Camp BabaGaga - the sequel

As previously mentioned, I went to Europe.  For 11 days.  All by myself.  Without children.  And it was awesome.  BUT life still goes on while I'm not there and one of my biggest worries/concerns about leaving Jack & Lucy was how much they would miss me and what would they do all day since they were no longer in school full time (I did miss and was worried about Andy but he's much more adept at surviving by himself than a 5 year old and a 2 year old :)  Well, as it turns out both of my concerns were unfounded.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that they didn't even notice I left. At all.  Why you may ask?

Camp BabaGaga made a comeback!  In fact, I'm pretty sure this was the conversation I had with my mother verbatim back in January:

Me:  "Hey - so I have a favor to ask.  I'm going to be chaperoning a student trip in June to Europe for 11 days and-"

Mom:  "Do you need us to take the kids for the whole time?  Of course.  What are the dates?  Does Andy need us to meet him in Nashville?  Can we keep them here in Jackson the entire time or does he need us to watch them in Knoxville?"

Me: "..."

But that's how they roll.  :)  Of course, I told them I would only need them for 7 of those 11 days but secretly I think they wanted them more.  We arranged for Andy to switch them out in Nashville on Sunday and pick them up on the following Sunday.  And as if it was a deja vu experience from when I went to Istanbul, pretty sure I wasn't missed a single bit.

A picture I got from Mom on Sunday after the switch.  I doubt they knew who they were waving to since by that point they had forgotten completely about me and were pumped about going to Camp BabaGaga.  But I appreciated the thought.  Thanks Mom :)

 Every time I would get wifi I would immediately text my mom to send me pictures of the kids.  so the following blog post is a merely a slice of life at Camp Babagaga in no particular order.  I'm just grateful that my Mom was so accommodating :)  Here is a rare one of Lucy sleeping.  Jack slept in my parents bed with McGee and Dad while Lucy and Mom camped out in the upstairs guest room.  True to form, they woke up anytime b/t 5:30 and 6:30 each morning.  But who wants to sleep in when grandparent fun awaits?!

 I'm sure poor McGee was equally pumped they were there.

 All smiles.  Of course :)

 This was after I texted for a picture of both of them.  Jack made sure to pose with this creepy rubber spider that mom got him.  And he brought that damn thing home.  Thanks Mom!

 Man I missed these two while I was gone :)

 Jack helping my parents make homemade ice cream.  Because at Camp BabaGaga, sugar is the number one food group.

 I was only a little sad that they couldn't bring some of it home.

 I think the waiting was the hardest part.

 For both kids.

 But it was worth the wait.  Clearly :)

 The second food group on the menu at Camp was pancakes.  Check out the awesome dino shapes my dad freehanded!  These kids don't know how spoiled they are.

 It was miserably hot in TN while I was gone so Mom and Dad found some fun places to take the kids to in order to beat the heat.

 They went to Discovery Zone (Center?) in Union City one day that had a fun children's museum for the kids to explore and they LOVED it!  And it was nice knowing that while I was having pretzels in Munich, Jack was having pretzels in Union City :)

 There were dinosaurs.

 Space ships

 Or maybe that's an airplane.  I'm not sure.

 An aquarium

 Random play areas.  How is it that Union City can manage one of these and Knoxville cannot?

 Of course there were new toys to enjoy - who doesn't love Rock em Sock em Robots?

 Snuggle time with their favorite puppy.

 If this isn't a poster for an idyllic childhood I don't know what is.

 Baba and the Goose.

 Of course, all of this fun doesn't come for free. My kids were put to work to earn their keep.  Lucy's face says it all.

 Clearly this scarred her though.

 At one point they went swimming at my parent's friends house, Shannon and Ed, but when that wasn't possible they chilled in this fanciness in the backyard.

 Yes, mom got them water guns.

 Baba fights pretty dirty.

 Barefoot in the backyard with the pup.  Not bad.

 Chasing bubbles in the yard.

 I love this picture so much.  And I thought they would miss me.  Ha!

 I love this one too.  My sweet little future gardener.

 Cannot get enough of the Goose in this hat.

 Thankfully Mom does not mind all the flowers Lucy acquires/murders while at her house.

 The green thumb runs strong with this one.

Eventually, they had to leave Camp and go back to Knoxville -and see their daddy who missed them so much :)  But I love knowing that for the chunk of time when I was gone and Andy had to work, these kids were loved, cared for, oblivious to the fact that I was out of the country, and loving every minute.  Thank you to my parents for being truly awesome and the best BabaGaga I could hope for.  Surely this Camp offer stands when we add Baby 3 to the mix?  Surely????

I mean, it only gets more fun from here right?