By Vicki Scott
This week’s article marks the end of another Nana Camp, an event that has been renamed Nana/Pop Camp. With two grandchildren, I’m apparently too old to run the camp alone. No one told me this, but no one had to. I praise God for Pop.
As I write this column, it’s been five days and four nights of nonstop action. It amazes me how much damage a two-year-old and a four-year-old can inflict. They are back with their parents, who have already called to ask for an extension of the camp.
Since my stimulus check was returned due to a cruise cancellation, I went a little overboard on Nana/Pop Camp. I almost messed up. I purchased a contraption that included four tents and four tunnels and about 400 multi-colored balls to put on the inside. We installed the balls, only find that one of the holes in one of the tents would not hold the balls in. That was the first time I noticed my daughter in her child, who had a fit. I tried to patch the hole that was meant to be there, but nothing satisfied grandchild. I must have called her by her mother’s name by accident
about a half-dozen times. Eventually we moved to something else.
I found a cheap splash pad to substitute Glencoe’s splash pad being closed. The kiddies had fun with it and the weather was cooperating. We were only able to use it one night, which made me feel better about not getting a water slide. McLendon Auction had one of those big party-type water slides, and I almost messed up. I praise God that did not work out.
With COVID-19 in the air, there were limits to where we could go. Moragne Park in Gadsden was closed, which would have been nice to know ahead of time. The dining room in the Fourth Street Chic-fil-A was closed, so the indoor playground idea was a bust. We did not check The Factory, but we thought it would be closed, too. We opted for Noccalula Falls Park, which is our favorite with the train that just opened back up recently – whoop, whoop!
Our darling four-year-old wanted to visit a different park during every trip, and we did the best we could. She told us that she was going to the beach when she got back home and that we could come along. We told her parents and we are excited.
The funniest thing about this year’s camp was how our dogs acted. Pop was playing hide-and-seek with the grandkids, who would hide in our cedar tree in our backyard. Our four-year-old calls it a big Christmas tree. The kiddies would hide in it every time. Reba, our border collie who looks like a border collie, started hiding in the tree, too. Sandy, our border collie who looks like a yellow lab, would follow us to where we would hide and then bark at us, which helped grandkids find us. Sandy hid a few times herself, as well. The kiddies and the doggies both had a ball! Reba even stole a ball! I suppose it was for a souvenir.
Upon loading the grandkids up one last time for the long journey back to where they came from, Saylor Rhea and Tyler Kate would not leave until they said “bye” to Reba and Sandy. We stopped at two parks on the way back and had a picnic to end this year’s camp experience. I almost felt bad “high-fiving” Pop for making it out alive, but we are older, and getting through this year’s camp in one piece was a personal victory.
Stay safe, y’all!
