Montgomery, Alabama--After hearing all about the action-packed few days her daughters had just spent with their grandparents Anne and Ken Upchurch, Lib Roberts kidded, "That's the camp I want to go to!" So the Upchurches decided to call their extended visits with their grandchildren "camp." "We came up with the name Camp Pine Needle, put up a banner, and wore camp director visors and T-shirts," Anne, 64, remembers.
Camp Pine Needle debuted in 1990, and four-year-old cousins Coleman, Elizabeth, and Anne came from Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina to attend. Six years later, Camp Pine Needle has become an institution. The Upchurches now run two summer camps each season: one for their three older granddaughters (now ten years of age) and one for their three younger granddaughters (ages six and seven). (Their three-year-old grandson, Sam, has not yet become an official camper.)
To organize this time with her grandchildren, Anne comes up with an age-appropriate theme, anything from learning about birds or bugs to exploring family heritage. "I do whatever comes to my mind," Anne says. Once she gets an idea, she begins to research activities and resources and then gathers a bag of supplies and gifts for the visit. When the younger girls came to learn about birds, for instance, Anne gave each a bird alphabet T-shirt, a pair of binoculars, and some bird toys.
During the week, the girls built a birdhouse (with the help of their grandfather, "Big Ken," 64), learned that a hummingbird's beak works like a medicine dropper and a woodpecker's like a nutcracker, and decorated a pine tree with popcorn and oranges for the birds to feed on. They also learned to love bird-watching. "They wore the binoculars the whole time and jerked them up whenever they saw a bird," Anne recalls.
For the older cousins, a favorite summer camp involved a trip to Anne's mother's hometown, Culloden, Georgia, which has a population of 250. They stayed in the Holmes Hotel, which had once belonged to Anne's great-great-grandfather, and sat in the choir stalls of a church built by her grandfather. On a visit to the town's cemetery, the girls sought out family tombstones and had a contest to find the oldest grave. While they were at the hotel, they watched a video--prepared by Anne's uncle Capers Holmes, 78--featuring old photographs of the town.
Even though the Upchurches carefully plan each camp session, Anne urges grandparents not to overdo it. "Don't structure every hour on the hour. The kids will want some time to play by themselves." Anne also advises grandparents to begin simple annual traditions, such as going out to an ice-cream shop every evening with Grandpa. "This is one time for all of us to be together, and I think it creates real bonds among the cousins."
