While Mom and Dad Are Away...

The boys will play, and play, and PLAY!!!

While Mario and I visited the East Coast, the boys visited Memphis to hang out with their Meme and Papa, and their aunts, uncles, and cousins.  My oh my, they had a ball!  My mom was so sweet to plan so many fun activities for the kids.  I think they saw and did almost every kid-friendly thing to do around town!  Every picture my parents sent me was of them smiling and having fun--just what a mommy longs to see when she is away from her babies!  ;)

Here are just some snippets of the fun they had...Get ready for picture overload!!!

Let the fun (and craziness) begin...

excited to spend time with cousin James

these two were best buds all week

tricycles in the front driveway

racing with papa's tractor

(tractor rides with papa are something they look forward to every time they visit!)

chalk on the front porch

watching a special show with james and reese

in front of the mall--one of their first outings of the week

sweet, happy boys

playing in the backyard in the sprinkler

and, of course, what comes next other than digging in the mud created by the water of the sprinkler?!?

a special surprise...

uncle josh comes brings his skid steer by!!!

(love how excited anthony's face is!)

wow!  what a treat!  

thanks, uncle josh!

posing in front of the big truck

a few times a year, meme and papa get a big pile of gravel to fill in the driveway.  they kindly arranged for the gravel to be deposited the week the boys were coming so they could climb all over the rocks!

this plus the skid steer might just be the best part of the entire week!

a trip to the park...

racing down the slides

meme and papa have lots of great parks in the area

wheeeeeeeee!!!

whoa!  a trip to mcdonald's plus a happy meal!?!

they are in heaven!

playing on the playground in the mall

they love those cars

oh, and serving up some ice cream!!!

meme, aunt michelle, and aunt mandy planned an amazing outing downtown!

they went to the famous peabody hotel to watch the ducks ride down the elevator, march down a red carpet, and take a swim in the fountain!

having a little snack while waiting on the ducks

top of the peabody viewing the memphis skyline

all the cousins

here's where the ducks stay--

on top the peabody

and here is the fountain where the ducks do their daily swim

trolleys!!!

now i know why anthony keeps hoping to see one ever since he's been back!

they actually got to take a ride on one too!  

all over downtown memphis for about 30 minutes!

what a fun day!

everyone was cracking up at lucas...

he broke his sunglasses, but he kept wearing them like nothing was wrong

meme had to buy that poor baby some new ones!  haha!

over to aunt mandy's house for some play time in her backyard!

you know anthony LOVED digging in the sand with this truck!

i love sweet baby reese's adorable swimsuit!

popsicle break!!!

WAFFLE HOUSE!!!

apparently, this was one of their favorite places to eat...

they requested it twice, so you know their grandparents took them twice, of course!!!

haha!  love it!

still doesn't beat chickfila, though

one day they made a special trip to collierville's old town square to see some trains

walking along the tracks

i'm sure these boys didn't want to leave!

exploring is the best part!

spinning the wheel on one of the train cars

following in big brother's footsteps

they explored the inside of the trains too

then off to the local splash park to cool off

back at meme's house they got plenty of time to just be little boys--

they loved playing in the dirt in the backyard...

stirring up a "dirt" shake

digging holes

uncle josh joined in on the fun

picnic in the backyard

i love how the boys are all looking around, and reese is zoned in on her food!

riding meme's rocking horse before bedtime

what a fun part of getting to bed!

There were so many more great pictures, but I couldn't include them all!  Thank you so much, Meme and Papa, and all our Memphis family for taking such sweet care of our boys while we were away!  Not only did you make our trip possible, but you provided the boys with memories they will cherish.  They cannot wait to come back and visit soon!!!  We love you!