Become Their Heroes Every Summer With Grandparents’ Camp

 

Whether you’re already a grandparent or looking forward to it someday, consider this:

What if you could put together an adventure that would become something your grandchildren looked forward to all year? An annual experience that brings you all closer, creates lasting memories, and gives you a platform to instill values they can carry throughout their lives?

It’s called Grandparents’ Camp — and it might just become one of the highlights of your life, as well as your grandkids’.

 

The Start of Something Special

 

Grandparents’ Camp started for our family back in 2013, when my wife, Sharee, and I had a grand vision for the “grands”: to start an annual tradition where we’d host the grandkids for a few days and pack it full of adventure, fun, and high-impact discussions.

While it’s very much a joint effort between Sharee and me, we decided to call it Grandpa’s Camp.

The title sprang from trying to carve out something special in Grandpa’s name — because all the grandkids were so attached to Sharee, they would say things like, “Let’s go to Grandma’s for dinner,” or “Is Christmas going to be at Grandma’s this year?” Now there would be something they could connect with Grandpa.

So June 30 – July 3, 2013, we gathered the grandkids at our cabin and ziplined, hiked, rode ATVs, did arts and crafts, shot with bows and arrows, caught fish, cooked fish tacos and foil dinners over the fire, told I Remember When stories, and dove into topics like faith, values, responsibility, and more during our Authentic Wealth lessons.

And every summer since, Sharee and I have hosted the grandkids for this annual gathering that has become somewhat legendary — with everyone saving their custom camp tee shirts from year to year, and younger children anxiously awaiting their fourth birthday, when they’re finally old enough to attend.

 

All Kinds of Adventures

 

While many of our Grandpa’s Camp adventures have taken place at our family cabins in northern and central Utah, we’ve also spent time in Park City, hiked Timpanogos Cave, trekked trails at Solitude Resort, and stayed lakeside at Jordanelle Reservoir.

Our adventures have included the usual outdoor activities at the cabins, as well as soaring in a hot air balloon, mastering indoor skydiving, boating on the lake, racing at a mini K-1 track, and attending professional theater.

Our values-based lessons have included things like service projects, the $2 Rule Jar (which reinforces dealing above the line with responsibility and accountability), and chrysalis kits (illustrating the importance of personal strength in bringing about change).

To manage the needs of different age groups, we’ve invited grandkids ages 12 to 18 to attend for four days. Ages four to 11 come for a couple days (with the older kids invited to stay and help). And parents and babies/toddlers join us on the final night.

In the beginning, our entire crew skewed pretty young, with most of the grandkids in elementary school or younger. Fast forward to this year, and a handful of our 20 grandchildren have already aged out of Grandpa’s Camp (with some returning in recent years to help as camp aides), and the bulk are now in junior high and high school, with just a few ages four to seven.

Life Lessons Along the Way

 

With the majority of our grandkids in their teenage years, this summer we decided to do something totally different: We moved part of Grandpa’s Camp out-of-state to the Idaho/Montana border, where we rode the Hiawatha Trail.

This 15-mile trail takes you along an old railway route through the Bitterroot Mountains, snaking into long, dark tunnels and across breathtaking trestles.

Like usual, for weeks ahead of the event, Sharee and I organized every detail.

We settled on this year’s theme, “Saturday’s Warriors: Valiant & Courageous.” We outlined the itinerary, which included a day and night at our cabin for fishing, fireside talks, and a devotional. On Day 2, we would complete 3 Dimensional Wealth tools on the long drive to Deer Lodge, Montana, which would be our base camp for riding the trail on Day 3.

On our Day 4 drive back, we planned for a couple stops in Idaho for a faith-building activity and a trip to Bear World (picture a Rocky Mountain safari where you can see bear, deer, elk, moose, and more).

We also mapped out Days 5 through 7, where we’d take the younger kids to the family cabin for our typical outdoor adventures, fireside dinners, activities, lessons, and more.

Well, everything went according to plan. Kind of. In Montana, we were prepared for the temperatures at night (low 40s) with diesel camping heaters. And for the rain forecast, we had inflatable tents and rain jackets.

But when Mother Nature served up a nonstop torrential downpour, it might have been normal for teenagers to gripe or want to give up. Instead, we talked about making the best of things when life turns upside-down, and it warmed our hearts to hear them laughing and singing at the top of their lungs on the mud-soaked ride.

 

Planning Your Own Grandparents’ Camp

 

Hopefully your Grandparents’ Camp adventures won’t include such surprises, but even if they do, I’d strongly encourage you to consider planning your own camp.

As I look at the last 14 years of memories we’ve made, I can’t believe how much closer we’ve grown to our grandkids through our annual camps. We’ve laughed, learned, and leaned into our relationships even more.

Some of our grandkids’ own favorite I Remember When stories are about their times at Grandpa’s Camp. And they’ve also shared how the lessons learned there have shaped their lives.

To make planning your own Grandparents’ Camp easier, we’ve added lesson modules to both the 3 Dimensional Wealth Community and Legacy Masters programs, along with a Grandparents’ Camp Planner tool that walks you through each step.

You can also read more about Grandparents’ Camp in my book, “Entitlement Abolition,” as well as an article from a previous issue, “If You Only Do 1 Thing This Summer.”

I wish you well as you add Grandparents’ Camp to the many ways you build your legacy, passing along your Authentic Wealth to your own family’s future generations.

 

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