Camping with Grandma & Grandpa
Our little dog George stayed with Brain's parents. I am pretty sure he was in HEAVEN! He got full range of the house and all the cushions (which was obviously his favourite thing!) and he didn't need to sleep with one eye open (for fear a kid pokes him) for an entire week! Truly his own little vacation!
We missed this little fur baby of ours but honestly knew he would love being with Grandma and Grandpa Reed alone for a week with zero harassment from the kids. Dad Reed even took him for a walk every morning before work. This hasn't happened for poor George in a decade so you can imagine he peed on every light post/stop sign every single day.
We are so grateful for Mom & Dad Reed and their willingness to watch George for us. They never hesitated! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Im certain George had the time of his life in all his glory of silence!
My parents took our three kids camping for the week. We went to my parents house the night before we left to bring the kids over and help pack the trailer. The kids were beyond excited to go. They had been counting the sleeps to camping since it was 100 or more sleeps away. It was a long time coming and they were more than ready. We tucked them into bed one last time at my parents house, were spoiled by an anniversary steak dinner and then we left. As we said goodbye and I started walking away (even though the kids were sleeping) I started crying and continued to cry on the way home. I was excited for the break and the holiday with just Brian but so nervous about leaving the kids. I trust my parents 1000% and don't worry about the kids ever with them but I was more worried that something would happen to me and Brian and that made me nervous to say goodbye.
My Mom told me that Penny was up at 5am the next morning out of sheer excitement to go camping. It was an early morning for everyone. They packed the last little bit, ran a few errands and then headed out.
My mom and Dad made sure to send us a picture of them all having fun everyday and that made me feel so much better. They didn't even seem to miss us which actually is great! They only asked for us on the very last day. The kids said that they had SO MUCH FUN. They cant wait to do it again (and lets be honest... neither can we lol). My all time Favourite animal is a moose and the kids were SO excited to tell us that they saw one moose, two grizzly bears, deer and a fox while they were camping!
My parents were amazing with the kids. They made sure to keep them super busy everyday and luckily after the first night, the kids slept great and slept in until 8am (which is a BIG deal!!). They were so happy to go fishing with my parents.
They hiked around and threw rocks in the river and found some pretty wonderful souvenirs to bring home for us!
They went to banff one day to the hot springs and out for their favourite meal at Boston Pizza... bugs and cheese!
They rode their bikes every single day!
And at the end of the days they were dirty and exhausted! The best kind of camping!
They were completely spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa with so much yummy camping food and treats, ice cream, restaurants dinners and the evening show at the campground!
They played at the park a ton and found bugs too!
They truly had the time of their life and we are so so thankful for that and the sacrifices my parents made to make it happen!
Both my parents are still working which means that in order to make this camping trip happen, they each had to take a weeks worth of holidays. I can't even fathom the amount of money they spent on little surprises for the kids, fun little day trips, fishing supplies and Food.. SO MUCH FOOD! Brian and I had the most amazing week in Hawaii because we knew the kids were well taken care of. We knew we didn't have to worry. We knew the kids were having so much fun. I am so thankful that my parents sent us these pictures during the week and kept us updated on the children. It made the trip easy and wonderful.
I truly cannot thank them enough for all the immense amount of sacrifices they made. They were excited to go with the kids alone. They said they have a whole new relations with our kids. They understand them better and they sympathies with my day to day life lol They too came home exhausted.
They all picked us up from the airport and they gladly gave us the kids and the keys lol but truly said that they had a great time and (key words here!!!!!) that they would do it again! (Miracles do happen people!) We needed a break more than we knew. We needed time alone. Time to rejuvenate. Time to spend just the two of us with no distractions and no kids. It was just what we needed. We cannot thank you guys enough for watching our three kids and giving us that time that we so desperately needed. We will be forever grateful!
Love you all so much!