Summer Vacation

We're back from vacation. Carolina Beach is a wonderful getaway, and the beaches are excellent. That is, not crowded, beautiful sand, and a fishing pier. Of course, we took our grandkids. The highlights were teaching them to surf. Not that we can do it, but we at least know the theory of successful surfing. And we met with success! Just think of the wonderful memories our grandchildren will have as they go through life, thinking back to the summer they spent with the grandparents, learning how to surf. (By the way, we made sure they wore personal flotation devices (PFDs), formerly known as life preservers.) For more great ideas on bonding with your grandchildren, be sure to look through our book The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

The Great Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment (just add kids)

We figure when we go and visit the grandchildren, we need to do two things. First, we need to wow them. That's right, we try to add entertainment value for our grandchildren. C'mon, how many times did you say, "I'm bored" when you were a kid? The second thing we try to do is to educate our grandchildren. The best of both worlds came together in our last visit to Michigan to see our grandkids. We brought them THE GREAT MENTOS AND DIET COKE EXPERIMENT.

First, of course, the dad and grandpa have to check out the equipment and make sure the pack of Mentos will slide uniformly into the 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. So far, so good.



Then, removing the index card releases the Mentos mints into the Diet Coke. Hey, this really works!



Now, just add grandchildren.





We had a lot of fun, and we're pretty sure that at some point, the grandkids are going to wonder what caused this reaction, and who knows ..., it might lead to great grades in chemistry! In any case, it was both fun and educational. A great combination for activities for children and grandchildren.

We have plenty of these kind of activities in our grandparenting book, The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting and Doug's book, The Practical Guide to Weekend Parenting.

There's more! If you're really serious about trying this experiment, check out this YouTube video. These guys take their Mentos and Diet Cokes seriously (and have so much fun in the process)! YouTube Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment.