Tag: CAMP NANA

Such a soggy and humid day in Tucson, forced us to stay indoors. We had frozen rolls to get ready for family dinner, so that seemed like a good place to start! Maxwell is meticulous about lining the frozen dough balls just so. Abby, being only two, couldn’t grasp the concept that these little frozen rounds would need space to grow. Max would roll his eyes as he calmly re-arranged the rolls when Abby turned away.

While Abby busied herself with her toys, Max and I got busy making the mini-pumpkin pie cups – bite sized treats that he later topped with a generous dollop of whipped cream. He never seems to tire of cooking. He is imaginative and will probably give Tom Colicchio a run for his money in a few years.

Following heart-shaped pb&j’s for lunch, we indulged in a little music time, conducted by Abby. She glances around to make certain that we all have an instrument and that we are all singing the same song and at the same time. The campers were so tired, they fell asleep at 1:30 until 4:30!

Family dinner followed shortly after the end of the nap when mommy and daddy arrived. This is always a noisy and a bit chaotic time, until Kerri has Max begin the dinner time question to each person at the table “What was your favorite part of the Day?” It is Max’s responsibility to decide who answers first, second and so on. He takes this seriously and seems quite interested in the response.

Another successful Camp Nana Tuesday!

 The first day of Camp Nana 2015 seemed to be a success.  I was met at the front door by two fresh scrubbed campers, attired in their brand new Camp Nana shirts!  Lookin’ sharp. We began with a little T-Ball.  While Abby was content to hit the T-Ball spring stand with the bat and watching the ball fall gently to the ground. while Max – well, Max was a natural.  He took his place at the T-Ball stand, and batting left-handed, knocked nearly every ball out of the park.  That is not a metaphor, but a fact.  Nana had to chase every ball down as both grandchildren stood by and cheered me on … “Get the ball, Nana!  Get it.”  Apparently watching Nana zigzagging all over the little park exhausted the 2-year-old Abigail and 5-year-old Maxwell.  So much so that they had to return home for a cooling down Popsicle break at Max & Abby’s little diner!  It was so cute to watch Abby pull her pink chair up to the outdoor dining bar and chatter back and forth with her brother.

Then it was time to begin our baking lesson.  Do you really know just how difficult it is to keep little fingers from swiping through the batter for just a taste?  Max took charge of the whisk and the duty of mixing, while Abby delighted in dumping in the oil and water and eggs.  They took turns helping to spoon the batter into the mini cake loaf pans.  Max busied himself with coloring while Abby darted back and forth to check the progress of the mini-cakes through the oven glass.

The room was filled with constant chatter and then … complete silence.  Ahhhhh.  Lunchtime.  Nothing but the slurping of milk and crunching of crackers and once in a little while … “Brudder.  You don’t want your cheese?  I have it?”  Topping it off with a banana and they are good to go!

Next, we settle in to create a diorama.

di·o·ram·a     noun

a model representing a scene with three-dimensional figures

Lightweight wood shadow box frames and some 3-D zoo animals were lined up and ready to go.  Max took great care in painting his diorama.  Lovely blue skies over lush green fields and dirt below where the animals will walk.  His fence was painted green to blend in with the grassy meadow.  He decided that the monkey should be climbing in the tree and the giraffe should be eating leaves of the tree.  Abby, however, had a more abstract approach.  She painted the entire inside of the diorama blue and then a touch of brown in the mix, happily stating “I made a waterfall.”  She was thrilled with the result, and that is all that matters.

The campers were getting a little tired and were ready for a nap.  Max climbed in the bed and immediately closed his eyes and just wanted to sleep.  Abby was less interested in sleep, even though her perfect blue eyes were droopy and tired.  Max didn’t make a peep.  However, I heard what I thought was a quacking duck, and walked in the bedroom to see Abby sitting on her knees with her head bent down close to Max’s face while a very loud and raspy “QUACK QUACK QUACK” yelled from her mouth.  I stood there until she noticed me.  She immediately squinted her eyes tightly shut and  made her way back to the pillow.

After nap time, we enjoyed reading the new books and playing with the stickers that came with the books.  Mommy and Daddy joined us for Family Dinner and a little playtime.  Great first camp day!

JOYRIDE JUNKET & LETTERS LANE Our busy camp day began with a field trip to Jesse Owen’s Park with colorful bags labeled A B C to search for items from the Friday Farmer’s Market that began with those letters. Max, what do you see that begins with an A? Tomato? No, not tomato.  What sounds like a a a (Nana makes the a short vowel sound). Well, I was going to say apple first, but I only saw tomatoes! What can I say – the kid was right.  Apples are not in season here, but we did find some apple chips and apricot jam and broccoli and beans and cauliflower and two baby carrots with, much to Abby and Max’s delight, still had the little soft greens attached.  Bags in hand, we headed for the car and a quick (not so much) trip to the grocery store to pick up items for dinner. Max and Abby insisted on the cart with a car attached to the front.  It took me a while to realize that every time another shopper stopped in front of us, the toy car horn would make a series of HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK until the nice shoppers moved from in front of our cart!  I quietly explained to the sweet children that it was not very nice to honk at people because they were just shopping for their dinner as well and probably did not realize that they were in our way.  Max calmly stated that it was also not nice to block people and also not nice to say “outta the way…outta the way”.  Once again, right on both counts.  So, if I were keeping track;   With a big old “L” on my forehead, I head for home with the toddlers in an effort to escape my shame.  Once home, a new project. ARTIST AVENUE Painters paper is taped to the floor and long white cardboard strips are laid out nicely on top of the protective paper.  Max helped to pour out washable finger paints in different areas of the paper.  Abby’s turn first … I painted different colors on the bottom of her feet and helped her press er, smear her footprints on the white cardboard.  Camp Nana Tip:  try not to use cardboard that is on the shiny side as it smears rather easily.   ]Max was next, and after a practice run, ended up with footprints of every color!  After the projects dried, Max thought of things he and Abby use their feet for while Nana wrote them next to the prints.  He was very particular about coming up with different suggestions for Abby and him.  He is such a creative and smart little guy! CULINARY CORNER Although was not too creative this week, Max enjoyed spacing the cookie dough just so and making certain that all the dough balls were approximately the same size.  He was also quite accurate on telling me when the oven temperature reached 350 and was ready to bake treats to be enjoyed at a later, cooled down, time.          

Lunch time. A little rest time. A little STORYTOWN time with Biscuit, the dog.

WET & WONDERFUL WATER PLAY

When the sun moved from the play yard, out came the bright pink pool and the towels.  After the pool was adequately filled, Max climbed up on the bench (a grownup bench for Nana and Poppa to observe water play) and the next thing I hear is cannonballlllll and since the bench is only a foot from the pool, and Nana was on the bench … well, I guess you can surmise the results.  Later, I was sitting by the pool on the lawn picking up some toys for Abby to play with.  Max has a little rubber fishy in his hand and a twinkle in his eye as he coaxed me “Nana, just lean over here a little bit”.  And with that, I receive a long stream of water squirting from the fishy mouth directly to my face.  As I holler and try to block the stream with my hands, I hear a belly laughing grandson.  Time for Nana to dry off and get out of this danger zone. Soon, we are dry and in fresh clothing and indulge in a bit of play dough time around the kiddie table.  We relax with books and a little Zoodles and some good all around quiet time until daddy Jeffry arrives.  Just another wonderful day at Camp Nana.

Started off with Culinary Corner fresh fruit popsicles,  constructed and some deconstructed, while tiny little fingers helped themselves to a snack.  Of course the project was peppered with “Abigail … no.  This is not to eat!” resulting in high-pitched screams from a not yet 2-year-old.  It wouldn’t be Camp Nana without a little drama.  Max takes some time to scoot a little bench over to the refrigerator, climbs and stands atop and checks out the progress of the fruit pops.

Designated screen time followed with Chuggington.  Maxwell watches intently while Abby watches, then colors in her coloring book, then gets a book, watches another minute and retreats to the bookshelf to read.  Nana has time to regroup!

We move on to Artist Avenue and begin our top secret project for Father’s Day.  Final project will be published after Father’s Day.  Let’s just say it involved a lot of paper and glue and washcloths and paper towels.  Max says he is exhausted when we finish.  Kid can’t hang with Nana.

The kids make their way to the camp table (their outdoor picnic table with a big umbrella moved to the inside of the house for June and July Camp time) for some quiet coloring time while Nana prepares lunch of pb&j (Smuckers crustless), salad, a few chips, strawberries and milk.  Max completed his lunch in record time while Abby strays from the table and has to be coaxed back,  Max reminds her that he is learning pre-K rules and in pre-K, if you leave the table, you are done with the lunch.  Abby looks up at him, grabs a chip and leaves the table and then Nana picks her up and places her back on the bench.  Max heaves a heavy sigh, realizing his advice has gone unheeded.

After lunch clean-up, we journey to Imagination Station where we are going to write our very own storybook.  Nana’s contributions are in black type, Maxwell’s in green type and Abby’s in pink.

ONCE UPON A TIME, IT WAS ABOUT A LITTLE LION STUCK IN THE WOODS.  AND THE LITTLE LION WAS NO-NO.  AFTER THAT, A GORILLA HELPED HIM FIND HIS WAS HOME.AND HE WAS DONE.  AND HE SAID "I AM NOT GOING TO HUNT WITH YOU.I AM GOING TO HUNT BY MYSELF".  AND THEN A DIFFERENT GORILLA HELPED HIM FIND HIS WAY HOME AND HE SAID "MOMMY DADDY" WHEN HE SAW THEM.  SO HE SLEEPS WHEN HE GETS HOME.  NIGHT NIGHT.     ~  the end.

Abby naps while Maxwell indulges in a bit of well deserved Zoodles on my phone.  Zoodles time expires, so Max and I play SNAP – a card game where, despite my quick instincts, they cannot compare to Maxwell’s unique interpretation of the rules.  As a result, I lose 26 to 14.  Hanging my head in shame, I gather up what is left of my dignity and go outdoors to fill up the swimming pool.  When Abby awakens, we are off to Wet & Wonderful Water Play.   For an hour, giggles and splashes and blowing bubbles fill the air.  Best noise ever.  Nothing like toddler giggles to make you realize what is really important in life.

This is where I am meant to be.  In this home.  In these circumstances.  Right here with my jeans now soaked from splashes and my heart so filled with the love of these two toddlers.  It was a good Camp Nana day.  A very good day indeed.

P.S.  As promised, here is the Father’s Day gift Max and Abby made for their daddy.  Abby was quite good at tearing up the papers and Max excelled at gluing, sticking on the letters, and writing his name!

Max and Abby’s Summer Camp Nana 2014 begins next week.  One day every week in June and July will be dedicated to Camp Nana.  This year will be a bit more structured than the past years.  We will participate in 3 activities each camp day which will leave time for naps and lunches and relaxing time.

IMAGINATION STATION will allow the kids to help write a story, dress up as a character, or take an imaginary trip!

STORY TOWN will be a great winding down activity with reading stories and relaxing.

JUNKET JOYRIDES  will be time for a “field trip”.  A trip to Pantano Stables to visit with the equine residents.  Or maybe a ride on the train at the Reid Park Zoo after visiting the animals.  Lots of places to choose from in Tucson.

SPLISH SPLASH water play in a kiddie pool.  Fishing for magnetic fishes and just some good old-fashioned splashing around.

ARTIST AVENUE will be the place for finger painting, coloring, clay molding and making fun stuff.

In the CULINARY CORNER, the kids will make family and kid friendly creations.  They may even make a dinner (with Nana’s help) for the family.

TINY TUNES will be the time for Music.  Dancing and singing and playing instruments and even making up a new song will be included.

Camp Nana T-Shirts have been ordered and are on their way – hopefully before the first day of camp!  I am collecting character and fun dress up clothes … New finger paints and Play-Dough and a large roll of crisp art paper are waiting.  Tambourines and a xylophone and some mini-recorders are ready for music making.

Off to Hobby Lobby in the morning for more supplies!