Grandparenting Taken to a Whole New Level

My Dad's parents were already in heaven before I was sent from heaven to earth, but I had the most precious grandmother and grandfather (my Mom's Mom & Dad). My grandmother's claim-to-fame in my books, is that she introduced my husband and I when we were just 13 and 12 years old. Her words were "Ronnie Wuerch says he likes you". My reply was "Tell him I like him, too!" From that point forward, we were destined to be together forever. I loved my grandparents and they loved me so much -- their prayers for me are still working. Their love for God and His Word had such a tremendous impact on my life. As precious as they were in my eyes as a young child, I never knew that "hands on" grandparenting. . I didn't even realize I didn't have it, until years later when I became a grandparent. When our grandparenting time came, we knew we wanted an "up close and personal" relationship with our grandchildren. So from the get-go, we set out to be those doting, over-the-top in love in words and deeds. Way before my first grandson was born, I had a "Hope Chest" of toys, puzzles and books.....that would be at Papa & Nana's house. In fact, to this day, I still have the old Nintendo 64 controllers and games. I still have their favorite book "Barbapapa" and I still have the Lincoln Logs and Legos. They all know they'll find those "treasures" at Nana's house!

If grandparenting hasn't become a part of your world yet, before long, it just may be and my best recommendation to you is to get intimately involved in their lives. While moms and dads are no doubt the greatest influencers, grandparents can come in a close second. We always wanted our grandchildren to know that we pray for them, stand ready to be there for them, and to support them as best we could, given though the miles that may have separated us. I'm, by no means, wanting to be dishing out a guilt trip to anyone that doesn't have that "bent", but I assure you, there is nothing to compare with that precious love. There is nothing sweeter on this earth than to hear "Nana, I love you so much!"

This post today was actually inspired by a sweet grandmother that saw my post yesterday, where I was sharing about the treasure hunts I've provided since all of my grandchildren were little. It's been "Nana's tradition". The treasure hunts end at age 18, but I remember my oldest grandson's dismay when on his 18th birthday I didn't have the treasure hunt ready to go for him, and when I saw that pout, I went into "turbo charge" mode to get it together. LOL! That FB grandmother asked me about those treasure hunts for her grandkids, and rather than just telling her, I share it with you, too, .......just in case......

~ Nana's Treasure Hunts ~
What's Needed: creativity, some extra time, rhyming ability (use the internet -- great for helping us find words that rhyme -- like "Go to the Rose Garden where it smells so sweet; Did I tell you....you have smelly feet?"), pick out places to hide the clues -- the younger they are, the easier the places and when they're older, it really is about "search and rescue", a birthday card that starts the treasure hunt with a clue, notes that have the clue on them and put in a box or envelope -- oftentimes with a bow attached that makes it easier to find in a tree or behind a rock, etc.)
Let the Treasure Hunt Begin:
~ Child opens card -- if younger, an older sibling or parent reads the clue and the fun begins. Note: be careful to not let the older sibling help too much -- it's all about the birthday boy or girl to know it's THEIR Treasure Hunt to find. If they're having trouble with finding the clue, it's okay to provide extra verbal clues along the way.

~ I usually have about 6 to 8 locations with accompanying clues that lead to the final clue and the BIG TREASURE (really not all that big, but it's the birthday gift from the grandparents instead of that gift just being among the mix of all the other gifts the child is given on their birthday.)

~ Simple, but memorable and that's what I'm into. Memorable for them AND me. I sometimes spice it up by using a golf cart to drive them around (that was easy for me living in a 55+ community) to find their clues. Also, sometimes I start the hunt with a theme, like a couple of years ago on Bryson's birthday, the theme was "What does the fox say?" If it's raining -- treasure hunt is in the house. If it's dark, have clues stationed closer to home and use flashlights.

~ Here is a sample of the clues used at my oldest grandson's 9 year old birthday (14 years ago) -- yes, I'm an archiver -- gotta' hang on to the memories! LOL!

Braden, Braden, You’re Our Man
If you can’t find this, no one can!
Now that you’ve been fed --
Your next clue you’ll find in Payton’s baby bed!

One, two, three, four,
Braden’s birthdays have numbered more,
Five, six, seven, eight,
It’s time to celebrate.
Braden is a great big nine.
Oh my goodness, He’s so fine.
Go look inside the washing machine!
You’re next clue may be green!

Where oh where has our little boy gone?
Oh where oh where can he be?
With his eyes so big and his legs so long!
Oh where oh where is he?
And where is the next clue?
Try Papa’s closet - near his shoes!

Braden & Barrett sitting in a tree,
Counting apples - one, two, three,
Up comes the doctor, Up comes the
nurse, then comes the lady with the
alligator purse! Purse?????
Look in Nana’s closet by her purse!

I love you. You love me.
We’re a happy family.
With a great big hug and
a kiss from me to you
Look under the table where
you chew, chew, chew!

Braden Cole is so cool!
He’s the best when it comes to school!
He’s kind and sweet to everyone!
That’s why we think he’s so much fun!
Now look by the tree in the big backyard!
That’s where you’ll find the very last card!

NOW -- go out there and make a difference in your grandchildren's world. Be silly and energetic and bring wonder to their eyes and hearts with your love that makes them feel so happy you're in their lives. I promise you -- it will be worth the effort!

Inspired and Blessed Beyond Description

Day 216 of Photo Inspirations -- Inspired and Blessed Beyond Description
Please indulge me for just a couple more days of these grandkids photo inspirations.  I was inspired in so many ways in this day.

Got up early to catch the 8 am to 9 am opportunity to buy reduced priced Tulsa Zoo tickets which included the Jurassic Park exhibit and unlimited train and carousel rides.  It started out nice and cool and then the sun was like a heat lamp -- one of these photos shows Alexia with an ice pack on her head to cool off while we watched the sea lions.  Thankfully, there are plenty of buildings to walk through to cool off.

As always the baboons showed off their rare talents as they picked at each other's bottoms. ;-) And we saw two birds having a love fest -- Lexi's remarks?  "Well, there you go, the circle of life happening right in front of us!"  LOL! The more inquisitive we were, the more we found out that the Tulsa Zoo rescues many animals.  In fact, we saw two beautiful bald eagles that were not in captivity and wondered why they weren't flying away.

We asked one of the Zoo employees and he said they had been wounded and could no longer fly.  Then we saw the sea lion show and found out they, too, had been wounded and if they had not rescued them, they would have been killed by predators.

We loved that these beautiful animals were protected and now live in a safe environment and are bringing much joy to those of us who see them.

My thoughts as we walked through the zoo and so many various species of animals -- tall, little, colored, speckled, one-foot standers, crawlers, climbers, jumpers.....and all of them created by our awesome God.  What an imagination he had!!!!

Alexia wanted to go to the top floors of Citiplex Towers (formerly, City of Faith) to take photos. We headed that way, while listening to beautiful Christian music on KXOJ.  The kids had me turn the channel up louder so they could hear one of their favorite songs, and then I realized "we're heading to Citiplex Towers and that's where KXOJ broadcasts from".

So now we were on a photo inspiration beyond what we originally planned.  Going up to the 55th floor, there was KXOJ and a sweet receptionist named Debbie gave us a grand tour -- showing us the broadcast studio.

Now we could put images in our mind where those DJ's and music are broadcasting from.  Bryson was amazed that "those guys" actually get paid for doing something so fun.

Then it was back to Great Granny's for a special time with little cousin, Anna, and Great Granny surprised the kids with her BEST-IN-THE-WORLD chocolate cake.  Seriously, there is no one that can hold a candle to her cake -- though we've tried.  Bryson said, "No one, except Jesus, can make a cake as good as Granny!'  ;-)

We ended our day with more fishing, swimming, pickleball, with a finale of a few left-over fireworks on the street, and then watching a sweet movie called "Home" (a must-see for families -- so good, with such a good message).

Call me a photo-taking fanatic and I'll agree. I'll continue to be enjoying these days for many years to come because of these photos and the memories we captured with them.  Thank you Facebook.  Thank you Mark Zuckerberg for giving me such a beautiful place and space to archive my memories!  Thank you my FB friends for letting me celebrate life in its sweetest ways.