ALOHA

When Chuck and Christi received word that Fed Ex had awarded Chuck a special award.. (5 days in Hawaii! ) they called and asked if we would watch the kids while they were gone. Well, what kind of grandparents wouldn't jump at the chance? Ok, we were the 'tiniest' bit nervous about the idea- Especially, since our cute little Lily is such a mama's girl. We decided we better go a week early to learn the schedule and give the kids a chance to get more comfortable with us. Christi had high hopes that I would also be able to get 3 dresses made.. umm, I'm good, but not that good, especially when her sewing machine died on us mid-stream! We did get one finished.. turned out way cute, by the way, but, mostly we just helped with the kids. Chuck was buried in work and his online classes.. (can we just say 22 hours??) so we didn't see a lot of him before they left.
One day, while I stayed home and sewed, Christi & Bill joined some friends and spent the morning at the Oakland temple. They had a grand time climbing on the temple (yes, you can do that) and playing around on the grounds. But most of that 1st week we dutifully followed Christi around observing routines, asking a zillion questions and writing down a detailed schedule of naps, meals, homework routines and, (our favorite), bed times. Did I mention we were a little nervous? LOL
The morning Chuck and Christi left, the kids cheerfully waved goodbye to mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa were on their own. Despite our trepidation we did amazingly well. Charlie and Sophie were super co-operative and, as far as Lily was concerned, we soon discovered the trick to keeping her happy.. WALKS, the longer, the better. She loves being outside. So, Grandpa put in a lot of time pushing the stroller around. Sadly, she soon began associating Grandma with bedtime as I was the one who would rock and sing to her as she drank her bedtime bottle. Needless to say, Grandpa and his walks were far more popular! LOL .
We really did enjoy our time with the kids.. but we sure did gain a healthy respect for young mothers.. That is no easy gig! Let's just say the first night we got back home I went to bed at 9pm and slept 10 hours straight!