The Ultimate Granny Nanny (and Grandpa ; )

Earlier this month Taber and I left the kids for a week to celebrate our 10 year Annivesary. You might think, "Oh those poor kids! Left behind for a whole week!" but don't feel too bad for them, I'm sure they had more fun than we did thanks to my parents, (a.k.a. the ultimate babysitters. : )

Grandma and Grandpa got in late at night, so when the kids woke up and saw they were there it was like Christmas morning.

Even our dog was excited to see them.

 We took them out to dinner the night before we left as a pre-THANK YOU! for being brave enough to watch our kids for a week. (we figured it might be good to butter them up before we threw them back into a such a demanding stage of parenting : )

We really had nothing to worry about though. My parents are seasoned pros when it comes to kids (and grandkids.) They're kind of like the Olympic gold medalists of child rearing. (Seriously.) Here are some of the things they did to earn their gold medal status.

Chuck E Cheese, with 3 small children, on a Saturday night. 

That takes guts! No pictures but the kids mentioned it several times so I know they had a blast. : )

Making and decorating sugar cookies. (the secret to a 5 and 3 year old's heart)

Crafts, crafts, and more crafts! Including coloring and putting together this playhouse that Brinley's preschool teacher brought over. A week after they left Teya was still talking about how much fun she had doing crafts with Grandma. 

McDonalds' playland. Another brave adventure when it comes to keeping track of the girls and keeping wild man Cam off the floor when all he wants to do is crawl around.

A visit to the doctor's office for poor little Cam who was struggling all week with a terrible chest cough and wouldn't sleep through the night.  My mom thought he might have an ear infection but the doc said it was just a very bad cold.  I really appreciate my mom for taking him in to be sure, and I really appreciate my dad for getting up with him in the middle of the night every night! That's love : ) 

Another act of love was my Dad's personal mission to take care of every fix it project in our house. He fixed our mailbox (which had rusted off the metal and completely broken off after the snowstorm) he fixed all my curtain fixtures that the kids had pulled down or out of the wall, he tightened all my loose cupboards, mounted toilet paper holders and towel holders in our bathrooms, cleaned out, vacuumed, and scrubbed our cars and shampooed all the carpets and stairs. It was so amazing to come home to a clean and organized house. My dad is the coolest : )

Of course my mom did her fair share of cleaning too, including mopping my floors, cleaning out our garage, washing all the laundry, washing all the bed sheets, the comforters, and even my curtains! 

 She also helped the girls make me a birthday cake, decorate the house with balloons and birthday signs and wrap little presents so I could celebrate my b-day with them when I got home.  

I was already just so happy that they were watching our kids, I couldn't believe they did so much on top of that. I really feel blessed and lucky to have such amazing and thoughtful parents.

 Even though we had a snowstorm the week before they came, the weather warmed up and they were able to spend a lot of time outside and at the park.

I found these pictures of them playing with the kids at the park and they just about melted my heart.  Seeing my Dad so relaxed and in his element as a grandpa is the best.

And I LOVE this picture of my mom and Cam. You can tell they're both just so happy.

Little man didn't miss me at all with such a wonderful grammy to snuggle.

The smiles on the kids faces say it all. 

Grandma and Grandpa can babysit any time!!