Melissa’s Blog

This morning we decided to head to Laguna Beach. We parked where we had to take a trolley/shuttle. The kiddos played in the rocks in the parking lot and were so excited to take the shuttle. We went to Main Beach. The kids had a great time. Justin wanted to go to the water right away. Nicole wanted to play in the dry sand. Justin had a big smile on his face every time he got wet. Nicole kept falling down in the dry sand purposely, silly girl. Nicole and I played in the sand for a while and Justin and daddy were in the cold ocean. I dug a hole and Nicole wanted to stand in it. We built sand castles. Grandma/pa met us at the beach. Nicole then decided to go in the water. She would run in and run out when the wave came, screaming all the way out. We had a picnic lunch from BJ’s on the beach which was nice. Then we took the kiddos over to the play area. On our way over though they had to jump into the sand again and again. We finally made it over to the play area and the kiddos were having a blast. But then I needed to change Justin’s diaper so we had to go back. By then though it was time to pack up and find the shuttle. On the way home Justin was asleep pretty quickly but he was so funny hanging onto his water cup. He drinks in his sleep! The kiddos slept in the car for a short while then they came in and watched Barney. Daddy needed a nap too. We went and gave the kiddos a bath, so we didn’t have to worry about it tonight. I also wanted to make sure there was no more sand and take off the layer of sun screen. After bath we ran to Great Indoors to look at a light. The kids had fun playing in the store, looking and touching everything. Then we went and met grandma/pa for a Chinese dinner. The kids did great at the restaurant. They ate well and sat the entire time. After dinner we had family fun time outside in the grassy area by the restaurant. It was great. The kids had a blast running around, chasing us, playing peek a boo, going on our shoulders, being swung, playing ring around the rosie. Just good old fashioned fun with no toys. We were all smiling watching the kiddos. We came home and the kiddos were still a little hyper. It is almost 9:30 and they are still talking away in their cribs. I am going to get ready for bed, I was up early this morning and the beach made me tired.

This morning we were out early to go to the swap meet. No time for breakfast either, so we stopped and got bagels on the way. We hadn’t had bagels in a long time with the kiddos, so the kiddos were thrilled. We picked up Grammy on our way. I am thinking about decorating the kids play room, so I wanted to go and look for a border. The border store wasn’t there today though. Anyway we had a great time walking around the swap meet. Nicole had to touch everything and got a little screamy when we had to move onto something else. Justin just went with the flow. Justin found a little toy he liked, so we got it for him. It is this little basketball thing. I got some more books for the kiddos too. The kiddos got to go in the bounce house. The only problem was the bounce house was in the sun, so even that was hot. The kiddos had a blast but were so sweaty and hot. We got them some lemonade to cool off. When I told Nicole she was going to get lemonade, she said “that will cool me off”. After we stopped at Grammy’s for a while. Bret needed to help her with a few things. I played with the kiddos in the play room. I read a ton of books to them and we played with the ball toys, the caterpillar, etc. Before we knew it it was lunch time so we stayed for lunch. We all ate outside which was nice. It took Bret a while more to finish up so we figured we would leave at nap time. Justin fell asleep on the way home, we drove a little more to get Nicole to sleep. They are much happier with a nap, even if it is for 15 minutes. Bret wanted to check out Irvine Lake, so we drove out there while the kiddos sleep (just a few miles up the toll road). I am glad we didn’t make an outing of it as we found out it is $20 a person, plus $9.00 a child just to get in. We came home and just wanted to play at home for a while. The kiddos played a bit on their own which was nice. Then we all played, we went outside. We made a stepping stone with the kid’s hand prints. I think it came out really nice. It was a little tricky to make. The kids loved putting their hands in the cement, Nicole wanted to do it again. The kids were happy playing in the backyard, of course Justin loved playing with the hose. Nicole was making dog and cat food in the sandbox. I cleaned up the sand a bit. What a mess in our backyard. We ate dinner and then decided to head to Castle Park. The kids rode their tricycles there, it was so cute watching them ride. Then we rode around the park. Stopping a zillion times to put pine cones in the back of their bikes. Justin was so cute-he got two pine cones and automatically gave one to Nicole. Then she started giving some to Justin too. I just love when they share. They had a great time riding their bikes. Justin almost didn’t want to stop and play at the park. When he saw Nicole playing at the park he stopped. Justin went on the swings first on his belly. Nicole went on the play structure. Then they both were on the play structure, climbing, hanging, sliding, and jumping. It was a great family night. The weather was perfect and the kids were great. We came home and all the pine cones are now in the house-ugh. When we got home, it was time to get the kiddos upstairs and ready for bed. The only bad part of the little nap is it is 9:15 and the kiddos are still awake.

It feels like Sat, it is nice to have daddy home and extra day. We got the kids ready to go for the Woodbridge parade. I wish I knew little ones could have participated-I would have definitely decorated their trikes or cars and let them be in it. Anyway it was a cute family parade. The kids seemed to like it. Of course they liked when people threw candy our way. After the parade, we ran to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner at a friends tonight. The kiddos were getting a little cranky but I think they were just hungry. They seemed to be happy when we gave them lots of grapes and ate an early lunch. After lunch the kiddos played outside in the back yard. They had fun playing and fighting over the hose. Nicole was stepping in the mud. We finally came in and decided to give the kiddos a bath. They were pretty silly after bath. We tried to get them down for a nap. I gave up at 2:15. Oh well no nap, hopefully they won’t be too cranky tonight. We may have to miss the fireworks since they didn’t nap. In their beds, they were cracking each other up, I was even laughing even though I wanted them to nap. They were jumping and crazy. Whenever Justin jumped Nicole laughed so hard. After non nap, the kiddos watched Barney and Diego. Then we went to Vena’s for a 4th of July bbq. It was really nice, Candice and Victoria were there too. The kids had a blast. Vena has a blow up pool with a slide. Nicole and Justin loved it, Nicole especially. The kids all played so nicely. We brought our fish sprinkler too and Justin really liked that. Justin was having fun making baskets. I think they like the mini basketballs-we may have to get one for the kiddos so they play with our basketball. Nicole loved Cole and Grant’s kitchen with the bbq. Nicole was loving the bbq and flipping burgers. Justin loved playing with the flashlight. We had a great dinner. Of course Nicole wanted to sit in one of Grant and Cole’s booster seats. Justin was happy sitting at the picnic table with the other kids. It was a great evening with our friends. Surprisingly Nicole only had one melt down, not bad for no nap. Of course we got the kiddos down later than we thought, so we should have just went to fireworks. Oh well next year. We are too tired.

I was way too tired to blog last night, so finishing this morning. I went to bed at 9:00 with the kiddos. It is 6:00AM and the house is so nice and quiet.

This morning we met some friends (Vena, Candice, and Victoria) at Partopolis. It is a bounce house place. It was great for the first hour we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Nicole and Justin went right for the slides. They both jump before going down and actually jump so high you see air. Scary but they thought it was so silly. They had fun in the bounce houses. I had a great time jumping with them too. We jumped for a while until it was getting crowded. Then the kiddos went over to the toddler area. They played on rocking dogs, climbed on the little play structure, played in the play house, etc. Then they found the air hockey table. That occupied them for a while. After we went up to Foothill Ranch and had lunch with our friends, 3 sets of twins! We went to Peppino’s and was so impressed at how well al the kids did. I am in the kid’s room right now trying to get them to nap since we are having friends over tonight. Oh my god, they are addinf gray hair to my head. I changed Justin’s diaper, and they are both screaming “I made a stinky”. This is never going to work. They are singing the Barney song together. Just go to sleep, if it was me I would be sound asleep by now. Oh I think it may be working after 20 minutes, one down one more to go. They both finally went to sleep-ah. They slept for about an hour. I will take anything. I got ready for our friends to come over while the kids napped. After nap we had snack and read some of our new library books. Nicole was a little cranky though after nap which was weird. She snapped out of it after about an hour or so though. Anyway Jacole, Andy, and Nathaniel came over for play and dinner. It was nice. The kids played so well. We played inside for a while then when Bret lit the bbq we all went outside. It was a nice mellow night hanging out with friends. Nicole and Justin rode the king chair carousal again, they love it! Outside, the kiddos played in the sand box and painted with water. Like I said I was so tired last night, I just laid on the kid’s floor when they went to sleep. Nicole was so cute wanting to kiss and hug me while I was on the floor. I think I fell asleep before both of them.

Oh and I was only able to get one picture at Partyopolis as my camera battery died, so I will update when my friends send some pics.

This morning we just played at home for a while. The kiddos were busy playing with their pirate ship. For some reason they had to carry it around all over the downstairs. There was a little fighting but for the most they worked together carrying it around. It was silly. Then they had to go to work like daddy. They said goodbye to me, gave me a hug and kiss and off on their scooters they went. Then their scooters became planes. Then the king chair became a carousal (pic below). What imaginations! We went to pool day with the mom’s club today. Justin and Nicole had a great time. They went right into the baby pool and loved it. Nicole brought her floatie. They were all smiles in the water getting all wet. They had fun filling up buckets and pouring them out. They love getting me all wet. After we took showers in the outdoor showers and the kids loved that as well. Makes it easier as no bath tonight. They are silly kids. We came home and had lunch and then read a ton of books. I thought I could mellow them out enough to take a nap but no! So we watched a little TV. Uncle Alan stopped by on the way home from work since he had the baby with him. Nicole was happy to see the baby and immediately wanted us to change the babies diaper. Nicole and Justin were watching TV so they were going back and forth watching the baby and watching TV. I got to feed Tierney and play with her. She was happy lying on the changing table watching the mobile. Uncle Alan and baby didn’t not stay very long. After they left, the kiddos and I just played a bit. I was wondering if I would have two cranky kids this afternoon. Basically if you did everything they wanted you were all set. I needed to run to Target for a few things, so we got out of the house before crankiness set in. They just rode in the double cart thing, man I hate pushing that big thing. But they were happy. After Target we ran to the library. We walked in and a story time and craft was just starting. None of the kids weren’t really into the story time-they were all excited for the craft. The kids made sparkly masks. Nicole and Justin love squeezing glue. We had more glue then anything else. But then they covered their masks with glitter. Glitter everywhere. Then they crumpled up tissue paper and glued it onto the paper as well. Nicole liked crumpling, Justin wanted more glue. We went up and checked out some books. The kids were getting into everything, all the books, the computers, etc. By the library is a great grass area, so we played there for a while. The kids decided the gazebo area with a bench in it was a bus. So we pretended to drive it. The kids ran around and found a few bunnies as well. It was pretty nice. We called dad and had him meet us there too. Then we went across to the Marketplace for dinner. We ate outside and the kiddos wanted to feed the birdies. Justin was playing with ice and he was such a sweet kid and shared with Nicole. We came home and headed upstairs to try to get the kiddos down for an earlier bed time. 8:30 and it is quiet in the house. They were exhausted.

This morning our play group went to the Woodbury Pools. Our friend, Victoria got us all in. We had a blast. Nicole and Justin started out in the baby pool. Nicole found a floatie she just loved. Justin then moved over to the fountains. He got all wet! He is all smiles when the fountains get him wet. Grandpa stopped by to say hi and Nicole did her best to get him wet 🙂 Nicole ventured over to the big pool and Justin and I followed. In the water I went. Justin loved having the water come up to his neck while standing and he would say he was floating. Nicole got a little scared when the water was that high on her. They both liked playing on the stairs of the pool and I would have them jump in and catch them. All the kids were all smiles and everyone had a great time. At the end, I decided to give them showers. They loved it. They both got their own showers and did a great job washing their hair. They didn’t mind the water in their face at all, in fact I think they took a 20 minute shower. I just let them play since they were having a great time. Then the kiddos were starving though. There were so many snacks that they ate so I knew they may not eat too much lunch when we got home. I am so tired from the sun and the pool but of course Nicole and Justin don’t seem like they are going to nap. So no nap today. We watched some TV then I needed to go grocery shopping. So we went to the store so the kiddos can push carts. They are great little helpers. After we met Jen (Ryan and Matthew) at Blue Gum Park for some play. The kiddos were a little tired but had a great time. We played in the sand for a while. I buried the kiddos feet and we made sand cakes. The kiddos went on the swings and played in the club house. We came home and made dinner. We christened the new bbq and made yummy steaks tonight. The kiddos played outside while we cooked. After dinner, we played pile up on daddy for a bit in the king chair then we headed outside for a bit. Bret and I pulled out some plants in the backyard. Nicole and Justin got their gardening gloves and helped too. They love putting the garden waste in my bucket for me. Then Nicole and Justin played in the sand for a bit, hiding the little turtle under the sand. They did bubbles as well and painted with water. It was a nice night at home. We came in and went upstairs. The kiddos seemed pretty tired. So we got them into their pj’s, brushed teeth, and read a few books. Lights out and we told them Sally and Billy stories and off to bed. They went to sleep fairly easily tonight. That is the only nice part of no napping.

We tried to clean up a little this morning, the house is a mess. Sand/toys everywhere! We had to run some errands so we went to Target before story time. The kids were pretty happy sitting in the cart. Found some kick boards for the kids for the pool. And the kiddos got gardening gloves just like mom’s. Then we went over to story time at Hush Baby. The kiddos love the bunny. Nicole was participating really well, clapping, calling out animals for the Old McDonald song. Justin was happy sitting there and taking it all in. When story lady passed out little animals for the kids both kids participated by bopping on the head (just like the bunny). Justin got a yellow dog painted on his hand and Nicole wanted a purple kitty. After story time I took the kiddos out to lunch. I braved In N Out Burger by myself at a busy time-ugh. The kiddos were great for me, staying with me. Both kids ate a lot! We took out milk to go and just sat on a bench watching all the people and cars go by. It was so nice just taking the time with the kids. We went into Michael’s Craft Store for a bit but then it was time to come home. We got home and the kiddos got to watch Barney and Elmo’s World. It was pretty warm today so we met some friends down in Rancho Santa Margarita for fun in the fountains. At first I didn’t think Nicole was going to like the fountains but before I knew it both kids were wet and having a great time. Luckily one of our friends brought toys so the kiddos were all happy. Justin and Nicole found squirt guns that they liked. All of a sudden Nicole came over and told me she wanted a squirty thing like Justin. I told her I am sorry but girls don’t have those but then I went oh you were talking about the squirt gun. They did so well listening to me when I asked them not to squirt people. There were statues there that Justin and Nicole liked. They were of little kids. Nicole held hands and sang the Barney song, I love you, you love me. Nicole and Justin both gave the statues hugs and kisses, so silly. They were both sitting with their backs to the fountain getting all wet. Even though the fountains are a little far away we will definitely have to go back. We had to leave as it was dinner time. We met daddy at Peppino’s for dinner. The kids were crazy on the drive there, they were cracking up over the ABC Word Whammer toy. It was so funny. We got to dinner and they were still crazy. We sat outside and no one else was outside. We ordered spaghetti for the kids and just took off their shirts, so they didn’t get stained. Our waitress told us people were asking if we were in the VIP area (topless eaters). Anyway the kids sat and ate for 5 minutes then were busy running around. But it was fine since we were the only ones outside. Luckily I was able to get a few more bites of spaghetti in them. We went over to the fountain after and let the kids run around on the grass and get some energy out. They are rolling on the grass now, down the hill and running up and down the hill. We got some gelato this evening, yum! We still had crazy kids when we got home but crazy fun! We finally got them to bed. Time for us to go to bed too.

We were up and out the door to Grammy’s for breakfast. Sharon and her daughter were there as well. The kiddos were a little shy at first but before you knew it they were talking up a storm. We had breakfast and the kiddos played with all the toys. They also played upstairs. They liked the office chairs, rolling them around the floor, and spinning them. Nicole found a dolly she loved and Justin found a stuffed animal (Wingnut) he loved. Grammy also gave them a little toy computer which they loved and fought over. The kiddos fell asleep on the way home and got a power nap. The kiddos watched Barney and Elmo’s World. Then we were outside playing for a while. We went to the front yard and made a little mud pit in our planter. Justin loved playing with the hose, of course, and happily helped make the mud pit. Nicole and daddy went in. Nicole loved putting her feet in. But not for long, she had to have Justin wash them off as soon as possible with the hose. Nicole would go in then get out then go in, etc. We decided to do water in the backyard. We got the water table out then the pool. The kiddos had fun playing in the water. Bret made the kiddos a little sno cone with raspberry syrup. We think we are going to go ahead and re-do the back yard, so we started pulling out plants, lot of work, but kind of fun. Then we came in and played. We were in every room of the house playing. The kiddos started to get a bit cranky though. So we thought it was best to eat dinner. While we were making dinner, we got markers out and the kids were happy coloring. After dinner we got the paints out. The kids loved it! Paint everywhere. We actually had to give the kids a bath tonight due to so much paint all over them. Kiddos are sound asleep and time for me to go to bed.

We love weekends. We didn’t do anything too exciting today. The kiddos were so happy daddy was staying home. The kids were in the backyard bright and early this morning. They were running around playing all happy. They like making birthday cakes out of sand. We had breakfast, the kiddos love rice krispies. One of the people quoting our backyard were back out this morning so we just stayed home and played. We went to take the kids cars in to get fixed. All fixed and they are so excited to drive again. On the way home we stopped at Kohls center and and had lunch. We played in Kohls for a while then went to see the fountain. When we got home we played some more. I brought the swimming pool in and filled it with balls. They stood in the pool and I had them close their eyes then I dumped all the balls in. They loved it and cleaned up all the balls so I could do it again. They played in the balls for a while. Then we had to move it to the futon room so the kiddos could jump into the balls from the futon. So fun and cute. Bret had to run to the Mac store at the Spectrum, so we decided to go and if the kids fell asleep no big deal. Well they figured out we were going to the Spectrum, so they stayed awake. We rode the carousal while daddy took his ipod to the store. Of course Nicole had to ride a bunny and Justin an ostrich. They love the carousal! Then we walked around a bit and went into the Mac store, so the kiddos could play with the computers. They fell asleep on the way home, power nap which is a good thing. We didn’t let them sleep too long though. I stopped in Target real fast while the kiddos slept in the car with Bret. We came home and the kiddos got to watch Barney. After Barney the kiddos went and drove their cars. Justin was wild trying to drive over everything, lawns, curbs, etc. He kept on getting stuck. Nicole drove a little bit but then wanted to play. Bret and I tried to get some stuff done outside; Bret had to break down the bbq box/pallet, I did a little gardening. Bret fixed a sprinkler, and moved a bush for me. All this why watching two kids…not an easy task. The kiddos brought their bikes and strollers out to play with. They also wanted to play in the dirt with us. They grabbed their shovels then it was time to play with the hose. Justin was crazy with the hose. We kept on telling him to water the grass only but he liked making mud… Then he wouldn’t share with Nikki, so no more hose for Justin. Before we knew it, it was dinner time so we got a pizza to go. We ate it in the back yard which was nice. The kiddos were so distracted with the outside that they would take a bite then play. Oh well at least they ate. We played outside a while more. It was bath night and the kids were so dirty. After bath we played hard, running around. I went down the hall and they ran to me like crazy people. It was funny. We played tug of war gently with their sheets and they were cracking up. They were giggling all night which was fun. It is 9:00 though and they are still awake and I am tired. Time to go back up there.

Time flew by at home this morning. Before I knew it we need to leave for Fashion Island and I wasn’t ready. We met lots of moms from the mom’s club there. Of course we had to play on the fountain by the carousal while we were waiting for mom’s to show up. Then we rode the carousal. Justin was sad there wasn’t an ostrich to ride but he got over it pretty quickly and happily went on a green horse. Nicole was happy to find a bunny to ride on. They just love the carousal. We went into a store called Babystyle and the kiddos played for a bit. It was hard getting Justin and Nicole out of that store. We were hoping to go in the fountains but it was a little cool. So we played by the fish for a while. The kiddos had a blast. Of course we were so worried someone’s kids was going in. They liked the fish and liked playing all around them too. We went to go on the train but the train isn’t there anymore. So we headed over to the pet store. Of course on the way there we had to stop at the fountains and look at them. This fountain went really high and the kids kept on telling me how high the water was. Then we headed to the pet store. The kiddos went crazy for all the animals. They picked out bunnies they wanted. They both liked the white one. They loved when the dogs climbed up their cages. They couldn’t believe all the dogs, they were just all smiles. After Fashion Island we headed to Grammy’s for lunch. On the way over I asked the kiddos what they were going to do at Grammy’s and Nicole said play with baby and Justin said play with tractor. So thats what they did. They also made a mess with the CD’s and poured blocks everywhere. They had fun. Everytime they hear a plane they say on no plane and run over to Grammy or me. Silly kids! The kids fell asleep on the way home for a bit. There was a ton of traffic, so I decided to get off the freeway and head to Coscto. Then I could take side streets home. So woke kiddos up and went to Costco. They were so happy to be at Costco that it didn’t matter I woke them up. So they ate their way through Costco. Had a blast, plus they love to go in the refigerator section where it is really cold. The samples make it bearable for me to shop there with the kids. We came home, I dropped blue berries everywhere in the garage, the phone was ringing…..Finally got organized again then Bret came home and was able to help bring all the stuff in the house. The kiddos played outside. Sand everywhere. I am surprised it is not in my bed. They had fun outside. We ate dinner and then went out again. I am tired. Below are 2 pics a friend took for me from our last messy, muddy, hands, and toes class.