Day Two



MORE OF GRANDMALOT!
The knights and ladies slept well in the castle (tent) after watching "The Sword and the Stone". Dinner was the drum sticks from the bunny that we destroyed! Who would know that there are enough drum sticks from a bunny to feed 8 kids and 2 adults!
The competitions were fun!


 
Using lances to slay dragons (Pictures of dragons on suspended 2 liter bottles) Archery, and jousting



The Black Knight doesn't stand a chance!



Even the parents competed on the Wobble Boards

Uncle Chad photo bombed the finding of the grail



More of Day One



Being Knighted



  The knight was attacked! We must destroy the bunny that we all fear! The knights and fair lady blew him up (Monty Python style) and then according to Grandpa we ate him for dinner! It tasted amazingly like chicken!

I have a round dining room table that we explained was for "The knights of the round table" but when it was discovered that all the knights could not fit around it, we put in the leaves of the table and it was oval, thus we were the "Knights of the not-so-round table".

All meals were eaten with our hands and the food was served on platters and we had tin plates and goblets to eat on. Towels were used instead of napkins and the bread was torn apart instead of cut. I think the kids would like this type of dining all the time.

King Arthur leading a quest.

GRANDMALOT Day One

Noble Knights and Fair Ladies

Receiving Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake

The Fair Ladies and Noble Knights arrived at the castle on a bright and hot morning. Right away they were read the first quest from a scroll in the squire Patsy's bag.The mom's helped us get to the splash pad. They have all the car seats and extra pairs of eyes is necessary round water! We had a snack at the castle before leaving to get everyone on the same tummy schedule but ate at the park before going back. 

Even the youngest Knight



and fair lady had fun



Once back at the castle, the squire revealed who was to be King Arthur. He was knighted and then he in turn

The knighting of a king!

knighted and named the other knights. They were given a quest to find the grail. Of course this took some teaching about what mid-evil times were like and what a grail is!  



The afternoon was spent painting tunics, making shields, jousting and looking for the grail.

A Fair Lady indeed!

Each knight/lady pained their own tunic and made their own horses





The lances were used to slay a dragon

Invites



Kinda plain

Getting the invites out proved to be quite a production! Since I wanted them to resemble a royal decree, I knew they had to be a scroll. I know that the post office will mail about anything--for a price! It was much more fun to deliver in person! Addie did one group and then the net day I dressed in the same outfit and went to three more houses! The kids and their parents got a kick out of it. The invite and the tunic bears our family "crest" which is a combination of each families first letter of their last name. The helmet is a 4 qt. ice cream bucket spray painted black and the face shield is the portion that was cut for the face.
Grandpa was behind me as the kids answered the door he made the coconuts clanging together sound as I galloped forward! Is this how a self-respecting granny should behave? It was fun and I am always delighted that the kids are exited.


 

Used matches to burn the outside--too uncontrollable!



The electric burner was easier

 

 




 

The finished one, ready to roll.

Ready to deliver.

Addie was a good sport

and dressed up and read the decree. I love my assistants!( and their siblings of course)

 

GRANDMALOT (CAMELOT) HERE WE COME!

The camp assistants (and Grandpa!) conspired and decided that the theme this year is Holy Grail! Of the Monty Python variety! I figured I had better tone it down a little and do a milder version and call it Grandmalot after Camelot. we will have princesses and knights (ka nig its to Python fans). We will learn about the knights of the round table (I just happen to have a large, round, oak dining table) and about the various contests that were held at that time. The kids will have helmets out of gallon-sized ice cream buckets, javelins for jousting, and we will make a coat of arms flag. We have a family brand of sorts now that includes all the initial of all the families. We will be able to fly the flag at all family gatherings from here on out.
The assistants really want to follow the movie line! We will do some of the things but some are so silly we will not be doing. Does anyone fully "get" Monty Python? We will have a long hunt for the "grail" that will include crossing a bridge (you have to endure watching the movie to understand). We will have catapults for a contest with the parents when they come to pick them up.
Food will be pretty mid-evil too. Served on tin plates. Drumsticks, broccoli trees, anything to eat with our hands.
There are still a lot of details to work out and schedules to figure out. Grandpa is in charge of silly and I will take care of the rest! Wish me luck!

Decision and planning time!

It is Spring! That means that flowers bloom and so do the ideas and plans for this summers Camp! The grown-ups (supposedly!) want to do "Monty Pythons Holy Grail". I don't think I could stand the sound of coconuts all weekend! I guess we could do a more logical twist and do knights (not ka nig its) and princesses.  I bought the first swim noodle I saw t the dollar store last week in anticipation of needing lances. (or just about anything else, love them!) I will be having the older grands over this coming week to get the plans rolling!

INVENTION CONVENTION-DAY TWO!

Inventing is messy!

I am soooo sorry! I forgot all about coming back to finish up this post! We have experienced a ton of computer glitches. Turns out we had the "Fun Virus" that keeps reinventing itself! We might just be fixed up now, thanks to a tech savey son! However, I am now having trouble with pictures! Grrrr


Day two started with pancakes that the kids
were free to choose, invent a topping for. The younger kids invented a match game from the cover of cereal boxes. 

cereal box match game





Grandpa and the older kids got busy creating a Water Wall. A heavy plastic mesh was mounted to the fence. to it they attached hoses, funnels, water bottles, swim noodle, PVC pipe, etc. This carried water from one point through the maze and watered the flowers! Grandpa recruited our son and his one year old to help.

 

Lunch was mac and cheese re-invented. We added mix-ins such as broccoli, bacon, more cheese or bread crumbs



The marble track



Using the Foamerator

The older kids had some "inventions" they had picked out in the spring when we met to plan. The younger kids invented their own games for a little while as the older ones got busy. The most popular was the marshmallow launcher made from a tissue box. The kids had fun "testing" it by catching the marshmallows.

We also made a Foamerator (Family Fun Magazine) from cutting the bottom out of a 20 ounce water bottle and attaching a wash cloth over the end with a rubber band. The you dip the cloth in water and then dish soap. When you blow through the top of the bottle the bubbles come out in a long snake of foamy mini-bubbles.

A marble track was made from paper plates that have a rim around the edge. Cut out the middle and then cut the rim part into various sizes and tape together to make twist and turns as desired. This is then elevated by taping various hiegths of paper towel tubes to the bottom. You can even have the track go through the tubes.

A "picnic saver" was invented. Hook and loop fasteners were attached to the picnic table cloth and then to the bottom of a can to hold a paper cup and the bottom of a wicker paper plate holder to keep your paper dinnerware from blowing away! Very clever, he came up with this on his own!

The kids used odds and ends from my MacGuyver stash to make a fun gizmo that knocked a juice can into a truck that rolled into a post that lifted a pin releasing a toy truck. The truck rolled down an incline knocking over a can that was holding a string taut. When the string was released it allowed a toy sand shovel to dispense a marble into a funnel. The marble then rolled into a wrapping paper tube into a wooden marble maze that we had borrowed from friends! If you think that was confusing, you should have been there while trying to get it to work!

It was a hot day so the "inventors" made sponge balls with scoops to play with. it was fun and of course turned into a giant water fight!

We made Minions! They are so cute! Even the big kids made one. They were made by stuffing a toilet paper tube with newspaper. Make sure that the newspaper is kind of rounded on the end that you push up through the tube, it makes it easier to get a smooth head. We then used paper mache' to cover the whole thing and then painted it.An eye or two were glued on and then some final details with a permanent maker. The big kids were a lot of help with this!

When the parents arrived, the kids showed off their inventions.

The parents were then given 30 minutes to "invent" something as a couple. They could choose up to 10 items from the MacGuyver stash and their "invention" had to have moving parts!! They all lived up to the challenge. It was alot of fun!

Dinner was another invention of the kids: Spaghizza (commonly known as spaghetti pie)



My daughter in-law made Minion cupcakes that were sooooo cute. It was killing my grandson to wait to eat one!