Five happy grandchildren arrived at our house on July 1, 2014 for three days of “Oma’s Camp.” I thought only the little ones would want to come, but the teenagers didn’t want to miss it. They ranged in age from five to seventeen.
We’ve had Myrtle Beach Camp, Spanish Camp, Sewing Camp, Writer and Illustrator Camps. What would they like this year? Cooking Camp! Opa is the chief cook at this house, so we decided the boys would help Opa, and the girls would help Oma fix the main meal. (I suggested ordering pizza on our night. Ha!) We did manage to make spaghetti and meatballs though.
We had a nature scavenger hunt.
The rest of the morning we played at the park, which had lots of equipment.
In the afternoon they quietly drew or coloured designs for nearly three hours.
We listened to kids’ music and polkas while working. Rylie (5) asked several of us to write out the stories she made up. I taught her how to write her name in cursive.
I read, “The Best Christmas Pageant” to them. They enjoyed the antics of the Herdman children, who had never been to church before.
We watched a couple of movies: Mary of Nazareth and Robin Hood. That crazy introductory song will run through one’s head for a week afterwards.
Owen (9) sewed a stuffed striped mouse. Melanie (17) wrote over 10,000 words on her fantasy story in between all the other activities, including a couple of pillow fights and wrestling.
Ashley (14) drew Peter Pan and Wendy.
Vincent (14) made an amazing drawing, too.
Owen worked hard on his, too.
Rylie made a variety of cheese for her mice.
We made chocolate chip cookies for the last baking lesson. Everyone threw something into the bowl. If one cup of chocolate chips is good, two is even better!
They also helped Opa make whole grain buns. Everyone could tell which ones Rylie made. We had a hard time keeping Lambie out of the chocolates.
A great activity at Opa and Oma’s house is Dutch Blitz.
