Omg the descriptive visuals of them laying around like bumps on a log then foraging on junk food. Lol!

Pretty much how these skids over here do. The bar is set pretty low due to Disneyland dad treating them like fragile yet obese snowflakes so merely waking up and breathing and sustaining themselves on junk food is an accomplishment 
 

You're right that when parents know better then usually they will do better if they can. Sounds like your DIL and her supportive husband are in raising their kids not just barely above CPS level but to higher levels of excellence 

Im sure they'll appreciate you checking with them about the MCD before splurging. 

Taking her to McD's would indeed spoil her but not in the way that chef intended ...lol. Poor kid's tastebuds would be shot.

With a child like that, I'd want to develop her tastebuds so I'd be looking at different cuisines (Vitenamese, Indian, Thai, Korean ...) to expand her horizons. How about an artisan ice cream maker? 

One of my daughters was like that with food. She lived for Friday morning shopping because there were always demonstration stands with samples at our favourite supermarket and she knew she'd be the one to try so I loaded her into my trolley and off we set. Her favourites were the ones from Reunion Island with their exotic foods, the ones from the Alps that had hams and cheeses from small producers, not to mention the ones from Basque country (hams, patés, duck ...). We'd get some funny looks sometimes because not everybody understood why I was letting a toddler choose which ham/cheese/other to buy but she relished every morsel. The women at the cheese counter were in love with her. She would choose which Roquefort we needed and she could tell the sales assistants why she chose that one. There were always freebies for her (she got a ton of plastic watches, notebooks, etc.) even when we bought nothing (a rare occurrence indeed!).

thinkthrice, my sentiments, exactly! My stepsons, nearly 13 and 15 years old resp., were here for CA thanksgiving last week and, as usual, were a pure delight. They are the product of deeply involved, well-educated parents who expect both good behaviour and first-rate performance at school. The boys have little interest in video games as they prefer to engage in family walks, board games and outdoor activities. 

While they were here, the boys played a spirited game of soccer with my DH and their dad. They thanked me for the meal, cleaned up after themselves and, best of all, bestowed several, heart-warming hugs to grannyd, melting my ‘ol heart. 

It’s ALL about the parenting! On this issue, Rags and I are in complete agreement. Raising children is not an easy task; it takes a lot of commitment, energy and patience. My teen girls did not get into any serious trouble; my approach was to NEVER say, “No”, when I could say, “Yes”, but my, “No”, was non-negotiable.

Your husband’s children, thinkthrice, were losers at the starting gate. With neither parent willing to require even the most basic accomplishments from that unpleasant trio (when their lives were already compromised by extreme unattractiveness), they were doomed to failure.

I did day care my entire adult career. I could see the differences in parenting from day 1. The kids who understood "no", were not allowed to become human mold spores in front of a tv, and were given variety in their diets w/out fastfood and junk being offered, those kids were a joy. They would engage, play well, use manners, and just be so much fun to be with. But the ones who never heard "no", got what they wanted not because they deserved it but because they whined/had fits/acted out, were coddled and spoiled and not parented, they were my hell. 

I was once in a store and heard a child having a snit. The whole store could hear it. I came around a corner and into an aisle and the little terror looked up, saw me, and stopped. His mom asked me how I did it. It was easy, he knew Tia did not play that. He knew mommy did. 

Expectations. I think parenting is also expectations. If you expect them to do nothing, if you do not nurture their minds and bodies you get human mold. It's just there, contaminating everything it touches. But if you expect kindness, the following of rules, active minds/bodies/souls you get children who are a joy, not Tia's or anyone's hell. 

It sounds like your AwesomeDIL is giving you joy and raising a good one!!!