The camping gene runs deep in my family. My dad’s parents used to take him and his siblings camping almost every weekend in the summer. When I was growing up, my parents took me camping. Our favorite place to camp was Fort Wilderness in Walt Disney World, but we also went other places like Maine and New York. Now my husband and I take our kids camping, which makes my kids the fourth generation of campers as far as I know. However, I suspect if I could trace my ancestry back to the beginning of time I would find that we were camping in caves even back then. I’ll have to talk to our resident genealogist, Cheryl McClellan, about that.
For us, camping is still a multi-generational thing, as we camp with my parents. When I think of camping I think of relaxing by the pool with a good book from the library or my latest knitting project. However, my kids get B-O-R-E-D bored. This is where camping with Gramma comes in handy because she likes coming up with ways to entertain my children. Over Father’s Day weekend, we went camping in Coshocton, Ohio. My mom decided that we would spend some time painting rocks. Since I know nothing about this particular pastime I decided to check out a book on the on the subject from the Chardon Branch. Within our collection I found The Art of Painting Animals on Rocks by Lin Wellford. Perfect.The book guided my non-artistic self in painting a really cool snake. My husband painted a crocodile; my son painted a poop emoji and a minion; my daughter painted a watermelon with a mustache; my other son painted an alien. Best of all, nobody complained about being bored! It is my mom’s plan to hide these rocks as part of the Northeast Ohio Rocks! movement under the hashtag #camprocks, but they all come out so cute that I hate to part with them. We did hide one along the turnpike on a return trip from New York. Maybe the hoarding gene runs deep in my family as well.
So… Geauga County Public Library was once again there to help us Build a Better camping adventure. I bet they have something to help with my hoarding as well. I’ll have to look into that. Until next time remember: life is better around the campfire (especially with grandparents).
Michelle Rodriguez is a Circulation Clerk at the Chardon Branch. She is currently reading The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah, another recommendation from her favorite mother-in-law.
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