Leaving the kids...

We decided it was time we took another vacation, but this one did not include kids! We were very fortunate to have parents/grandparents and friends who were willing to help us out with the kids while we went away. We dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa Riechmann's house on Sunday afternoon. I was doing fairly well most of the day because I was in denial about leaving them. Dustin kept dropping hints that it was time to get going. Finally he had to say, "Hey. We need to go!" I took pictures of the kids that I looked at quite frequently while we were on vacation. I cried as we left the driveway, but I was better by the time we reached home. I didn't have much of a choice since we hadn't started packing yet and we were going to leave at 4:30 on Monday morning! We called the kids each night for about 5 minutes (we haven't gotten the bill for those calls yet from Sprint) and I did pretty well. By Friday, I was ready to come home...I missed those little buggers! Here are the departing shots...

Kendall Grace smiling for Momma (Thank goodness. I looked at this one a lot!).

Braden wasn't in the picture taking mood. He understood that we were leaving. I'm not quite so sure his sister did!

My momma's boy.

Daddy and Kendall. So adorable!

We had a great time, and much of that was because we knew the kids were in good hands. They spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Riechmann in Carrollton, spent the night at Mimi and Papa's and then came back home (to Edwardsville) with them. My friend Heather and her family watched them during the day on Thursday and Friday so my mom didn't have to take off work. We are so thankful for their help...and their empathy! All parties told us how exhausting it is to take care of two kids! We love you all!