Melissa’s Blog

Wow the weekend went by way too fast. This morning I caught up on laundry and tried to clean up the house a bit. We went to the Spectrum this morning with the mom’s group. The kids went in the fountains. They had a blast! Then we walked the Spectrum. We walked to Carters. The kids played a bit with the legos and toys while the mom’s tried to shop. Nicole got a dress which she calls her ballerina dress, she was spinning around with it on, so cute. After we went to Red Robin with our friends. It was a nice morning. I wanted the kids to nap but no such luck. I decided to give the kids a bath as they love it. Before filling up the water though the kids got in. They got their crayons out and drew all over the tub. Then they didn’t want water in the tub any more. The tub was full of drawings even before the water went in. Finally got the water in and the kiddos had a great time in the bath. I like afternoon bath as there is no fighting and secondly they can take there time in the bath rather than rushing at night. After bath I put big boy underwear on Justin. He said he wanted a diaper, but then he said he loves his car underwear better. Then I decided to do some gardening with the kids. It needs to get done sometime. Luckily the kids were so excited to be helping me that they were really good out there. They picked up all the branches that I cut and put them in the trash can. We were having fun together. Then daddy came home and the kids stopped helping me-bummer. The kids played with these new wooden trains we got them and then they drove their cars. We came in and had some dinner-the kiddos weren’t very hungry. We played with toys and the kids drew for a while. I thought we would be in for a cranky night but then kids were ok. I was defrosting veggies and the kids decided to eat them frozen, they loved them. They were playing balloon together in the kitchen. It was so cute. They were playing catch with it, bopping it in the air, and laughing together. I love when they play together. We went upstairs and Nicole wanted to wear her new ballerina dress. So cute, she was dancing around in it. Then we read books, usual bedtime routine. The kids were exhausted. Justin fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

We got to the camping grounds, O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon, around 2:30. We set up our tent and everything. The kids loved playing in the tent.

It was hot though. The tent we got was huge! It took a while to get set up. The kids were so excited and extremely dirty within a few minutes. We brought their tricycles so they were excited to ride. It was a bit hard in the gravel though. The kids were busy exploring and they really liked our friend’s dog, Cookie. Nicole remembered that this was the dog that ate her hot dog 🙂 After setting up we went to find the park. The kids biked over and had fun playing at the park. Nicole really wanted to ride one of the bigger kids bikes, so she had a little tantrum. After the park we went back to the camp site. The kids were having a hard time entertaining themselves. Bret had to run to the store to get hot dogs. So I gave the kiddos turns on the big kid bike with training wheels. After Bret got back from the store, he helped the girls with the grill. So I took the kiddos to the grassy area and played ball. Justin was so into kicking the ball, playing soccer. They both loved watching Cookie run after the frisbee and the kids got a turn to throw the frisbee. We had dinner, hot dogs, mac and cheese, burgers…..we all brought food and helped. We ate a late dinner, so it was getting close to bed time.The kids jumped off some wood stumps for a bit and Justin landed on a rock. We were worried he hurt his ankle but he was ok, thankfully. We got the kids glow sticks so we turned them on. The kids loved them! Nicole slept with hers. We also brought their flashlights (the pig and the zebra). We lit the campfire, then I discovered I forgot the smores-oh man. Well we got the kids into their jammies and Justin went to sleep pretty easily but Nicole was wired. I think it took her about 45 minutes to go to sleep. I guess she was too excited too be camping to sleep. Finally she went to sleep so then we hung out by the campfire with all our friends. We discovered though our air mattress had deflated. We didn’t put the plug on well enough. We decided we didn’t care and we would sleep with out it rather than taking the time to blow it up. It was nice just chatting and hanging out with our friends. Our kids slept all night. I think we went to bed finally at 12:45 and it was really as uncomfortable as we imagined. We both had rocks in our backs. We also put on our rain cover as we had a big window and it was getting really cool. This was not fun in the dark. Bret and I both tossed and turned all night. We got up about 7:00 this morning. The kids both had big smiles on their faces when they woke up. Maybe cause we were right there. The kids were in good moods and went out to play. Someone brought a T-ball game and NIcole and Justin loved it, playing in their jammies! In fact I will probably try and get them one. They hit the ball really well. Justin sticks out his tongue while hitting-so funny.

They also did bubbles and played with their friends while we cooked eggs and bacon. Bret packed up while I watched the kiddos and we were on our way home. It was mildly fun but I don’t think we are in a hurry to camp with kiddos anytime soon. And we are exhausted. We got home around 9:30 and put the kiddos in the bath. We took showers and got clean. Then we went to pick up our friend Ryan and got to Katie, Mikey, and Sarah’s 4th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. The kids had a great time. Justin and Nicole played lots of games and rode some rides. They didn’t even want cake as they were too busy playing games. Later we went to Grammy’s house for dinner, while there Bret set up something on her TV. The kids didn’t seem like they were going to play by themselves too well, so I played with them. I had a blast with the kiddos in the pool. Nicole has taken such a liking to the pool. She was jumping off the edge and I was catching her. Justin too but he wasn’t as into it-at least not tonight. Nicole was kicking. I think we were in the water for over an hour. I was spinning and jumping the kids like Shamu. I had a blast and they did too. We had dinner then just hung out in the play room the rest of the night. I am exhausted from camping and so are the kiddos.

We are heading to O’Neil Regional Park to camp for the night. We bought a bigger tent, packed up the car last night. Just need to put food, clothes, and tricycles in the car then we are set. We have been talking to the kids about camping and sleeping in a tent. Nicole wants a pink tent! I think we will have a great time. The kids and daddy put together a new track on the train table this morning. A spiral track. The kids were pretty excited about it. I took the kiddos to Lakeshore Learning Center for craft day. The craft was farm animals. Justin made  a cow and Nicole made a pink pig. The kids just glued lots of things on their animals, they both liked the googly eyes. We ran into our friends, Carin, Sofi, and Mylee. Then we just shopped a bit. I bought the kids a new toy with tweezers and they feed the dog bones. It is cute and they both love it. Wish us luck on our camping trip.

The kids are so silly eating breakfast. They are both screaming MILK and laughing so hard. For some reason we needed to bring our kick boards in the house and play. We got ready to go to Blue Gum for both play group and a little shower for Victoria. The kids played so well at the park. Nicole went off with Ryan for a bit, so cute. They went over to the shade by the volleyball court and were playing. Justin went over too with a bunch of sand toys. The park was a bit hot though-humid. We had a great morning. I decided to call daddy and we met him for lunch. Although the kiddos didn’t eat much, they had fun seeing daddy and playing. Nicole decided her name is Melissa and Justin said his name was Bret, so silly. We went to Costco after lunch. The kids stayed in the cart for all of 5 minutes. Oh well they had fun playing. Justin started walking by the refrigerator doors up on the silver thing and hanging on to the doors, little monkey. And Nicole started leaping like a frog. Both copied one another. This Costco trip took forever but the kids had fun. They liked all the snacks, looking at the clothes, the flowers, etc. We came home and watched some TV. I decided to give the kiddos a bath since it was hot out. This way they could play outside after dinner. The kiddos had a blast in the bath. We did these capsules that turn into little cars, trucks, etc and the kids liked that. Also gave them new crayons. Can I tell you how excited Nicole was to get a pink crayon and Justin picked green. After bath I put JD AKA Justin is big boy underwear. He told me when he had to go pee pee and he did it. I was a very proud mommy! We did dress up, Nicole was a princess and JD was a doctor. It was so cute.

After dress up, the kiddos played in the backyard. They painted and Jose AKA Justin played with the hose. Nicole played in the play house. We had dinner then the kiddos colored with markers and stamps. Then we had to pack up for our little camping trip. I took the kiddos for a walk in the stroller and Bret packed up. This whole time Justin was in underwear too! We got home and went to talk to the neighbors about the new fence. Art and Bernice were so nice to our kids, offering them juice boxes and let them watch TV. The kids were so happy-I was so stressed Justin was going to pee on their couch. He did so well, I was so proud of him. He is hopefully well on his way to being potty trained. I was so enthusiastic. I kept on asking him why mommy was so happy and he said “because I went in the potty”. It was a fun night. We didn’t get to read any books tonight though-it was straight to bed.

It was pre school day. The kids were so excited to go. We walked there. Nicole walked part way and was so excited to help me push Justin in the stroller. It was an ocean theme at pre school. The pre school was all decorated-it was really cute. The kids made coliages with pink fish, orange sea horses, and mosiac tiles. They also fished for letters. It was so cute. The kids were so excited when they caught a letter. The kids kept on catching the letter M, so I was hoping they would learn the letter. The kids went outside and there was a water table, a pool, tons of sand toys. After putting the kid’s bathing suits on, they spent like 5 seconds playing with water. They were really into the sand today. Filling up buckets and dump trucks. Nicole showed everyone how she can put her own shirt on now. We had such a great morning. The kids loved the circle time and the songs and stories. It was so cute to watch them participate. They were dancing with scarves “under the sea” and just loved it. We walked home. Justin fell asleep in the stroller right when we got to Monticello. So I decided to keep walking. I walked and walked and walked-thankfully Nicole fell asleep too. So I kept on walking. Maggie joined me for a walk. I think I walked about and hour and 45 minutes. It was hot but I was glad the kiddos slept. Both kids woke up a bit last night. We came home and Maggie and Aliya came to play for a bit. All the kids ate lunch together and played pretty well. Justin and Nicole were so sweet and gave Aliya and Maggie great hugs when they left. We played so much-the house is a mess. The kids are in good moods. They are playing this little musical trumpet thing and laughing together. They played see saw together and are really playing well. Nicole keeps asking Justin if he wants to do things with her, want to build a big tower with me and we have to take turns…so cute. There was a fire engine in our neighborhood and the kids were so thrilled. They went out to see it and got stickers and hats. We played at home so well, the kids got out toys they hadn’t played with in a while. WE got out the doll house and blocks. We then needed to run to the grocery store. I am baking for Victoria’s shower tomorrow. I let the kiddos watch TV while I baked the cake really quick. Later we ran to Wal-Mart and met some friends at Chuck E Cheese. Justin loved the ski ball and the little carousal. Nicole liked the carousal and the little seat that went around the clock. At first she was a little scared but then really happy she went on it. Justin is getting so good at ski ball-he could have stayed there all night. We had a great time. The kids cashed their tickets in for lollipops so they were ecstatic. Of course they didn’t really eat dinner. So I gave them some fishy pasta that the pre school (ocean theme) gave to the kiddos and fruit when we got home. The kiddos got balloons at Wal Mart-Justin blue and Nicole pink. Justin’s flew away when I put them in the car after Chuck E Cheese. He took it really well. Then I forgot Nikki’s was still in the car and I rolled down the windows-the kiddos love driving with the windows down. She held on the balloon and was so sad it was gone. I felt terrible. She felt better when I told her a baby may have found it. Kiddos seemed wired tonight but went to bed easily-it was a little later than usual. I am going to relax!

Early in the morning the kids were already fighting a bit. Nicole is so screamy. She had trouble falling back to sleep after going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I think I fell asleep on her floor before her. The kiddos woke up early this morning. We got ready to go to music class. I had to move the class to Newport for this month due to mommy and me pre school. We took Grammy with us too. The kids didn’t mind where music class was-they were just happy Ms. Judy was teaching it and that she had the big drum. The kids had a blast in the music class. They were sitting by themselves on mats instead of my lap. Made my sad but I know it is great they are getting a bit independent. Justin and Nicole were so cute as I laid down on the ground, they bumped jumped on me and gave me the biggest hugs ever. After class we went to the Fashion Island food court for lunch with Grammy. The kiddos loved playing on the bench and Nicole was pretending to make cakes. Silly girl. Nicole was almost asleep when we got to Grammy’s so we just dropped Grammy off and came home. Justin fell asleep too. The kiddos napped a bit in the car. After nap, we came in and played. The kids were into coloring and using their stamps. They made sure stamps were up and down their arms-it looks like they have a disease. They played really nicely. Nicole had the stamps and willingly shared with Justin. It is rare when they share so nicely but when it happens it is so sweet. Then we packed up and met some friends at Hick’s Canyon Park. It rained a tiny bit and the kids were excited. There was a little 6 yr old boy there and Nicole took a liking to him. He poured big buckets of sand down the slide and the kids loved it. Nicole wanted to take this little boy home with him. Justin of course was playing in the water fountain. They had a great time at the park. We decided to go to the library for story/craft time but came to find out they didn’t have it today. So we read some books then played outside. The kids pretended the gazebo was a bus and we did ring around the rosie a zillion times. We came home and the kiddos painted for a long time (water, buckets, and paint brushes). After dinner we went for a little walk and the kiddos were wild. We played on the greenbelt for a while. It was 8:45 and the kiddos were just getting in bed. They took a while to go to bed.

We hurried out of the house this morning to walk to pre school. The kids had to go in the stroller so I could walk fast or we would have been late. They had so much fun in pre school. Justin played with the big track and trains on the floor. He made a big train. Nicole played with baby, of course, pushing the little cart. They painted and played outside for a bit. Then we made cookies. The kids had fun touching the dough, rolling it out, and making shapes. Both kids made sharks and fish cookies. It was fun making cookies with the kids but what a mess. It was an ocean theme today so everything ocean,blue water in the water table, fishy themed stories and songs. They even got fishy stuff to take home with them. We had a great time at pre school. We came home and Carin (Sofi and Mylee) came over to play. The kiddos played pretty well together. Ate lunch together and did artsy stuff together. We played outside. Nicole pushed baby Mylee in the swing. Justin was so cute playing with Sofi so nicely. Nicole and Justin did fight over a lot today-Nicole was pretty screamy. We went swimming at Paula’s pool with Paula and Krista. The kids loved it. Totally put them in good moods. We stayed in the kiddie pool though. Justin and Nicole used noodles for the first time and Nicole loved the pink one. Pink everything she loves. They even wore Paula’s kids goggles, so cute. My kiddos were jumping in from the edge while holding my hand. Nicole went under and she seemed ok with it. She said I went under like Sarah. The kids didn’t want to leave the pool. Nicole doesn’t talk when she is sad about leaving some place. We came home and had dinner. The kids were still a little fighty and screamy. So we did bath. Of course they even fought in the bath-Nicole would say Justin is touching me. Usually Justin gets out first but we had Nikki get out first. She was not pleased but it is only fair. Almost 8:30 and the kiddos are sleeping.

Well on the way to a make up music class, the kiddos decided that they saw Santa. All of a sudden they both started screaming Santa, when I looked up it was just an Asian guy. It was so funny when the kids went running up to him yelling Santa. Then the guy got on the bus and the kids were screaming Santa got on the bus, it was pretty funny. The make up music class wasn’t with Ms. Judy, you can really tell a difference when Ms. Judy isn’t teaching. Parents talking and not participating, it was kinda sad really. I think I was the only one dancing with my kiddos. After we did a few errand and then I took the kiddos to Hush Baby for story time. It was so crowded that I wanted to leave but Nicole wanted to stay. It actually cleared out midway and the kids ended up having a great time. They liked singing the Old McDonald Song and they brought the puppy instead of the bunny. After I took the kids to In N Out Burger. They were so good for me there but near the end they weren’t listening at all. They were standing outside of all the stores saying take a picture of me. Here are the pics:

Nicole actually fell asleep on the way home and Justin followed shortly. They needed a nap today. After nap we went and did another errand then came home to play. Uncle Alan stopped by with surprises from Monterey Bay Aquarium. They got Sea Otter puppets and cool cups with twisty straws. They loved them both. Nicole loved looking at the pictures from the fair that Alan brought over. After Alan left the kiddos played with the hose, washed their trikes, dug in the dirt. Nicole played baby. I am working on Justin potty training again and this afternoon he did great. All proud of himself for going in the potty. Daddy came home and we had dinner. Then we went to Castle Park. The kids rode their tricycles, so cute watching them ride together. They rode around the park and picked up a zillion pine cones on the way and put them in the back of their bikes. They ran around so happy to find pine cones. They played at Castle Park for a bit, on the play structures. Went down the big slide and in the castle. We had a great time as a family, it was really nice. The weather was perfect. We came home and read a ton of books and the kiddos went to bed. We read Diego’s Wolf Pup Rescue and there is a part that mentions the pup licks Diego on the cheek. Well our kids decided to lick us too. The problem was they didn’t stop and their tongues were freezing from drinking ice water. Anyway it was so funny we were all laughing so hard. I was laughing when I told them to get daddy. Silly kids.

Since we played so much yesterday today we wanted to get some stuff done today. I took a walk by myself this morning. It was so weird not pushing a stroller or entertaining kids-it was nice but boring. Justin kept on saying he wanted to ride his bike at the park. So we loaded up the kids and bikes and went off to Blue Gum. They were so excited to play at the park. They were into climbing up this thing with a chain and then sliding down the slides. It was so cute watching them be so happy to be at the park. After the park we had to go to Target. We needed to buy a bigger tent. We are planning on going camping one night next weekend with some friends. Sounds like a lot of work for one night but should be a lot of fun. I needed to get an oil change for my car so we went to do that. We ate lunch while we were waiting for the car to be done. There was a TV there with the CARS movie on, so Justin was loving watching it. Then I took the kids to Toys R Us while Bret waited for the car. Nicole found a Hello Kitty doll she loved and carried it around. The kids were loving playing in the cars/jeeps, etc. I looked at doll house stuff for Nicole. We came home and the kiddos got their TV time. At the end of TV time Bret was using the hose and Justin gave up TV time to see what was going on with the hose. Justin just loves the hose. I think I changed his clothes twice today as he was all wet! We got the pool out and the kiddos splashed around in that for a bit. They played with the dump truck and the dirt in the backyard. I got rid of the sand and now I have to deal with dirt. Only until we get our new fence though then we can landscape. The kids just had a blast outside today. Bret was able to start on the sprinklers and I did a little cooking and laundry. Then I wanted to run to a store so the kiddos and I went leaving daddy to work on sprinklers. I saw a sign for a free music thing in the park so I called daddy and he met us. We had a picnic dinner with the kids and listened to the music. I wish I had my video camera to tape the kiddos dancing. It was so cute. They ran around the grass, circled and hung on trees, etc. They had a great time. I regret not going to more of these earlier in the summer. There was a little hill by the band so the kids had a great time playing on it, running and rolling up and down. The kids waved to the drummer and Justin especially liked being up close to the band. We had a great family night! We had to leave a bit early as the kids really needed a bath. Came home and did a quick bath. Didn’t even have time for books tonight. Just a little rocking and some stories and the kids were sound asleep.

This morning I needed to go for a walk. I haven’t gotten any exercise in so long. So the kiddos got in the Bob stroller and off we went. It was fun as they were looking all around and making comments. They say a bunny and a lizard. They did great in the stroller. We came home and had to get ready to go to Matthew and Ellie’s 4th birthday party. It was a beach themed party. Nicole even said she loved this party. They had a blast playing in the water. Krista took a slide and had it slide into the pool. Justin and Nicole had a blast sliding into the pool. They were a little intimated by the big kids but did follow them too. The big kids went down backwards so that give Justin and Nicole the idea. They also played in the sprinkler too. Justin is such a water boy-he was so wet. The kiddos decorated little bags too. Nicole colored mostly with pink where Justin wanted every color. It was a lot of fun and the kids love cake.

We came home and the kids were playing with their stuff from the goodie bag. I had a bright idea to try and get them to nap but that was not happening. The kiddos watched TV and daddy ran to Home Depot. I also polished Nicole’s nails for the first time and of course she wanted pink polish, so cute. After we went to Cole and Grant’s 2nd birthday party. It was a really cute party. The trackless train was there and all the kids were pretty much sitting on the front steps watching the train be put together. Justin and Nicole were so excited to ride on it. They actually rode on it by themselves but Nicole didn’t seem too happy about it-Justin just waved and said goodbye. Then we went on with the kids a few times. Then the kids just played with all the toys. It was hard keeping track of the kiddos as they were both going in two different directions. I knew they would be safe but I still like to keep track of them. Justin was riding this scooter thing (baby toy) down the hilly driveway with his feet up, so funny. Nicole was really into playing with the kangaroo climber in the house. The kids had a great time and played really well. Nicole and Justin both said they love parties. Of course for the ice cream cake we asked the kiddos if they needed help and we got I do it myself. Both parties today were great and the kids really had a fun day! When we got home the kiddos were wild. They were playing with their trains they got in their goodie bags and drinking out of their train cups. Finally got them upstairs and got them ready for bed. Nicole put her shirt on herself. It was so cute as she was so proud of herself. They are sleeping and I am following.