Melissa’s Blog

Wow I over scheduled us today but it was a lot of fun. This morning we played at home for a bit. We played outside, painted, mixed the sand, rode trikes, etc. Then we headed to the lagoon, the kids had a great time. They were in the water pretty much the entire time. We brought their kick boards and they really liked them. Although I only got them to kick with them a couple of times. They did try to stand on them. Justin also liked to push his like a truck through the sand. There was a hole in the sand by the water and the kiddos loved to fill it up with buckets of water. It was cute to watch them. And Nicole decided she liked goggles, she looked so cute in them. It was a great morning. I decided since we were so busy and I had know idea when I was going to bathe the kids, I gave them showers before we left the lagoon. Insured no sand in my car and clean kids. They ate lunch at the lagoon as well. We came home and the kiddos watched Barney while I ate lunch and packed for the next outing, and dries towels and bathing suits. After Barney we headed down to Carin and Sofi’s and went to the Ladera Ranch water park. That place is so cool. The kids were a little scared though of the big red bucket pouring water down and splashing. We found a place where the kiddos wouldn’t get splashed. But it still took them a while to get in. They were only in for a little while then had to get out for a 10 minute break (required every hour). We got out and had snack and played in the fountains. I bet next time we go the kiddos will like it even more. We got dressed and headed over to a nice shady park. The kids had fun playing and call it white park. After we headed to grandma/pa’s house for dinner. Nicole told them all about white park and how she hung, etc. The kiddos had a great time, they jumped off the ottoman and onto the floor and played in the tunnel, etc. They hid from us. They also got all the pillows from the family room and brought them into the living room to jump on. Grandpa said to get the pillows from the family room and Nicole said ok I get them from the family room and off she ran but then she said where is the family room, silly girl. Justin and grandpa went out to see the ocean and take a little walk. Nicole and I went out too. The kiddos had a great time on the way home, drawing and showing me everything they drew. They were exhausted, Justin started melting down, so upstairs to bed we went. They both wanted to sleep with their kick boards.

Well this morning, we watched daddy pedal his bike to work. We read a ton of books which made me so tired. We are working on learning letter. Nicole knows the letter O and Justin knows H and a few here and there. They love to learn and it is fun to teach them. They played outside a bit too making baskets. The silly kids sat on the landing of the stairs just hanging out and talking, it was funny. We had a nice morning at home. We went to the Irvine Park RR this morning. Justin was so excited for the train. We met lots of friends there-it was a mom’s club event. We got there and rode the train first. It was fun. Then we went for a walk and ended up going to the little zoo there. The kiddos had a blast feeding the goats. There wasn’t too much at the zoo, Nicole started melting down so I left to go feed the kiddos. They were having fun just playing around the picnic tables with the dirt and the trees. Guess Nicole’s melt down was her way of saying I want to play. We ate lunch and the kiddos played. Then we walked back to the car. The kiddos took a little nap on the way home, where is my nap? HA. After nap I did a few errands. The kids were so good that I stopped at Toys R Us. The kiddos had a great time playing in the store. Nicole wanted to play with Elmo and Justin trains. We came home and just played for a bit. We also colored with crayons and markers. I actually snuck in some scrapbook time while the kiddos colored. Paula’s hubby is out of town, so her and her kiddos came over. We walked over to Northwood Pizza for dinner. The kids were so cute walking together, Nicole wanted to hold Mikey’s hand as she crossed the street. And Nicole really liked Katie’s baby, ironically named Katie. Nicole and Justin had fun hanging out with Paula’s kids, they all copy each other. The kiddos found lots of stuff on the walk, rocks, leaves, flower, sticks…Daddy met us over at the pizza place. The kiddos were pretty hungry and ate well. Then they played with the video games for a while, air hockey, driving. We walked home and then played ball on the greenbelt. Justin got inventive and used the frisbee as a bat to hit the ball while Nicole bounced on the hippity hoppity ball. It was pretty warm today. I still hear the kiddos upstairs talking, hopefully they will go to bed soon.

Well this morning I decided since the kiddos are liking the Bob stroller, I will try to walk again. Vena and I went. The kiddos did great. It brought back so many happy memories walking with the kids. I did it every morning for the first year of their life and they napped in the stroller. This time I had to bribe them with a trip to the park if they would stay in the stroller. They did great. Vena and I walked to Hick’s Canyon Park and the kiddos played for a bit. Justin and Nicole were pretty much on the see saw the entire time. We did play catch a bit too. On the walk back, Nicole was getting antsy but with snacks she did great. After we went to story time at Hush Baby at the District. The kiddos had so much fun. Instead of a little bunny they had a little doggie. So the the puppy bopped them on the head and gave them kisses, rather than bunny fu fu. It was cute. The biggest smile on the kid’s faces when the dog comes over. During the song, you’ve got the whole world in your hands, Justin and I clapped our hands together, so cute. Then he was so cuddly, so cute. Nicole turned around in her chair and faced me and wanted cuddles too. Justin got a yellow doggie painted on his hand and Nicole got a pink one. After we walked over to In N Our Burger for lunch. We had fun. We were on an end table, so people were waiting for tables behind us. Justin and Nicole loved entertaining the people, lunch wasn’t eaten too much but the kids had fun. We went into TJ Maxx for a bit and Justin got a new pair of jeans then Michael’s. The kids were so excited to buy glue. Looks like we will be doing crafts this afternoon. The kiddos watched Barney and Elmo’s World. After we went and met some friends down in Ranch Santa Margarita at some fountains. There was a Kohl’s there so I stopped in to exchange daddy’s pants. Can’t believe how long errands take with the kids, we had fun though. We had to ride up and down the escalators and look at all the clothes, hide in the clothes, etc. Then we went over to the fountains. The kids had a great time. I bought cups, water guns, and the tracor and the kiddos had a blast playing with all the toys. They both got really wet which equals lots of fun. We came home and the kids just wanted to play. They barely ate dinner, guess they don’t like my cooking-HA. Then it was craft night. We used their scissors-they like cutting although it does require us holding the paper while they use two hands with the scissors. Then we did stamps. I can’t believe how much they love stamps. Then glue. They both used up the whole bottle of glue, in their defense it was a little bottle but they loved it. We glued phone letters/numbers on the paper. It was great fun. Then bath. The kiddos are getting very splashy in bath. Water everywhere and we are wet. They were pretty tired tonight and went to bed pretty easily-we love that!

I heard the kiddos this morning so I ran in to get them back to sleep so daddy could sleep in on his birthday. The kids were happy it was daddy’s birthday. We played all over the house this morning, read the paper, ate breakfast…usual morning stuff. I wanted to go to Target, so the kids and I went and daddy went to get his oil changed in his car. We were at Target for a long time. The kids were happy in the cart, so I was able to shop. Then they got out and got to look at the clothes and played with all the toys. Daddy met us in Target. We found a little basketball for the basketball hoop in the backyard. The kiddos had fun playing with the new little ball, even played catch together with it. But it is a heavy ball so they both kept on saying their fingers hurt. So they went back to dribbling and making baskets, no catch. We had lunch and realized the kiddos wouldn’t nap. So I gave daddy some alone time in the house and I took them to LakeShore Learning Center. We played in there a bit and shopped. The kiddos liked the carpet in there and liked jumping on all the bugs.  I bought the kiddos some scissors and they were so excited. So excited in fact Nicole is sleeping with hers (still in package). Then we went over the Laguna Hills Mall. We did the usual mall stuff, escalators (up and down a million times), rode the cars and other toys, watched TV in Gymboree, played on the lights, ran around, etc. We came home to pick up daddy and off to Grammy’s we went. Grammy had a little birthday celebration for Bret and grandma/pa came as well. The kiddos had fun playing with Grammy’s toys. Asked us to go in the play room with them. They both went in the pool for a bit, surprisingly Nicole was more into than Justin. I had fun with Nicole was she was on the steps of the pool, she would kick, make it rain on the pool by splashing, dip the back of her hair in, kick, etc. But every time a plane would come, the kiddos would run out of the pool into a grandparent’s arms. Daddy was fortunate enough to be able to clean out Grammy’s fountain for his birthday. We opened presents and daddy got a money change counter thing, so the kiddos asked for more money to put in it-they had fun. We had a nice dinner and once cake was mentioned the kiddos were done with their dinner. It was so cute-they helped blow out the candles and sang happy birthday. After dinner, the kiddos played outside and got to see the Goodyear blimp. Nicole wanted to go back in the pool. She loved putting on this towel with a hood after she got out. Justin was playing in grandma’s lap liking watching the blimp and getting  a back rub. Then it was time to go home. Kiddos are sleeping right now and I am going to follow soon.

We spoke to Auntie Buffi late last night. It was great hearing from her. We are considering meeting her in Vegas. Well this morning we played at home for a while. We made tunnels and played with blocks. The kids pushed the trains on the blocks. They were drawing and kept on saying look what I drew. They also drew with markers. What a mess, luckily it is all washable. Their work is on the fridge 🙂 We went to the Great Park Take Flight Day. It was hot! The kids did a few crafts. They glued bird seed and other seeds to paper. Then they made kites or should I say daddy made kites for the kids. They had a great time with the kites. It was great family fun. I guess a real kite is in their future. We will have to fly them on the greenbelt sometime. Justin was so sad when we had to get lunch and he couldn’t fly his kite any more. We had a picnic lunch. Then the kiddos got orange sherbert (orange balloon to mimic the big Orange Balloon). We had a good time but the park is spending all this money and it doesn’t look like there has been any progress on the park. We came home and had to get a few things done, so we let the kiddos watch Barney and Elmo’s World. After TV we just played with the kiddos. All I know is we played a lot as toys were all over the house. The kids seemed to be getting bored so we went and played on the greenbelt. We brought balls and frisbees out. Also we blew up the Thomas hippity hoppity ball the kids got from grandma/pa for Chanukkah. The kids are still a little small for it but Nicole found a way to jump. She had fun on it. Justin was busy throwing two frisbee’s. We played catch with the kiddos as well. They are throwing and catching so well these days. We came in and had dinner. Then got ready for our friends to come over to help celebrate Bret’s birthday. Victoria, Todd, and Penny came. It was nice just hanging out with friends, hard to talk though with the kids being so noisy. We just had dessert (birthday cheesecake) with our friends. After they left, it was time for a bath. The kids were sweaty, full of sun screen, and sticky. The kiddos were wild in the bath and continued even after bath. They played in the tent room for a bit and finally settled down. Of course they went to bed a little later than normal.

Our play group has moved to Fridays now due to our toddlers starting pre school comes fall. We were hosting. So we got the house all cleaned up then ran to the store. The kids had fun riding in the car cart at the store. Nicole got out and Justin loved having the car to himself. Nicole wanted to be in the basket. She stacked up toilet paper and made herself a seat in the basket. Too funny until she started bopping-I didn’t want her to fall out. She was very helpful at unloading the groceries. Justin got out to help too. Justin wanted to unload all the yogurt. On the way home we had to listen to the new music cd, if I hear the froggie song again, I may shoot myself. We played it over and over again, so far they don’t want to hear any other songs. So play group was fun. The kiddos all played in the water. Then we threw the balls in the water, it was cute. Of course it is a lot of work to have play group with snacks and clean up. I am sick of cleaning the house. But we all had fun and it was nice to see my friends too. All the kids ate lunch together. I thought my kiddos would go down for a nap, they were looking pretty tired. I was wrong, 45 minutes of trying I gave up. They watched TV instead while I made a brownie cheesecake for Bret’s birthday on Sunday. How can these kiddos not be tired, I am exhausted. After TV we played. We set up the kids froggie table in the futon room and they had fun playing with the umbrella and having their snack at the table, it was cute. We got out a bunch of old toys the plane and train with handles. I made a ramp and a tunnel for the train and plane to go through. These kids have such big imaginations that I need to get more creative with our play. Then we played with the wooden blocks. Daddy came home. I had cooked all week so it was time to go out for dinner. We went to Islands, we hadn’t been there in such a long time. It was fun, the kids liked the tiki decorations. Nicole was busy talking and looking at all the people at other tables. Luckily they liked kids and made her smile and laugh. The kids did great at dinner, drawing and sitting on my lap. After we went to a new park right by Islands. The kids had a great time. First they climbed, then played on the see saw, then swings. Both of them were going so high on the swings, Justin was giggling while going so high. Then the kiddos just ran all around the basketball court. It was so cute watching them, we were all smiles. We had to race them back to the car-if we didn’t make it fun to get back to the car we would have still been at the park. We came home and went right upstairs. The kiddos dragged a bunch of stuff in the empty room upstairs just for fun. I traded out books so the kiddos were happy to see their old books. Daddy read to them tonight. All is quiet in our household.

What a great morning. We played at home, got dressed, changed clothes as Nicole spilled, played with trains, the roller coaster, etc. Before I knew it was time for music class. We were able to walk there. It is in the old Von’s shopping center, at least for this month. It was fun walking, the kiddos wanted to ride in the Bob stroller. Then we went over to the Asian market to buy more sticky rice and the kids weren’t going back in the stroller. They had fun walking and playing. They saw cats in our old vet’s office. Both kids wanted to pet them, Nicole loved it. Then we headed to music class. It was cute to watch the kiddos in the class and see how much they have grown since last class. They both sit next to me, not in my lap any more. A little sad for me but way more comfortable. Nicole follows everything Ms. Judy does, it is amazing, singing, doing all the movements. Justin just sat there taking it all in. But by the end he was getting all into it as well. We had fun dancing together. We met Len and Jen (my old co-workers) for lunch. It was nice to see them-it has been too long. The kiddos were a little shy at first but then came to life. Justin actually fell asleep on the way to meet them. After we were right by Grammy’s so we stopped in to say hi. The kiddos had fun playing. They wanted to go play upstairs in the office. Nicole wanted to play with this little brush and pretend to paint kitty’s on our hands. Nicole fell asleep on the way home. We stopped at Costco on the way home as we needed more food. The kiddos had fun in the cart eating their way through. Who knew they liked cranberry juice. We had fun shopping, talking about all the stuff in the store. It was great until we saw a black man, and Nicole said I don’t like black man. UGH. Now she says she loves him. We came home and played and played. We made a mess in the house. Then daddy came home and the kiddos went outside. They played with bubbles and the sand box. We had dinner then the kiddos painted for a while. They love to paint. Nice and messy they painted their arms and hands-little artists. Luckily tonight is bath night. We gave the kiddos a bath. The kids found our electric tooth brushes tonight. What fun they had. They learned to turn them on/off pretty quickly. The kiddos were a little crazy tonight but Justin fell asleep during my stories. Either they were very boring or he was tired. Nicole needed her back rubbed but I think she is sleeping now. I am off to bed too.

Crazy kiddos this morning. Bret left early this morning. The kids ate breakfast and got all this energy. They were running around with the balloons, screaming, chasing each other…just having a great time. We got all ready to go to the Woodbridge lagoon again. The kids ate a huge breakfast that lasted like an hour, they kept on coming back over to eat more. We went to the lagoon, but the weather was kinda cool. The sun wasn’t out but that didn’t stop them from getting in the water. The kids went right in. They had a great time. They had fun playing in the water, playing on kick boards, and balls. They didn’t stay in the water too long and the minute they got out they wanted to put their clothes back on. We stayed a bit longer and ate lunch at the lagoon. We came home and played outside for a while. Of course I had to fill up buckets of water a million times. We played with balls and read books. Then the kiddos played in their room for a bit and read books, no nap. After I let them out of their room, they needed some down time. So we watched the usual Barney and Elmo’s World. After we had a snack and played outside for a while. Justin was into the Diego rescue pack and Nicole was playing with her Minnie towel, pretending it was a cape. The kids were getting a little cranky being at home, so we went to the front yard and played. The kiddos brought balls with them and hit them at the block wall fence. It lasted all about 2 seconds when Justin threw a ball over the fence. So we had to walk all around to get it. On our way we ran into a neighbor and stopped to chat for a while. The kids got to pet her white dog named Sumo. The neighbors gave the kiddos a purple ball. So we found Justin’s ball and came home. By the time we got home daddy was home. So we played a little more on the greenbelt then had to make dinner. After dinner, we played in the backyard. The kiddos played catch with each other. Both are getting so great at catching and throwing. They are so proud of themselves when they catch the ball. We went upstairs and played. Daddy taught the kids to spit in the sink after brushing their teeth, so they showed me their new trick. Nicole is great at it, Justin swallows it and then sticks out his tongue and has a big silly grin on his face. We read some books and off to bed.

This morning we got ready for the cleaners. This house really needs to be cleaned. We played at home for a while. The kiddos wanted me to read to them for a while. We read so many books that I started to get tired. We got ready as we were heading to the lagoon for swimming. The kids love it there, they had a great time. Both wanted to go down the slides. Justin was more into the slides today. Nicole was happy bopping up and down in the water. Nicole sat in the water and sand and played in the sand for a long time. The kiddos found beach balls that they were loving playing with in the water. The kids were so happy. I just love this place-I wish we could go all the time. The kiddos were so hungry that they ate lunch on the way home. We got home and the kiddos played in the back of my car for a bit then we played in the garage too. It was so nice to come home to a clean house-too bad it doesn’t last too long. We came in and played with doll stroller, put books in the back of their trikes, played in the futon room, etc. Then I tried having the kids nap. What was I thinking? You guessed it they wouldn’t nap. I think I even fell asleep for a few minutes. They were nuts, jumping up and down, hiding under their blankets, etc. I finally gave up and the kiddos are watching Barney and Elmo’s World. After the non-nap the kiddos were getting a bit cranky. So I decided to head to Castle Park. I think the stroller ride over revived the kiddos. When we got to the park they were in good moods and ready to go. We played a bit at the park. Then we took a ball to the back board and they both threw it at the wall and chased it. I think they could have done this for hours. Of course I didn’t bring two balls, so I became a referee. We also played by the soccer net. We had a great time at the park even though it was a little hot. We took our time and walked home. The kids threw the ball as we walked home and chased it too. We stopped at Krista’s to say hello. We played in their yard and house for a bit. We couldn’t stay long as we had to come home and make dinner. Justin loved the big tractor Matthew had. It moved forward and backward on its own. He was so happy playing with it. Nicole was happy playing with Ellie’s stroller and dolly. Matthew and Ellie gave Nicole and Justin stamps. They walked us out to the stroller, Ellie snapped Nicole in, so cute. We came home and made dinner. The kids played naked in the backyard for a while. They were loving the lizard in the backyard, they call him Mr. Lizard. When he disappears the kids say he went to find his mommy. We went upstairs to take a bath. The kids love the bath, they drew all over the clean tub, and played with a squirt gun in the bath. After bath, I went to Bunco. I hadn’t been in so long. It was so nice to go and hang out with friends. I had a great time. Bret had a great time with the kids. The kids stayed naked for a bit, did boat, and read a ton of books. Dad said Nicole was very helpful.

The kids love Mondays so they can watch the trash truck. We heard it this morning and watched it from the living room. The kids showed me how it dumped the trash too. We had to get ready for a play group this morning. So I cleaned up quickly and off to the store. I barely had any snacks to serve. I went to the store that had the little carts but the kids chose to go in the car carts. This made for much faster shopping. They stayed in the cart until the very end. Play group was really nice as it was a small amount of kids. My kids actually made more of a mess with all the toys after everyone left. It was nice to see other moms. After the kids helped me clean up a bit. Luckily the cleaners come tomorrow. Then my kids and I had lunch and then played for a while together. I think Nicole and Justin pretty much took everything out of the futon room and it all landed on the couch in the family room. Thats what I get for trying to prepare dinner. Well the kiddos didn’t nap-ugh. So they watched Barney and Elmo’s World and ate Cheerios and Cottage Cheese. We played at home for a bit. The kiddos built big towers, and we read books. The kiddos still need a few more clothes to get them through summer, so we ran over to Carters. The kids had fun playing in the store while I shopped. They played with the lego table and jumped on the hop scotch thing on the floor. After we went by Lowe’s and the kids played, jumped off the benches onto the grass. The kids had fun. We came home and decided to wash mommy car. What was I thinking with 2 kiddos? It went well for a while, Justin was hose man and Nicole helped clean with her pink cloth. It went great until it was time to dry. Justin still wanted to spray the car and Nicole wanted to keep wiping with a wet cloth. I finally convinced them to help me dry. It was fun washing the car with them. I even got to vacuum the inside out. What a mess. Justin continued to play with the hose while Nicole was inside the car as I vacuumed. Then they played in the car for a bit. It was a little tough to convince them to get out of the car and come in the house. I drove the car in from the driveway into the garage and the kids loved the tiny ride not in their car seats (I may regret this later when I try to get them strapped down). We had a yummy dinner, then we played outside in the yard with the kiddos. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Nicole rode in the Bob stroller, Justin walked and played a bit but then got into the stroller. It was a nice family walk. We came home and the kiddos started to melt down a bit. So we went upstairs and got ready for bed. Justin decided to do what he called laundry. His version of laundry is taking everything out of their sock/underwear drawer and throwing it everywhere. Luckily he is a good sport about cleaning it up. It is pretty silly. We read books, Nicole’s favorite book is Turtle Throws A Tantrum, where Justin is happy to read anything. Justin went right to bed tonight. Nicole was crying and when I went up there, she told me bears were coming. So we walked down the hall and showed her there were no bears and off to dreamland she went.