CAMPING UNDER THE STARS

As grandmothers, we all desire to give our grandchildren our best with every opportunity God hands to us.  Whether the kids come up to mom and dad's for a couple hours on Saturday to watch a football game or  they come for Thanksgiving, staying for a couple days, our little ones come with expectancy, energy, and a tank awaiting the filling of "memories at Grandma's and Grandpa's!"  What kind of memories will they harbor?  Several years ago, Matt and Carey asked us to take Lauren and Carter for the weekend.  They seldom had stayed with us over night, and I wanted to be sure they had a time that would be a special memory for all of us.  As a general rule, I like to figure out a "theme" for our grandchildren's  times together.  For this weekend, I settled on the theme of "camping."  Now, in reality, I am NOT a camper; in fact, I hate bugs, I hate sleeping on a dirt floor, I am terrified of black bears, I hate smelling like a skunk, I hate taking baths in lakes or in yucky, athlete-foot-infested camping facilities, and I hate to sweat and stink.  BUT, I realize kids love the camping adventure.  As a result, I came up with a camping experience with the help of 3M, phosphorescent cardboard, glow-in-the-dark plastic suns, moons, stars, and vinyl string or wire.

I purchased white, bright yellow, bright green, and orange phosphorescent cardboard sheets and cut them into shapes of stars and moon slices.  Then I glued the glow-in-the-dark dealie bobbers on the different shapes of cardboard..  I applied the 3M hooks to the ceiling of the room in which everyone was camping.  Finally, I used the vinyl "string" and hung each star and moon approximately 6-10 inches from the ceiling, using the 3M hooks. 

I had sleeping bags for both kids, and Grandpa and I actually got to sleep in our own wonderful bed.  Lauren and Carter were mesmerized as soon as they walked into the camping room!!  I explained how that when I turned off the lights, the room would "glow" with stars, shooting stars, and moons as they rocked back and forth from the air currents in the room!   I have to say it was a blast!!!  The kids loved it!!!  So did the old folks!!!