Rose Valley Holds Annual “GRAN” Camp

In June, grandchildren from Pennsylvania to North Carolina convened for the third annual Lake Anna Rose Valley “Gran” Camp. Four grandmothers hosted ten grandchildren: Caden and Reese McCom-mons of Fredericksburg, Virg. and Makenna Housten of Macungie, Penn., grandchildren of Marty and Gloria Leili; Olivia and Thomas Winterrowd of Manassas, Virg., grandchil-dren of Dick and Carol Sudol; Ty and Wes Songer of Woodbridge, Virg. and Izzy Baker of Dumfries, Virg., grandchildren of Ed and Jedy Baker; and Connor Watson of Wilmington, NC and Claire Brumer of Glen Allen, Virg., grandchildren of Pam and Mark Luttner.Following a meet and greet, day one started with each grandchild decorating their own traditional “Gran” Camp t-shirt. This year’s craft activity was making the cur-rent craft rage: slime. The kids loved getting their hands into this messy craft! After a make your own pizza lunch at the Leili’s, the group convened at the Luttners in Brandywood to compete in an egg toss and water balloon relay. Then it was off to the Luttners’ dock for some welcome swimming.Day two included a trip to Lake Anna State Park where Ranger Laurie led the kids on a CSI (Creek Scene Investigation) trip and introduced them to various forms of life in a stream. With nets they were able to collect and identify several stream water creatures. She then introduced two friendly snakes, including a very large corn snake named Grady, who the kids had a chance to pet. Lunch that day was at the State Park followed by an afternoon of swimming and beach activities. On day three, the group took a trip to the Lake Anna Boardwalk Miniature Golf. After lunch, the group convened at the Sudols’ home for their annual jumping off the dock picture. Then it was into the boats for an after-noon of tubing behind the Leilis’ and Sudols’ boats, captained by Marty Leili and Dick Su-dol, assisted by son-in-law Rob Winterrowd. The day ended with all grandparents and grandchildren gathering at the Bakers’ for the traditional “End of Camp Cook-Out” in-cluding roasting hot dogs, the very popular scavenger hunt, and – of course – s’mores. This year included a talent show. Caden and Reese McCommons along with Makenna Housten performed their rendition of songs from the movies Moana and Trolls, and Olivia Winterrowd played two pieces on h Tired but happy, all agreed it was another wonderful “Gran” Camp.