Hi Deb,
I was going to suggest a security camera. We have them and they are great for vacation time. My husband can check on his smart phone or I on my tablet. We check to make sure the garbage can has been put away, the pet sitter is feeding the cat, who is parked in front of the house.... I watched the contractors put in my tile floors - they weren't doing it right so I called them on the phone and told them so. You should have seen the look on the guy's face when he answered that phone. When they realized I was watching, things went much better.
Make sure you get one that you can check remotely and has good enough resolution so you can actually see something. Some of ours even turn so we can check all the corners.
Daisy
