little things: Homecoming

There are many perks to taking an occasional trip without the kids, one of them being... we aren't quite as sad to see it end as we otherwise would be! We awoke bright and early on Tuesday, June 26, completely satisfied with our amazing milestone trip and excited to return home to our crazy kiddos.

After an easy breezy disembarkation process, we took a taxi to the airport and arrived with plenty of time to spare before our 11:10 flight. It wasn't long before we were back on the ground in Sacramento and being picked up by Nana and our sweet Avalon (who actually broke down in tears upon seeing us for the first time in a week).

We returned home to a wonderful reunion and a surprise anniversary party, complete with a cake that the kids had baked and decorated earlier that day. After visiting for a little while, Nana and Papa headed home for some much needed rest after a job VERY well done. I could never fully express my gratitude to them for taking such good care of the kids all week long. While it was never our plan to have them shoulder 100% of the "burden" of childcare for the entire week, I'm thankful that it worked out that way. I still have many memories from the two weeks spent with my grandparents (my mom's parents) when my parents went to Europe when I was only 5 or 6, and I love that my kids (the girls, at least) will likely always remember snippets of their week at Nana and Papa's!

Luckily, the kids don't have to rely on their memories alone because Nana was nice enough to take several pics of the kids throughout the week and send them to us via Facebook almost daily. The next post will feature all those pics!