Our grandchildren live in a small apartment in a city in northern California, and they all love coming to visit their Nana and Grandpa. Their last visit was just perfect because we’d finally gotten enough rain to make the grass grow around the fire pit. With burns deemed legal, it was time to introduce them to a marshmallow roast.
The kids’ auntie and grandpa helping them load their marshmallows onto Manzanita sticks,
The first thing we did was build the fire: All three children piled shredded newspaper into the fire pit. After that, they each grabbed two small pieces of kindling and either carefully placed or threw them onto the paper. Next we took a short hike to a pile of small diameter oak branches. They carried (or dragged) their chosen branches to the fire pit and put them on top of the kindling.
Nana lit the papers while the grandchildren sat on the bench a few feet away.
After the small fire was safely burning, we hiked across a pasture to find Manzanita branches with just the right length and weight for their little hands. By this time, the kids’ aunt had joined us.
Teaching the older two how to load a marshmallow, hold the stick near the flames but not too close, and how to carefully eat the hot deliciousness was a joy. They are a delight. The toddler was afraid of the fire (thankfully) but happy to eat marshmallows right out of the bag. He sat in Grandpa’s lap most of the time.
This was our grandchildren’s first campfire / marshmallow roast and our grandson said, “Auntie Kweesty, this is the BEST campfire EVER!”
I hope you enjoyed your visit to Nana’s Ranch today.
God bless.
Nana
