We watch the grandkids for 5 days and 4 nights: Aug 3-7, 2009

 

Christopher treated Amber to a Monday through Friday in Las Vegas for her 30th birthday - WITHOUT CHILDREN.  That meant that someone (Gramma and Papa) needed to take care of Isaac and Abigail while their Mommy and Daddy were out of town.    So, all four Korenthals came to our house on Sunday August 2nd, where they all spent the night.   I took Amber and Chris to PDX Monday morning for their 6:55 AM Southwest flight to Las Vegas.    

DeeDee, Isaac, and Abigail and I all had a great time while Mommy and Daddy were gone.   There are lots of adjectives and descriptors that can be used for what went on during our five days together, depending on the time of day, attitude of the grandparents or the grand children, activities going on, what was on TV for them to watch (thank goodness for the Noggin and Sprout channels and their wonderful pre-school shows), happy, sad, grumpy, smelly (poopy diapers), sleepy,, hungry, "WATCH ME PAPA, WATCH ME", LOOK AT ME GRAMMA, LOOK AT ME", etc.   Our next door neighbor's 3 year old daughter, Shelby, came over one day to rubber stamp with Isaac in Gramma's Craft Studio - they played very well together, while Abigail stayed on the floor where she colored with crayons on some craft paper, which kept her out of the ink and rubber stamps.  

Isaac only had one "time-out" the whole 5 days and was very obedient most of the time.   Abigail at 19 months has learned how to push our buttons and is very versed at trying to get her own way - but it's not too hard to get past that, as long as one doesn't fall for the cutest smile and look she gives when she really wants something.   Amber and Chris have really been working on making sure the kids use "please", "thank you", and "you're welcome" and we worked very hard on reinforcing that during the week.   It was fun to watch Abigail "work" Gramma (I'm sure Gramma had as much fun watching Abigail working me too).   One evening while Gramma was fixing dinner for the kids, Abigail was standing next to her, little arms raised, saying, "Up", "Up".   Gramma told Abigail she had to wait because Gramma was busy.   Abigail just stood there, arms still upraised and said in the sweetest, most demure, appealing, drawn out voice, " PEEEEESE" (for please), which just melted Gramma's heart and Abigail was immediately swept up into Gramma's arms.

The kids really like staying overnight at our house with out their parents, but this was the first time they had stayed at our house overnight, and away from Mommy and Daddy, for more than one night at a time.    They are so comfortable with us, that we didn't have any problems and no requests for Mommy, Daddy, or to go home.    Amber and Chris had a perfect time away, with out worry, knowing that the kids were well loved and taken care of, allowing them to really relax, enjoy each other's company, and do what they wanted, when they wanted, WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS.

Isaac slept in until 8 AM Friday morning and took a good 2 hour nap from 2 to 4 in the afternoon, so he could go to PDX with me to pick up Amber and Chris when their flight got in at 9:40 PM.   He and I had fun walking around in the airport.  He had a Jamba Juice Pomegranate Paradise: pomegranate juice, peaches, mango and banana instead of strawberries (which he has every time he goes to PDX), he got me to buy him a toy plane in one of the shops, and he made friends by saying "Hi" to people around us, telling them, "My name is Isaac Samual Korenthal, I-S-A-A-C.   When we left the airport he didn't stop chattering with Mommy, who was in the back seat with him, all the way home.

All six of us had a great week, four of us in Scappoose and two of us in Las Vegas.   The photos are a snapshot of our adventures during the week.