On the Grandparents' watch...

My parents came into town for the weekend, and had recently asked us if there was anything we'd like to do while they were around - just the two of us. I said, "YES! We'd love to spend a night in New Orleans." They were happy to stay with the kids, and Ivan and Grant were so excited that Grandpa and Grandma could watch them, "for TWO WHOLE DAYS."

My dad had just been to a convention in Indiana, and had stopped by the Indy 500 raceway. He brought T-shirts for the kids. He had the green, Indy car shirts for the boys, and a pink, "Danica" shirt for Mary. Danica Patrick is the hot, new, female Indy driver. : ) They love them... Grant is so funny with his clothing preferences, and would wear his "new race car shirt from Grandpa" every day if he could.
My mom and dad figured out a play schedule: Grandpa played with boys; Grandma played with Mary; Then, while Mary napped, Grandma played with the boys (and did a craft or other activity), while Grandpa napped and geared up for afternoon play! Here the boys are with their "paint with water" books...
After a while, they got creative and painted Grandpa's toes!
A trip to the park...
Sandbox fun with Grandpa - my dad has always been a great sandcastle builder. ...one of my favorite childhood memories of you, Dad.
Mary and Grandma...
So Big! Mary loves my old life-sized Raggedy Ann doll. I used to sleep with this big thing!
We returned in time for dinner on Saturday night. They were in the middle of playing, "Shoot Grandpa." ... basically a war going on in the playroom with anything that shoots! I'm in the back, protecting myself from Nerf bullets with the Spiderman umbrella...
When out of nowhere, I'm attacked by a little munchkin!
Flipping Mary - she loves this. She stands in front of me, leans on my legs (grabbing my knees), and I flip her over my head!
Wrestle Grandpa (or jump on him... basically, whatever he can take, is considered fun)!
On Sunday, we stayed home from church, because Mary still had a cough/cold. So, we played at home, and went out for lunch at a great seafood place, called Tug's Wharf, in Gulfport. My dad has all of these pictures on his camera - more to come! The food was GREAT. We all tried eating crawfish for the first time. Ivan loved the crawfish, and Grant loved the shrimp. I made the mistake of feeding a crawfish tail to Mary. She chewed it up (loved it), and then pointed into her mouth, saying, "Ah, Ah, AH!" with a very worried and agitated expression. I'd forgotten they were SPICY! A sippy cup full of milk made it all better.
Thanks for coming out, Mom and Dad. We sure enjoyed our mini-vacation and our time with you as well. We know the kids sure had fun! Stay tuned for pictures from New Orleans!!!