint the way she wanted to, but her team just added it to their design.  The other two teams didn't finish their doors.  I couldn't blame them, it was waaay hot out there. 
We will definitely do this next year, maybe have a different chopped basket for another lunch.  And the HGTV project needs to be smaller.

Grandma Day Camp 2016 Wednesday

We always start out with a flag ceremony and camp songs. Then today, we had a field trip! We went to Crown Center to eat at Fritz's, ride the street cars, and play at Kaleidoscope. 

At Fritz's they bring your food on a train. It's hamburgers and all, but they have train tracks around the top of the restaurant and load it up with your food.  The kids love it! Kate told us to get there early-- we were there right around 11:00 am, and by 11:15 there was a line. 

Kansas City just got a street car, so we had to ride it. We got on at Union Station, and road completely around to exit there, also.

Then we went to Kaleidoscope. Hallmark puts it on, and the price is right...free!  THe Kaleidoscope pics are dark because it's dark in there. The kids get to do all kinds of art projects. Even the big kids enjoyed it.

We came out of Kaleidoscope to find that Tom had put Luke to sleep...resting his head on two diapers... You know our motto... Grandma Day Camp..You get what you pay for...After Kaleidoscope, we needed to pose for the group pic...

We got home to do another craft.. Magazine art. You cut the magazine pages in half, then roll them up and glue, then make your name on the canvas.  Insert joke about teaching the kids to roll their own...

And they got out board games.. next year we need to schedule time for that..

Thanks to the Kesler's for introducing us to Blokus years ago...  Now it's time to go home, Grandma's are tired..

Grandma Day Camp 2016 Tuesday

On Tuesday, we had the flag ceremony and the parade of countries.

 

Then we went on a nature hike and Kim has a map of her property. The kids have to map certain landmarks and pick any flowers that they see. The hike was taken on the mules, mixed with hiking.

They then had to look up and find all the names of the flora...

While whittling starts, lunch gets cooked. We used the buddy burners, but I think this is the last year.  It takes forever and I have lost my zest.  As you can see, the kitchen crew take their job seriously. 

 For afternoon snack, we had brownie waffle failure. It was supposed to be brownies cooked in a waffle iron-- they did this last year and it turned out great-- so Jocie just put the brownies in a pan to cook.  Brownie Failure turned out delicious!

Crafting paracord bracelets took place during nap time, and every other minute.
We had to go thru miles of the paracord. And had to send out for more.

After naps, string art was going on.  At least it was Kim out in the garage.

Kallie chose to burn her walking stick.

Jocie chose to paint her string art board...

This is the real life of a 3 year old...absolutely fit throwing because she doesn't want to sing......

..........to Complete joy with her string art!

Grandma Day Camp 2016

 About a week before Day Camp, we realized that the Olympics were coming up in a few weeks, so we had to change the theme, which means a T-shirt change.  That’s Amber and Mandy’s problem. Amber does our graphics for the t shirts, and Mandy uses her silhouette and cuts them out and does the iron ons.  The theme went along with the Olympic colors, and of course a mosquito added to the back for the Zika Virus.  So the nite before camp begins finds us finishing the shirts about midnight.  Next year we need to get them done earlier.  

True story about the shirts, when Malorie saw Kim's shirt she took to back pedaling and pointed out that "Grandma there's a bug"  and then when Addie put hers on, we heard a scream and she busts out with "I thought there was a bug on me!"  Throughout the week we all had that kind of reaction at sometime.

We always start with the flag ceremony...

You would think by now they would have it memorized, but you would be thinking wrong...  You would think we would get better pics, but we never do...

Then inside for camp songs...

Alice the Camel...

Then dividing into teams and making the team flags. They were divided into three teams for the week, and had to decide on their name and flag...

Brody wasn't here on the first day, so his team-- Addie and Abby made them the BAA team with a lamb with a man bun for their mascot. Jocie, Emmy, Malorie and Luke were Kearney's Finest.  Malorie decided at the last minute to try and paint their flag pink.  Kallie, Reed and Will  made themselves the Ferocious Fruit.  Kind of a Carmen Miranda Brazil theme.

 

Kim got her morning nap in…. 

 

 Then off to swimming. We were going to do relays and such, but figured out the big kids would win everything, so they just swam. 

 

Home for lunch- the committee made the food. On the first day, they always make rollups and veggies.  You will have to look at last year for a pic, if we have one...

Afternoon snack—Poop on Ice, of course! It was incredible this year!  for those who don't know, it is No Bake Cookies, hot over ice cream. DON'T stir it up together, it turns into nasty oatmeal. It has that warm chocolate thing over ice cream going on... 

While Kim took her afternoon nap, we prepared our boards for string art. Kim and I had Olympic outlines, but the kids each wanted something different. They got on the computer and figured out what they wanted, and painted the boards to get ready.

Then more songs and time to go home!