Ian and Ryan's Special Time with G&G

For a few days over spring break, Ian and Ryan got some very special time with just Grandpa & Grandma. Matt had a Lutheran high school administrators' conference in Orange County, California, and he wanted me to come along. So, we asked Grandpa & Grandma if they would do some extended babysitting. They said "yes!" without any hesitation. While we were in California, Ian and Ryan stayed back in Michigan. We've never before left our boys overnight with anyone (well, except for the couple of nights Ian stayed with Grammy and Papa when Ryan was born -- but then Ian still spent most of his days with us in the hospital). So, even though we KNEW that Grandpa & Grandma would take great care of our boys and think of fun things to do together, we weren't quite sure how our boys would react to being apart from us.

We made Ian a sticker sheet that showed him there would be four bedtimes that he'd be apart from us. Each night, he and Grandma put a sticker on one of the numbers, counting down the days. Each morning, we had left a gift from us for the boys to open. These routines seemed to be helpful, especially for Ian.

We shouldn't have been a bit concerned. The boys did great and hardly even missed us! (We parents, on the other hand, really enjoyed our brief daily phone conversations with Ian and the newsy email updates from Grandma each evening. It was fabulous to have some "couple time," but we did miss our little ones!) The boys had some wonderful times with Grandma & Grandpa.

Grandma was the "social coordinator" and thought of at least one fun outing for the boys each day. On Wednesday evening, she took the boys to a local pet shop, where they saw a puppy,

some birds,

and, Ian is convinced, a "dodo dragon." (I'm guessing komodo dragon but Ian said that was NOT right!).  The boys absolutely love animals, so this outing was a great idea!

Grandpa helped with some of the early-morning, breakfast shifts before he had to head off to work. Grandpa and Grandma had all of the boys' absolute favorite foods on hand.

Of course, Grandma and Grandpa supervised lots of fun play-times at their house as well. Here, Ryan opens the candy necklace that we left for him.

Ryan plays a Thomas train card game while Ian does a paint-with-water activity.

Coloring is one of Ian's current favorite activities!

Ryan loves being inside of boxes!

On Thursday morning, Grandma arranged to meet a young lady from their church who has two girls around Ian and Ryan's ages. They had a GREAT time at an indoor playground.

Grandma even brought lunch for all four kids to enjoy at the playplace!

After dinner, Grandpa treated the boys to Dairy Queen treats -- Dilly Bars, I think. :)

On Friday morning, Grandma and another lady from their church drove the boys to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. This trip was a big hit for both boys!

Not surprisingly, Ryan spent some time at the train table,

and both boys played with these plastic balls.

These bubble activities look like LOTS of fun, don't they?

Funny faces in the mirror!

Ryan plays in the rubber mulch pit -- something he likes at our local children's museum, too.

On Saturday morning, Grandpa and Grandma took the boys to the local library's "Laugh Fest" (or something along those lines ...). This man sang some silly songs while everyone listened.

Then, it was "open mic" time for kids to come up and tell jokes. Neither Ian nor Ryan told a joke, but it seemed like they were interested in listening (well, Ryan was for a while and then Grandpa and Grandma walked around with him). :)

Grandma gave each boy an "award" and gift each day. What a fun idea!

Thank you for taking such good care of our boys, Mom and Dad! You worked hard to cater to our boys' needs and desires ... and they had a wonderful time with you! We could relax in California knowing that our boys were in great hands. Thank you for this wonderful gift ... to all four of us! :)