March 17, 2017

A grand St. Patrick's Day performance: Get Your Green On!

March 17, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

st. patrick's day jibjab

In preparation for St. Patrick's Day, my grandsons, Jim, and I have been putting in long hours of practice on a special performance for our Grandma's Briefs friends.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Bubby, Mac, Jak, PawDad and Gramma in Get Your Green...

March 15, 2017

Dublin over: 16 St. Patrick's Day jokes for kids

March 15, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Time for another round of seasonal silly stuff for kids and their keepers, be they grandmothers or others. This go-round the subject is St. Patrick and his special day.

st. patrick's day jokes for kids

What do you call a big Irish spider?

A Paddy long legs

What does Ireland have more than any other country?...

March 10, 2017

Summer vacation: Four must-do multigenerational trips

March 10, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

summer vacation ideas

Now that we're well into March, planning summer trips tops the to-do list of many a mama, grand or otherwise.

For your consideration, here are four of my favorite trips of the past couple years — all ideal for enjoying with multiple generations. Meaning, they're perfect places to gather together loved ones young and not-so-young plus everyone in between for an unforgettable summertime celebration.

The following trips cover far-reaching regions of the country — California, Colorado, Michigan, Florida — so there's surely one...

February 08, 2017

Get wet and wild with the grands at Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs

February 08, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

A wet and wild weekend designed for grandparents and grandkids? I recently experienced exactly that — without my grandkids.

The story: I was invited to the grand opening celebration of Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs and encouraged to bring along my grandsons and husband. But my grandsons couldn't make the 800+ mile trip to spend the weekend with me. My stepgrandson — my only local grandkiddo — couldn't come either. My husband did get to attend with me, though. And even without our favorite boys in tow, our free weekend adventure left no question that the expansive indoor water park resort offers a great, nay, grand getaway destination for grandparents and grandchildren.

Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs — the fourteenth location of the family-friendly indoor water park resort — has all the first-class entertainment and accomodation amenities of its sister spots across the U.S., plus a few goodies only guests of the brand-new resort on the north end of Colorado Springs get to enjoy.

The incredible view of Pikes Peak to the west is a perfect example of what sets the Colorado Springs location apart from other Great Wolf Lodge locations. This early morning shot was taken from the balcony of my room for the weekend:

pikes peak

Breathtaking, right?

The majority of what my husband and I experienced at Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs, though, was similar to signature features, fun, food and such found...

January 25, 2017

From the archives: Four for Valentine's Day

January 25, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

The annual day o' love lurks right around the corner and Cupid will soon be sprinkling hearts and flowery fun far and wide.

Following are four of my previously published posts to peruse, a collection of sweet and silly sorts of stuff focused on ensuring grandkids feel the love — and laughter — this Valentine's Day.

valentine's day activities

Click each graphic to see the full post featuring lovey-dovey ...

January 18, 2017

5 reasons I like to play games with my grandkids

January 18, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

My grandmothers never played games with me. My daughters' grandmothers never played games with them, either.

Considering the grandmas who came before me, the ones from whom I most learned what grandmothering looks like, I'm unsure how I became a game-playing grandma. But I am.

And I love it. Here's why:

I enjoy watching them learn.
Kids learn so much from playing games. They improve motor skills and ...

October 05, 2016

Fall break fun

October 05, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

My grandsons in the desert are on fall break from school.

What better way to kick off the holiday week than with a Monday movie with Mom?

brothers in theater

Once again, I can't adequately express...

September 28, 2016

From the archives: Four for fall

September 28, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

Having blogged for more than seven years, I have oodles of goodies stored away in the Grandma's Briefs archive, goodies that rarely see the light of day because they go way, way back. At least seven years or so.

Today seems a perfect day to pull out some of those well-seasoned posts, a few of my favorite fall-themed features you just might have missed.

fall recipes and fun

14 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT OCTOBER

My shortlisted October loves... in no particular order:

1. The sun has shifted south. Whereas summer...

June 22, 2016

Pinterest prize find: Build a Dinosaur

June 22, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

What in the world did grandmas do before Pinterest? I'd be half the grandma I am — at least in terms of the eats and activities I share with my grandsons — if not for the food and fun pinned and promoted by folks far more crafty then me.

Take for instance the super simple puzzle fun I shared with my dino-loving middle grandson, Mac. Without my stumbling upon a Pinterest pin leading to this post by a clever mama, Mac would have never had the opportunity to see how a few circles, triangles, and squares can be pieced together to create his favorite creature.

Now, I surely could simply say: Check out that post cuz it's perty darn cool. But then I'd have to come up with a post of some other sort to fill this space today. More importantly, though, I'd have no reason to share the photos of Mac making his dinos, photos that prove how Pinterest-worthy this quick, easy, and inexpensive activity actually is.

With that in mind, here are pics of the day Mac and I created the clever, captivating cutouts during my desert visit in April.

build a dinosaur

What you need:

• 1 sheet of craft foam (green...

June 15, 2016

11 ideas for free (or super inexpensive) summer outings with grandkids

June 15, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

So you have the grandkids for the week. Or the weekend. Or every work day throughout the summer as you (generously) help cover childcare while school-age kids are on summer break.

What to do, what to do?

Here are 11 ideas that won't bust your budget. Some are free, some are low cost, all are great ways for grandkids and grandparents to make grand memories together this summer.

free summer fun with kids