Grandma Camp

HOLY COW. I AM SOOO EXCITED. This year, I'm going to do "Grandma Camp" for Lillian.

Hey -- I have the time! And what would be a better use of it? (my time, that is.)

I don't want it to feel like a babysitting job....or, some lame kind of home schooling...

So -- what should Grandma Camp look like?

For one thing, we might have a jar with pieces of paper listing possible activities we could do that day. Lilly will pick a piece of paper, until the jar is empty, then we'll put all the pieces back in and start over.   There are so many possibilities: Hot Pad Weaving, Sewing, Painting, Scrapbooking, Card-making, hand-embroidery, bike-riding, puzzling, learn a new card game, work in the garden?? Any suggestions?

Of course, I could build some Lilly activities around my own days, which are already set:

Monday is Cleaning/Laundry Day
Tuesday: TMBC Day, Goodwill shopping...
Wednesday: Bettendorf Library/Concert in the park

Then, maybe every other week, we could plan a Day Trip.  It would be fun to look at the map, and do some online research.  My criteria would be the location has to be less than one hour away.  Looking at the map, that would include some very interesting towns and/or museums:

• Fulton, Illinois has a Dutch windmill.  
• Davenport, Iowa has the German-American Museum.  
• Iowa City has the University and many museums and children's programs. 
• Cedar Rapids has Grant Wood stuff, and a Czechoslovakia Museum. 
• Clinton, Iowa has the Sawmill Museum; 
• Rock Island, Illinois has Arsenal Island and a National Cemetery.
• West Bend, Iowa has the Hoover Presidential Library
• Walcott, Iowa has a weird castle on Main Street...
• LeClaire, Iowa has the Buffalo Bill Museum 
Wait...how many weeks are there in a summer??

Lilly loves getting mail, maybe she could start writing to a pen pal. She could write to Sarah, who is a few years older? And the bonus would be a meet-up in Cedar Rapids. (whadaya think, Anne?)

Of course, I'm already slated to take her to swimming lessons. And we have been keeping a Movie Review Book for about a year. There is Bicycle Riding, keeping a Kindness Journal…

So -- what was the best thing you did with your six-year old granddaughter??

Warren is only two.  And when he's here, I don't worry about activities. It's a full time job just trying to keep him from swallowing nickels...




And, when he's six, I'm hoping Uncle Ross will agree to take him to the Monster Truck Jam...