Last Week of Grandma De's 2009 Summer Country Camp

It is so hard to believe that my three weeks with Sarah and Randy have come to an end. We had lots of fun. They visited my neighbors horse farm and fed the miniature horses. We went bowling again. This time Uncle Adam joined us. We were unable to go to the Sarasota to visit the Mote Marine Aquarium due to possible rainy weather and also school open house for the kids was on the same day.

Randy cooked chicken wings with Papa De. Sarah and Randy worked on two puzzles. Randy finished his but I am still working on Sarah's. We visited Great Grandma Hope again and took her out for a pizza. All in all the three weeks, although challenging in some respects, were lots of fun. We had a lot of laughs. We shared some special moments I will always remember and hold dear and near to my heart. Praying with them at night was one of those special times. My grandchildren are growing up and getting older. This kind of time with them will soon get less and less as they spring forward into their busy teen years that are just around the corner. I love you Sarah and Randy very very much. Have a great 4th grade year... God Bless. Grandma De

End of Week one and Week Two.

Thursday Sarah cooked with Papa De. They made two racks of lamb cooked in the oven with his famous honey mustard sauce. She cleaned the racks and prepared them as Papa instructed her to do. The meal was very delicious. We only ate one rack so we took the other with us to Clearwater when we visited Aunt Tammy and Cousin baby Haley. We picked up Karen after her work day and drove to Clearwater. Baby Haley is now 5 months old. We had loads of fun at the mall on Saturday and Sunday shopping for school clothes. I taught Sarah how to blow gum bubbles. She is now an expert. We returned from Clearwater late on Sunday night so we stayed overnight in Cape Coral. We retuned to Naples on Monday afternoon.

Week two was split between two venues. We were in Naples on Monday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon and then we went to Cape Coral to finish out the week. I decided to try this change so the grandkids could see their parents in the evenings, play with their dog and toys and watch some of Randy's favorite shows that he could not get in Naples. I also wanted to visit with Uncle Adam on Thursday. Sarah and Randy were happy to be home for a few days. Thursday Randy visited with his grandfather Delgiacco and great grandmother Delgiacco while Uncle Adam, Sarah and I took Uncle Adam to the music store. We ate lunch at Hooters. Of course we ate chicken wings. We actually had a very nice day with uncle Adam and Randy had a nice time also.

On Friday our special event was bowling. Randy won the first game 96 to Sarah's 72
Sarah won the second game 92 to 74. Sarah just happened to bump into one of her friends from school at the bowling alley, which was nice. Randy won a prize at one of those .25 machines. I took them to McDonalds for lunch. It was a great day. They both received their 5 quarters. I dropped them both off at Randy,Sr. place of employment by 4:45 and off to Naples I returned for a much need and relaxing weekend.

Wednesday August 5th, 2009

Great day today. We went to see G Force 3 D. Randy was so focused on the film he didnt even eat popcorn. Again we played in the pool. HP and HM finally got married. Sarah and Randy made their crowns.

Tuesday August 4, 2009

Another great day today. We ate breakfast at Dunkin Donut then went to Abuelita's house in South Naples, ( "abuelita" is spanish for Grandmother), actually abuelita Esperanza is Sarah and Randy's great grandmother. Abuelita and Sarah made lunch for us. Salmon with red sauce over angel hair pasta. It was delicious.

Abuelita took the kids to the backside of the complex where she lives to see the duck family living on the property. She later gave Sarah a stuffed duck that she made for Sarah to give to her mother. Abuelita gave Randy a silver ring with her name on it, Hope. It fit Randy perfectly but the most important thing is that he feels it will give him hope. He will always remember his Abuelita. His Abuelita also blessed him with Holy Water and taught him how to make the Catholic sign of the cross. Randy gave us a big smile and said he felt very very happy and peaceful. He wants to be blessed everyday with Holy Water....

After lunch we all went to Cambia Park so Sarah and Randy could play a little but it was such a hot day that we didnt stay long. We then went to Dairy Queen for an ice cream.

We returned home to jump into the pool and cool off. We continued playing HP marries HM. HP and HM went to Paris France for dinner. They discovered that they are both wizards and have a lot in common. They like the same music. They both like to laugh and smile and read eachother's minds. They decided it was time to get engaged. They agreed to write up a prenuptial agreement so that they the families' assets are protected in case the marriage fails. The engagement was announced to all the world. They will be married tomorrow in a very private ceremony but will accept gifts from all of the people in the world. To be continued

Monday - August 3, 2009

We had an awesome day today. The day began at 9:30 am, Sarah and Randy made pancakes with sprinkles on them. They watched a little TV. At 11:00 they washed up, brushed their teeth and got dressed. We read the rules and talked about our day. I taught them the spanish word "mesa" for table and " perrito" for dog, "mi nombres es" for my name is. Little by little I will incorporate spanish words into our day.

At noon they each received their first two quarters, we had lunch and got into our bathing suits for a nice time in the pool.

In the pool Randy made up this game:

Harry Potter marries Hannah Montana. I was Hannah Montana's mother. I spoke in a British accent ( which Sarah hated ).
The story starts : HP, alias Randy went to the castle located in the village of Zier to speak with Queen Omar and ask to date her daughter. Randy thought that Hannah Montana was the most loveliest of all the fair maidens in the entire world. Queen Omar of course drilled him of his intentions to date and hopefully marry HM. HM agreed to go on a date with him to see if they had a lot of things in common and would make a good pair together. They went to Italy on HM's jet, had dinner and canoli and returned to the castle to plan their next date.

In a matter of 1 1/2 hours we cooled off, and had a great story time, to be continued.

After our swim we did a dog face in origami and the body using construction paper and the tube of a used toilet roll. They both did a great job.

The afternoon and evening went very very well. They received all their 5 quarters and we look forward to another wonderful day.

Library and Shopping trips

August 1, 2009

Randy and Sarah were with us this past Thursday and Friday. We used these two days as preparation for the next three weeks of the Summer Country Camp.

1. We tried to establish some of the house rules so they could see how they could earn their 5 quarters everyday.

2 Sarah and I worked together to set up the daily activities schedule.

3. Randy set up a dog training program for Roxie.

4. We went to the library. Sarah picked out some books and movies. Randy picked out two movies.

5. We went food shopping.

6. They went swimming

7. Sarah and I played uno

8. Randy made pancakes one morning and Sarah the next morning.

First Day of Camp

July 29th, 2009

Karen is bringing Randy and Sarah today to begin their Grandma De's Summer Country Camp experience.

I cleared a couple of drawers for them in the bedroom and have set up the ground rules.

They are able to earn 5 quarters every day if they, as a team, follow the house rules. They are to remind eachother what the house rules are and help eachother not to break them.

At the end of three weeks if they have earned all the quarters they get a bonus of 5 quarters. They will have the earning potential of $ 20.00 each to take home with them. We shall see how it goes.

I have not figured out the daily activities yet but will work on this today, hopefully before they arrive.

Splash In The Summer

Sarah and Randy's last day of school was on Wednesday. They have been promoted to 4th grade with very good grades. We are so proud of them. Three years ago the City of Naples developed a beautiful park not too far from my home. It has several soccer fields, baseball fields, a wilderness walk path and a nice water park. When it first opened I invited Chris ( paternal grandmother) to bring the grandkids for a day in the park. Today will be our 3rd. annual water park day. It's a nice way for her and I to catch up on family stuff and spend time together with Sarah and Randy. The first year Randy was not tall enough to go on the high water slide but last year he was. This year they will be watched but are old enough to do some of the stuff by themselves. We do the lazy river together so they can really splash us as they push their grandmothers into the water traps. Gotta go.... Its time to have some fun.....

Ten Ground Rules at Grandma De's Summer Country Camp

I have written 10 Ground Rules that hopefully will help with some of the grandkids short comings or bad habits like yelling instead of speaking softly, not using their manners, eating in the bedroom etc. I have also added social rules : like Thou Shall compliment at least one person (more is better) everyday. It makes for a happy day for at least two people.

The rules will be posted in their bedroom. We shall see how it goes.

Randy's book idea

Karen and the kids came to visit yesterday. Randy taught me how to navigate a little around the powerpoint program. They went swimming for a little while and after swimming he decided he wanted to start writing a cook book using some of Papa De's recipes. He asked me for a binder, thank God I had a new one to give him. He then proceed to poke 3 holes to the side of a legal pad sheets of paper.

He started with Papa De's homemade Italian Salad dressing. It was so cute watching him asking papa questions and writing down the ingredients and instructions.

Writing a cook book might be a better idea for Randy instead of his autobiography. He is already interested in doing it for one and it is something that he can do with Papa while I work with Sarah on her autobiography.

I am going to cut food pictures out of some of our old cooking magazines to help Randy add a little color and interest to his cook book., or not, we shall see what he wants to do. I already explained to him that editing is an important part of writing a book. He has gotten off to a good start. He needs to develop it further. I am looking forward to working with him and Sarah on this project this summer.

Writing a book with the grandkids

I have been researching how I am going to get Sarah and Randy interested and excited about writing their autobiography. They are only 9 but they have a lot to write about. Both are very expressive and creative so it should not be so difficult.

I checked out a few websites about teaching kids to write and the best idea was to begin by developing a verbal story.

We are going to sit on the floor on pillows. ( They will have to help me get up later)
We will decide on a title. For example "My First Puppy"

To make it more fun I will have a basket with 9 items. We will each pick one item. The first person to begin the story will use the item chosen in some way in the story. When that person is finished, the person to the left will pick up the thread of the story using their selected item etc.

Since there is only 3 of us, and 9 items, we should complete the story in two rounds.

I am going to tape the exercise.

This exercise is just to stimulate their thinking and creative juices.

The autobiography will come later.

May 30, 2009

Karen has asked me to watch Sarah and Randy, my 9 year old twin grandchildren for 4 weeks this summer because Chris, her mother in-law, is going to San Francisco. Karen and Randy both have to work. It will be during the last two weeks in July and the first two weeks in August. Although I am looking forward to it I am also very anxious about how it will all work.

I want the kids to have a super great time with Papa De and I so I am working on a schedule of things we will be doing . So far I have trips to the beach, library, park, water park and movies planned. I also need things for us to do on rainy days. I am also going to teach them Spanish.

Having the kids Monday thru Friday for 4 weeks I know is going to be exhausting so I am preparing myself mentally and praying that I can meet the challenge.

For me PREPARATION is the key.

I have named our time together " Country Summer Camp with Grandma De and Papa De" I want to include Papa into our planning because the kids really enjoy him and he needs a little spark of youth.

I live on 2 1/2 acres. Although I do not have farm animals of any kind several neighbors have horses. I plan to ask them if I can bring the kids over so they can see what the daily life of a horse is. I am going to explore this in more detail after I speak with my neighbor.

In the days to come I am going to be blogging as I develop my summer camp program. I invite anyone that has a creative idea to share with me. I really want my grandkids to have fun, experience new things, meet new people and learn while doing so.

I just spoke with the grandkids. They want to see Mall Cop when they are with me this summer.
I decided to illicit their input on what they would like to do while at Grandma De's Summer Country Camp. In the days to come we will talk more about it.