Melissa’s Blog

Seems like a short week since Bret was with us until Thursday. This morning we had to get ready for play group here. Lots of cleaning, etc. The kids were having fun playing in the dirt in the backyard, dirt everywhere. We went out and got some bagels and ran to the store. Justin and Nicole were fighting over all the toys. They were going to kill one another over the fire engine. I was getting so frustrated, so I finally pulled them away and we took a break on the stairs. The kids did well sharing with the other kids. Justin and Nicole are really getting into doing artsy stuff. So they sat at the kitchen table and colored and stamped all over their arms. They both look like they have some disease.

Neyha, Krish, and Isha were visiting too, so they came to play group. What a great surprise and it was great to see them. Nicole and Justin wanted to give Krish a hug and Nicole was into playing with baby Isha. The kids are getting a little crazy with balls in the house. The cover on our kitchen light got knocked off. After everyone left, we cleaned up for a bit. The kids played outside for a while. They played so well. They both painted the windows with water. They loved it when I was inside and came up to the window. They rode trikes, played on the see saw, and played with their squirty toys. They were playing so well together-it was so nice. The kiddos watched TV then Carin (Sofi and Mylee) came over to play. The kids decided to take all the cushions off the couch and jumping they went. It was cute but I don’t think I will ever have cushions on my couch again as they just had too much fun. Then we decided to go to the Spectrum as I had a few errands to do. We had to go to Target. Then I decided to let the kiddos play in the fountains. They had a blast! I got them cups and they watched them go up in the air. It was cute to watch them so happy. We came home and made dinner. Then the kiddos played with their trains and it was so hot in the living room that we dragged the kids to the backyard. They made baskets and got on their see saw again. They were all into swinging as high as they could go, touching the peach tree. The kiddos were wild and silly tonight. Bath was crazy with so much water ending up on the outside of the tub. They wanted to read a ton of books tonight then we laid down with them while we told stories.

Well now it is like we never left. This morning we got up and got ready for pre school. The kids were so excited to go to school-it was cute. We got to school and the kiddos were running around playing. First they played inside for a while. Then they headed outside and played with the water table. It was so cool-the water was blue like the ocean with all sorts of fake ocean animals in it. Both kids were amazed by the sea star. The kids also painted. I think Nicole painted like 10 pictures. Justin played with the cars and balls outside too. After going in the kids separated. Nicole played with the shopping cart and baby and Justin headed for the trains. It was nice seeing them so independent. They also did the messy crafts-gluing tissue paper to a fish and dot markers. The kids participated in circle time so well. We had a great time. On the way out the kiddos got buckets and fishy/octopus soap. The soap is now all over the carpet and the couch. But it was still cute. We needed to go to the grocery store. The kiddos pushed the little carts and were so good helping me shop. What a lot of work it is shopping with 2 kids. We came home and had lunch. Then headed to Costco. The kids wanted Brittany to push them in the Costco cart. They miss Brittany. The kids had so much fun at Costco and got a bunch of snacks. We came home and the kiddos watched TV. They were so happy to be watching Barney again. The kids are really into their Mickey and Minnie learn to dress dolls and they are even watching Barney with the kids. After TV we just played for a bit. The kids played trains and Nicole put trains down for a nap, silly girl. Justin built a big track. The kiddos pushed stuffed animals in their doll strollers. Daddy had to go to dinner with some co-workers so we headed over to Paula’s to play. The kiddos had a great time. First they put together a bug track and made the trains go around, Justin loved it. Nicole was really into the baby things, crib, car seat, etc. She even got to push baby in the swing, she loved it. The kids were so happy playing with the new toys. We all had dinner together. Justin ate really well, Nicole was too excited to get to the doll house to eat. Maybe it is time to get my old doll house out for her. We finally made it to the park. The kids were crazy and had a blast at the park. Lots of smiles and giggles along with climbing, sliding, etc. We came home and had to go upstairs and get ready for bed. The kiddos were pretty tired and went to sleep pretty easily.

We had a great time in Vegas. The kids were fantastic. We left on Sunday, 8/3. After pretty much packing up the house to bring with us, we were on our way. The kids were great on the long 4 hour drive. Justin fell asleep for a short bit and we stopped in Barstow for lunch. I couldn’t believe Nicole stayed awake the entire drive. The kids kept busy using their drawing toys, reading books, musical books, kids laptop, etc. I also had to read a bit. We saw the temperature keep rising, I think the high was 107. When we got to Vegas the kids were so excited to be in the hotel. We stayed at the MGM and the kids were just looking around at the hotels, they liked the lion on the outside of our hotel and liked the castle too (Excalibur). We got up to our room and had a view of everything. The kids got on the ledge and kept calling everything out they saw, the monorail, planes, helicopters, all the cabs, even pink ones (Nicole liked those)…I think they would have been happy looking out the window for hours. We walked around Vegas a bit and did the touristy things, the m&m store, Nicole wanted pink m&m’s and Justin wanted all colors blue, green, yellow, etc. We decided to go swimming. It was hot so we waited until after dinner when the sun wasn’t so hot. The kiddos loved the pool. Justin was so excited to be in his floaty and pretty much was swimming around, kicking, etc. He had the happiest little grin on his face, it was so cute. I had to assure Nicole I wouldn’t let her go under water.  On the way back from the pools, we had to stop and play on the lights. The lights had swim fishing, so here are Nicole and Justin in the middle of the lights laying down pretending to swim like fish. They had a great time. The next day Monday-we took a ride on the monorail. The kids were so excited to go for a ride on the monorail. We took it to the Hilton and walked over to Circus Circus. The kids had a great time at this hotel. They played a ton of games and rode on a ton of little rides. They liked all the circus games too. Justin won a penguin and Nicole won a basketball stuffed thing. We also watched the circus acts, the kids liked the swinging trapeze. After getting back to the MGM, we met up with Aunt Buffi and Cousin Brittany. They wanted to do some shopping, so shopping we went. We went to an outlet mall, luckily the kids were pretty happy with the carousal there and all the little rides. We came back to the hotel and I gave the kiddos a bath. They just loved hanging out in the room and taking a bath in a new place. The next day, Tuesday was full of shopping as well. We went to an outdoor outlet mall and it was hot (not horrible in the shade). We also went to Costco after the outlet mall for more shopping. Oh man I am so shopped out. I wanted to have some family fun, so we went down to the pools. The kids had a blast and are becoming quite the dare devils in the pool. They loved it when they could jump in from the edge and we would catch them. I put Justin on his belly and he was really kicking his legs having fun swimming. We got back to the hotel room and Grammy gave the kiddos a fire house toy. The kiddos played so well with it and for so long. I couldn’t believe there was minimal fighting and it was really cute to watch the kiddos. It was getting late and finally around 8:00 we took the kiddos for a stroller ride to show them all the Vegas lights. They enjoyed the night walk and fell fast asleep the minute their heads hit the pillows. On Wednesday it was time to pack up and come home. We had a great breakfast and finally got on the rode about 11:30ish. It was sad seeing the kiddos say goodbye to their relatives. The kids did great driving home. They both fell asleep for a bit so we just kept on driving. We got to Victorville before stopping. We fed the kids and played in Home Depot for a bit-it was too hot to play outside. Then back in the car. The kids were so excited to be home. It was almost like all new toys for them again. They played really well together, enough to let me unpack, get organized, do laundry, etc. I am so tired though. I am off to bed.

This morning we came downstairs and the kiddos immediately wanted to go outside in the backyard and play. Of course it is kinda cool out and they are playing in the water, oh well they had fun. We decided to go to the spectrum with the kiddos. It was so nice as we got there a bit early and the kiddos were the only ones playing in the fountains. They had so much fun. They filled up cups and threw the water out of them. Justin learned to splash the water coming out of the turtle. Nicole didn’t like it when she got splashed. They had a great time. Of course they wanted to ride the carousal too. So after the fountains we went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. The kids were great and we had a nice lunch together. Then of course down to the carousal we went. I rode too and Nicole thought it was so funny, of course she made sure I had a seatbelt on and she told me to hold on! We kept walking the Spectrum and there was a kids expo thing. Justin and Nicole both liked the martial arts place, they kicked plastic first and then they let them kick wood. Both kids broke the wood 🙂 They got water bottles, balloons, squishy cameras, etc…We went to Carters and Target real fast too. Had to get another floatie for the kids for Vegas, plus get daddy this water toy thing. When we got home we read books for so long. I thought I was going to have to read all the books in the basket. Then I finally turned on the TV for a bit. After TV we basically played out in the back yard all after noon. The kids played in their water table using theirs and daddy’s squirty toys (see pic).

The kids had another trike wash, so cute. We did some work in the backyard, raked where the grass is going and hooked up jacuzzi. Justin had fun squirting down the dirt to help make less dust. Nicole was busy pushing babies in the swings. Then the kdis wanted to help us. So they started putting rocks in the trash can and playing in the dirt. They called the rocks Easter eggs and filled up their baskets. This kept them occupied for a while which was nice so I could pack for Vegas. But the kids were really dirty, but oh well. After dinner the kiddos brought their trains to the kitchen table and their cups became tunnels. We had to convince them to move to the train table as they were starting to stand up on the chairs, a little scary. We had a good night, the kiddos played in our bed, rolling around and pretending to sleep. Couple books and Justin was asleep before we left the room. Nicole has been sneezing a bit today so I hope she is not getting sick.

We played at home for a while this morning. The kiddos rode their bikes and played with the water table. They took their toy pots and pans outside and used them in the water table. We got packed up and headed to the Santa Ana Zoo for play group. We had a lot of fun. The kids of course wanted to go in the jeep and then we went to the sand/rock play area. I have the dirtiest kids ever. They played there for so long. Then we went to see the monkeys-the kids liked watching the animals eat. Then we rode on the train and went to see the farm part of the zoo. We went to eat lunch and the kids played at the play area for a while. This is the first time I just sat and watched them rather than standing right over them. I went to check on them and they just waved and said I am having fun mommy. We came home and I tried so hard to get the kiddos to nap. No nap but they played for a while upstairs. The kiddos have been fighting a bit so I just decided to give them a bath, hoping then they wouldn’t fight. They found ways to fight in the tub. They tried to draw on one another with bath crayons, splash, steal each other toys…the usual. But they were also able to take a long bath which was fun for them. Usually we are rushing bath. After bath we came downstairs and played. We played outside and in the futon room. We had fun. Bret came home a bit early so I could run to the doctor. The kids had fun with daddy and they got to watch Barney an Elmo’s World. After dinner, I was kinda bored after being home all afternoon, so we decided to do a trike wash. We gave the kiddos a hose, sponges, bucket of soap and they had a great time washing their trikes. Of course we had to watch who had the hose, Jose (Justin’s nickname cause he loves the hose) was hogging it a bit. They now have shiny clean bikes. We went upstairs a bit earlier tonight. It actually made our bed time routine less stressful and more relaxing. We read a ton of books. Justin sat with daddy to read books and Nicole with me. It is 8:25 and everything is quiet upstairs, so nice when they go right to bed. We are pretty tired too.

This morning was music class. We walked over to it. The kids wanted to walk too. We were running a little late though so I had to put them in the stroller. On the walk over, Justin is so sweet to Nicole. There was only one flower, so he gave it to her. In music class she wanted the drum Justin had, so he just gave it to her. Of course I stepped in and let them take turns. But I am just amazed at how sweet and loving Justin can be. The kids had fun in music class as did I. I held the kiddos and swung them, they are almost getting to heavy for me to do this. They were so excited when Ms. Judy sang the frog song. We had a fun walk home, looking at everything, talking, etc. Justin enjoyed watching a truck and workers at the end of our street. The kiddos found Tigger and were so happy to see the cat. At home the kids rode their bikes and played outside. I hated to break it up but I needed to go to the grocery store. The kids had fun pushing carts, but near the end Nicole was getting a little screamy. The cashier was so impressed at how the kids helped they gave them balloons. Unfortunately Nicole’s popped in the car and since she reacted so well we went in and got her another one. We came home and made some lunch and played. The kids gave their crasher cars a car wash on their little table in the kitchen. Water everywhere. The kid’s imagination impresses me everyday. The kids brought all our pillows down to the empty room upstairs and put layed stuffed animals down and put them down for a nap. The kiddos gave them books and said have a good nap (just like me). And they keep checking on the animals to make sure they are ok. Nicole says if you need me, just call for me-HA. I feel like we have been so busy lately it was nice just to watch them play, even though the play time occurred at nap time. Nicole started to bully Justin and cry over everything he had-ugh. So I decided maybe they needed a change of scenery so we went to Costco. They love Costco, the samples and the toys coming in for Christmas already. We came home and did water balloons. The kiddos had a blast with them. Nicole laughed so hard when hers popped, thank goodness she laughed. But of course wanted to take off her wet shirt right away. Nicole was a bit tantrumy (is that a word tonight), I guess she was just tired. So we went out for a walk after dinner. We ran into a big german shephard and the kids laughed when the dog licked them. We ended up going to Yogurtland. Nicole wanted pink yogurt and Justin wanted chocolate. It was a fun family walk. The kiddos seemed so tired so we went upstairs and read a book and told stories. Nicole loved how Ms. Judy from music class said ribbit, she was still laughing at it tonight. The kiddos went right to bed.

Just a little clean up and it will be complete. The kids loved to ride their bikes in the backyard. There is so much room for them to ride. This morning we went to the Santa Ana Mall. I wanted to do some shopping for the NZ crew. The kids had a blast. We walked around the mall, played on the lights, played in the play area, etc. The kids were really good for me. Got some clothes for Nikki and Justin for next year and some shirts for Blake and Zach. Nicole had some poopy issues in the mall near the end, so we just came home. Nicole fell asleep the minute we got in the car and Justin followed shortly after. We had our sitter come tonight. It was nice to get away, I really needed it. I went and got a pedicure, so relaxing. Then I did a few errands. Bret and I met for dinner at Opah. We had a nice leisurely dinner and went to get some frozen yogurt after. It was nice being together. We came home and the kids got wild. We played in the yard for a while, rode bikes in the back yard. Finally we got them into the bathtub. They wanted to stay in the bathtub but it was past their bedtimes, so we tried to rush them. We read a few books and told stories then bedtime.

Justin woke up and was all better. He woke up once in the middle of the night. We just came down and watched Sesame Street. He was so happy while watching TV, it was nice to see him smile a bit. I am so glad he is all better now. I thought I would just take it easy today. So we played at home for a while. We did laundry, made beds, fun stuff like that. Then I decided to take the kiddos to Laguna Hills Mall. They love this mall for all the ride on toys. They did great, listened, so they got to go on a motorcycle ride and they had a blast playing in the lights. We had a great time at the mall. It was all fun until we were on the third floor of JCPenny and felt an earthquake. The kids got a little scared too. It ended up only being a 5.4 but it felt like a big earthquake. It was right around the time we were going to leave, so I just decided it was best to come home. The backyard should be done today-yeah! We can’t wait. I tried to get the kids to take a nap but it wasn’t going so well. So I gave in and they are watching TV right now. Then we are going to leave to meet Aunt Buffi and cousin Brittany at LAX. The kiddos took a little nap on the way to LAX. Nicole and Justin liked meeting their relatives. Nicole took a real liking to Brittany. Justin just was happy looking at the buses and really wanted to ride in one. Buffi gave the kids sheep stuffed animals and the kiddos are sleeping with them right now. Tori gave them NZ shirts that they had to change into. We all went to the Santa Monica Promenade. The kids had so much fun just looking around and exploring. They loved this dolphin statue. So much in fact they were pretend feeding it fish. It was cute. They would run to the railing and pretend to get fish, silly kids. The kiddos liked watching the street performers. Nicole was trying to mimic all the dancing, even tried her shot at break dancing. She would lay on the ground like the performers. She would have stayed there all night watching and dancing if we let her. Justin liked it too and was dancing a bit too. We also made it to the beach. The kids had so much fun running around on the beach, although it was a little cool there. They both hung and swung from the rings. They played on all the equipment that was there, balance beam. ropes, etc. We had a great time. Justin fell asleep on the way home and Nicole was awake the entire time, so it was a late night.

This morning we played at home for a bit, Justin played with trains and trash trucks. Nicole played with everything Justin wanted. The backyard is coming along, almost done. It looks so dif’t. We ran to Target this morning. The kiddos cups were all leaking, so they got to pick out new cups. Justin picked out a Diego one and Nicole a Dora one. Then we headed to story time at Hush Baby with the bunny. The kids love when the bunny bops them on the head. They were participating, singing the ABC song, etc. But at the end Justin wanted to sit on my lap. He felt warm, so we headed to the car. Nicole stayed with Paula and Stacie so she could get her hand painted, Justin just sat on my lap and drank some water. Nicole came out with a yellow doggie painted on her hand and she was so happy. We came home and I put Justin to sleep in our bed. Gave him some tylenol and he slept for a couple hours, poor guy. I tried my best to get Nicole to nap but it wasn’t happening. After nap the kiddos watched TV. Barney and Elmo’s World. We will just take it easy today so Justin can rest. Nicole was high maintenance today. I think she was a little jealous of the attention Justin got. He pretty much slept all day, poor guy. He would wake up for a while and he was ok, but then he would start to feel yucky again. I finally put him on big floppy dog to sleep on, so I could be with Nikki too. We just played at home and tried to keep Nicole occupied. We gave the kiddos a bath tonight as Justin threw up. He just threw up since he was crying so much. He always has done this. So he took a quick bath and then I put him to bed in our bed. Nicole had a blast in the tub by herself. Justin was so cute sleeping in our bed. We read lots of books with Nicole and then told Sally and Billy stories. She was pretty tired and fell fast asleep.

I was so tired this morning. Bret took the kids to the drive thru Starbucks and got coffee and the kiddos got some chocolate milk. WE decided to go on a big train ride to San Juan Capistrano then go to Zoomars. The kids, especially Justin loved the train ride. It was only about a 15 minute ride but it was fun. They liked sitting in the upstairs area. We went to Zoomars. Both kids had a blast feeding carrots to the bunnies and guinea pigs. They both talked to the animals saying do you want one, etc. It was cute. They both held guinea pigs and petted the animals.

We split up and daddy stayed with Nicole to finish feeding bunnies. Justin and I went to see the goats and sheep. He liked feeding the goats but got a little scared when a bunch came around him. Nicole was overwhelmed with the goats. Then Justin pretended to drive a jeep and Nicole on a pretend horse.

We went and saw the other animals and the kids rode these John Deere Tractor trikes. At the end we went and watched the pony/horse rides. Justin decided to ride one. It was so cute. Nicole and I waved as he went by.

We just walked around and waited for the train to come. The train was so crowded. Justin was so happy to be riding it. He was just looking out the window the entire time. On the way home in the car the kiddos were falling asleep. And right now they are napping in their beds. Ah, nap is good. They took a great nap. After nap we just played with trains for a while and had a snack. The kiddos were pretending to put their trains in the garage/tunnel for a nap. The garage was a book I propped up so they could put trains in it. It was great fun but I was so tired. After we went over to Victoria, Todd, and Penny’s for play and dinner. It was nice, we had a great time. The kiddos played so well. It was nice to hang out with friends. The kiddos loved being pulled around in Penny’s wagon and playing on the play structure. When we got home, we let the kiddos play in the mess from the paver’s. They climbed on dirt piles, etc. Good thing it was bath night. The kiddos had a bath and we read books and off to bed. They may not go to bed too easily since they had a good nap.