grand kids

We have the Gkids come up for the summer and make local trips and 1-2 week trips to NH and Maine. We winter in Fla. where the Gkids live and take them camping for the weekends and winter break. Last year visited some springs in Ocala and EG NP. They don't like to be awy from their video games too long.

We have grandkids ranging from 17 mo (twins) to 19 years old. The two older girls spent a lot of time with use as they were growing up. The now have their own busy lives with college, jobs etc, so we see them around schedules in the summer. The younger grandkids 17 mo - 8 yrs old come to stay at various times thru the summer and we see them on shorter visits at their homes. The other grandkids (3 of them) are in Georgia. Their parents are missionaries and are usually in other countries. We see them every couple of years, but are not as close to them as the other because of their travels. We spend plenty of time with grandkids, but looked forward to the day when "we" could spend more time together and do what "we" wanted to do. Maybe selfish, but it's our turn now. We raised our children to be independent, and now it's their turn to raise their children. We love em all, but really enjoy just being a couple and not being Mom,Dad or Grandpa/Grandma everyday.

One of the reasons we decided to retire and full-time was to be able to spend more time with the GKs and those other people they let live with them. We have one group in the North and one group in the South. It was getting really frustrating trying to squeeze time for ourselves and for them within the timeframe of vacation time off work and long weekends. Beginning this coming weekend, we can have weeks or months with each group of kids and still have plenty of time for DH and I to do what we want to do.

I look forward to the day when I can take mine with me.

Executive wrote:
Simple, we take em with us....:B:B...we started full timing over four years ago and they've spent every summer with us. We just tell their parents where we will be and they book airline tix and visit. Mom/Dad get a free weeks vacation, we get 3 months with the GK....they've seen every State west of the Mississippi and are seeing every State that borders it on the East side this year. Folks are flying into Detroit to take em back to the West Coast in time for school to start. They are now 13....and have seen things other kids only read about in textbooks....just sayin....Dennis

I knew I would see you respond to this one!!

I got my love of travel from my grandparents, that took me everywhere!

We met a couple in MI that were traveling all summer with three of their grandkids. "Nanna Camp" has been in place since their first of seven grandchildren were born. They were teaching them to ride bikes, playing games, learning about history of an area, etc. The kids behaved perfectly and we spent hours and hours together.

Pick them up and fly them home. Have them fly to you. Pick them up and drop them off. Do whatever it takes to be together, as some of my longest and best memories are of spending time with all my grandparents ~ such a lost generation to most.

Like Executive, we take them with us and have for over 10 years. Mostly our two granddaughters who are the first girls in our family in 40 years though we also took a grandson when he was younger. Most of the others are in Ohio.

The girls’ moved to OK many years ago but they fly into AZ and spend the summer and we travel the western national parks and mountains and camp. The DW and DIL are enamored of FL and would like to live there. The older granddaughter, now 19, refuses to go. She says no mountains in FL, she’ll go to CO. The younger one, just 16, has a boyfriend and is at that age where parents and grandparents take second place. The DW tried to bribe her to come out by offering to take her to Disneyland and SeaWorld. Her reply was not if it meant we weren’t going camping. I’m proud of both of them.:B

My DW watched the girls for years while my DIL worked so we got pretty close to them. I can’t count the trips we’ve made to OK since they moved, so yes, being away from them for long periods doesn’t work for the DW. And now the son’s wife in FL is pregnant. So I can see the handwriting on the wall, I’ll be making many long drives there. Skype works well, and hardly a day passes that they’re not in contact by phone or facebook. But the trips are inevitable.

kardar2 wrote:
Hello,
Just curious about you grand parents. How do you cope being away from your grand kids? I dont think I could ever drag my wife very far away.

That's what's kept us from hitting the road full time for about 7 years now. But yesterday, our 40th wedding anniversary we decided to start planning to do it in about a year. We have three grandkids, 2 girls 15 & 6 and a boy 11. The 15 y/o we only see every couple of weeks because she lives with her mother. The other 2 are very close to use as we are with them. But the older they get the more time they can do without seeing us. We figure ir they miss us that much and vice versa, we can take them with us in the summer. Nothing is gonna stop us this time. As much as we'll miss them we'll have the freedom to come back & see them.

I've got 3 youngins; two who are in their 30s are married and 4 GKs ranging in age from 8 months to 5 yrs. Thankfully, everyone lives in the same town. As a working FTer, I spent the better part of 5 months over the winter in two nearby campgrounds while I worked. I shared much time, joy and many meals with all during the weekends at either their place or mine. I grocery shopped, cooked, cleaned, babysat, changed diapers, washed clothes, gave baths, entertained and refereed battles. I couldn't work on Fridays as I needed the rest to take on Friday dinner and the weekend activities. Monday was a wash while I recuperated from the weekend. I'll be honest in saying I had mixed emotion concerning moving on.... happiness and joy!!:E:B Seriously though, I do miss them and I'm thankful for the regular contact by phone and Skype. I also realize that they have their own lives and routines, as well as other grandparents who are just as deserving of their time. Plus, I can return at anytime and visit for a month or 5. It's all good.:)

Simple, we take em with us....:B:B...we started full timing over four years ago and they've spent every summer with us. We just tell their parents where we will be and they book airline tix and visit. Mom/Dad get a free weeks vacation, we get 3 months with the GK....they've seen every State west of the Mississippi and are seeing every State that borders it on the East side this year. Folks are flying into Detroit to take em back to the West Coast in time for school to start. They are now 13....and have seen things other kids only read about in textbooks....just sayin....Dennis

When we did our 3-mo trip, DW was homesick for GK's by the time we hit Memphis. I advised her to use her cell phone and call them everyday if necessary, but we were not going to turn back before getting lobstas in Maine.

That did the trick, barely.

Nowdays they have Skype, etc so she can communicate with GK's, face to face. That should make it much easier.

Our youngest, 13, 5, and 3 we see once to four time a week. So, if we don't see them weekly, we go thru withdrawals.

A month ago I found out I had late stage cirrhosis of the liver. Makes me very happy that we did our long trip shortly after our retirement in 2007. We didn't want to wait, in case one of us got sick, in a bad accident, etc.

We take taking full advantage of kids and GK's. They come over very frequently to swim and just gab.