I can sort of relate. My parents live about 25 minutes from us but only babysit when we ask them to. They are very busy with their own lives and it seems that many times they act like they just can't "fit" their grandkids in their schedule. It is very frustrating, I know. I have three children and my sister who also lives in the same city has four children. They have never asked to take any of our children to the zoo or to a movie. Once or twice a year they will take them all to an event like the circus or a county fair. But I think they find it so exhausting, that it almost deters them from doing other things! It's very frustrating when I hear them say they went to see Finding Nemo by themselves! I just want to say, "Hey, you could take any of your seven grandkids to a movie!" Anyway, I've learned that this is the style of grandparenting that they have and it probably won't change. So my advice to you is to just make the most out of your time together and don't stress out about it.

thank you for your reply. It helps to know I'm not the only one. If you don't mind I will bother you with one more question. What do you tell your kids when they ask why they never see them?
Thanks

Mine don't really ask why they never see them because we go to the same church, so they do see them every Sunday even though it's just after the service for about 10 minutes. But one thing I've found my children like to do is call them. Even if it's me talking to my mom for something I'll say would you like to talk to Olivia for a minute. It seems to make both ends happy. My six year old son likes to color pictures and then send them in the mail to them. Just a few ideas!