Melissa’s Blog

We made pancakes with the kiddos this morning. They love cooking. We headed out early this morning to Castle (Northwood) Park. We had a great time with the kiddos. The kids ran in the castle and played ring around the rosie. We played in the sand for a bit then it was time for the swings. The kids loved it when we pushed them and ran under their swings. The kiddos went on the play structures, down the slides, etc. The city bus drivers take breaks over by the park, so I heard a bus. We walked over and asked if we could go in the bus. The kids were so excited. They sat on the bus but of course they wanted a ride too. They went in the back of the bus then out the back door. It was cute. But then we saw a tractor. So we went over to the tractor. Dad put the kids on it so they could drive it. They loved it-I wish I had the camera with me. It was time to pack up all the sand toys and come home. We made brownies together for a bbq we are going to this afternoon. The kids love cooking, stirring, putting the ingredients in, etc. Grammy came over to have lunch with us and have Bret help her with her car. She brought the kiddos a lot of clothes and of course Nicole had try on as many things as she could. She loved the purple Hello Kitty bathing suit. Justin wanted to try on some of his clothes too. We had fun playing in the house. The kids are into putting the beads on the floor and making squares and circles with them then jumping in them. It was cute and they both wanted green beads. Well we finally got the kiddos down for a nap today. They did really well staying in their big crib beds. Maybe we finally tired them out. After nap we headed to Vena and Michael’s for a Memorial day bbq. It was really fun. Victoria and Todd were there too. The kiddos all played really well together. We brought over our doll strollers since Vena had two lawn mowers, so all the kids could push things…there was a little fighting over the doll strollers. Luckily Michael had a solution and kept on bringing out other toys such as umbrella strollers, etc. Nicole and Justin liked eating outside on the little picnic table. All the kids were eating each other’s food and drinking out of each other’s sippy cups. Nicole and Justin really liked Vena’s dogs as did I. The kids played inside and out. They were into all the new toys and just had a great time. We actually got to talk to adults too. It was nice and relaxing. After we got home, the kiddos were ready for a bath, since it was a little late we put them in the shower. They had a little fun with the sprayer in the shower. They did really great but they like baths better they told me. Well since they did nap, the consequences were a little later bed time. It is 9:30 and the kiddos are both up reading in their big kid beds.

I need sunshine! Justin woke up before Nicole, so him and I snuck downstairs and got some alone time. It was really nice. We unloaded the dishwasher, read books, did some drawing, ball playing, etc. This morning we had a nice Sunday morning breakfast together. Usually the kids eat at their table and we just walk around and eat but we all ate together, it was nice. We had a nice morning at home too. We played inside for a while. We read the newspaper together. The kid’s really like drawing on these dry erase books we have. We decided to plant some plants together. The kids did a great job adding dirt to Bret’s and my plant. We also re-planted the kid’s green beans. It was fun to garden with the kiddos. Then our friend came over with their baby. Nicole loved the baby and it was fun! Gave them some of our old toys too. After the kids didn’t take a nap-ugh and they seemed to need one too. Well they have discovered that getting out of their beds can be fun. We heard them running down the hall laughing hysterically. It was pretty funny but they went right back in their bed when we asked them too. Nicole went potty on her own too. They were laughing at each other saying banana (I guess that is a toddler joke) and cracking up, so no nap. After no nap we went over to a friends, Maggie and Harvey’s bbq. We had a great time and the kids had fun with the bounce house and all the toys. Nicole was pretty tantrumy this afternoon, so it made for a long afternoon. We decided to take a walk after the bbq. We went to bunny path and got to see one bunny. Nicole wanted to give him a kiss. Luckily getting out the kiddos were pretty happy. They were running, walking, giggling, picking flowers, finding sticks, etc. We came home and played for a little while downstairs. Then it was time to go up, brush our teeth, read books. Justin pretended to give me a haircut, he loved when he put my hair in my face and I hid and Nicole gave daddy a haircut. We put the kiddos down to sleep a little early, Justin was out within 5 minutes. Nicole needed a little rocking but then I had to rock her baby too.

The kids did great last night, stayed in their beds all night-even slept in a bit this morning. We weren’t sure if it was going to rain or not but we decided to chance it and go to the park. We went over to Settler’s park. There was a group there flying planes and helicopters, so the kids got to see that. We brought the kid’s golf clubs, a  bat, and some balls. The kids hit the balls with the golf clubs for a while. Dad tried to teach them baseball. They were throwing the balls, running and laughing. Justin went over to the volleyball net and threw the ball into the net. We had a great time. Then the kiddos rode their tricycles on the little path. Nicole went pretty fast down the hill. We played on the play equipment for a while. This park has lots of stuff to climb on; we all had fun! We came home and made some cheesecake brownies for a bbq we are going to tomorrow. The kids love to cook. They both helped to pour the brownie mix in, eggs, oil, etc. They were great little helpers. They mixed the batter so well. It was fun cooking with the kiddos. They even got to eat some of the cheesecake batter with their fingers. We played in the backyard and had some lunch. Justin took a nap today but Nicole decided not too. I did catch them out of their beds once at nap time. All of a sudden I heard Nicole reading a book I didn’t put in her crib and they were out. I just had to tell them to get back in once. Since Justin was sleeping and Nicole wasn’t I took Nicole out. We came downstairs and we had so much fun playing together. We colored for a while then had a snack together. We put chedder bunnies in a play bowl and poured them out and counted them then fed each other. Then we drank water too. We both had sippy cups and we clanked our cups and said cheers. We played with the play kitchen and cooked lots of stuff. It was really nice having some one on one time with her. After Justin woke up, dad took the kiddos to Home Depot. Daddy did really well except he forgot to put shoes on the kids (they liked it better that way, just silly). We played a little before dinner then went to Red Robin for dinner. The kids did great at dinner. They both got balloons and Justin’s popped on the way home. He was so sad, trying not to cry but then he couldn’t help him self, It was so sad, luckily we blew up another one when we got home. The kids got to eat one of the brownies they baked too. Wow what well behaved kids when brownies are involved. They gave me their plates to clean up, said thank you. It was bath night then read lots of books and off to bed. They are both sleeping right now-nice.

Second day of rain-ugh. Well we were looking for a rainy day activity, so off to Jump N Shout. The kiddos love this bounce house place. They were crazy there, running everywhere, jumping, sliding, etc. They loved it when I was in the bounce house or on the slide with them. It was fun going in with them, hearing them laugh. They bounced for a while, then they were going down the slides. We had to go down slides backwards, upside down, etc. They loved when we all held hands going down the slides. We had a great time, we will see if it tired them out enough to nap. Below are some pics from the bounce house place, I realized I haven’t posted many pictures lately. No nap today. We went over to Vena’s (Cole and Grant) and hung out with them most of the afternoon. We had a great time. The kids were loving all the new toys. Seeing Vena’s dogs were a big hit and the kiddos got to feed them treats. It is so cute watching all the kids play together. Nicole and Justin learn lots of things from Grant and Cole. They learned to give knuckles (instead of high 5) and now my kid’s fake laugh. The kids ate snack together, liked eating pineapple and canteloupe with toothpicks. Took a cute pic of Nicole, Justin, Cole, and Grant on the stairs (see below). After we all went to Sirena Grill over at Orchard Hills. Dad met us over there as well as Victoria, Todd, and Penny. It was fun. The kids had so much fun playing outside by the fountain and running around even though it was cold. We got home and it was time to convert the kid’s cribs. We are nuts! Anyway the kids wanted to help convert their cribs (pic of Justin below). They were so excited. They kept on getting in the bed while daddy was still working on it. We finally finished and then Nicole wanted her crib back-ugh. I think she is just really tired, lot going on today. She settled down pretty quickly. Justin liked getting in and out by himself. Nicole liked putting baby to sleep in the bed. I read lots of books to Justin-Nicole was too busy running around. Anyway once in beds tonight, they both stayed. And it is 9:15, Justin is sound asleep and I just heard a big yawn from Nicole, so soon she will be sleeping. Good thing it went pretty well as I am very tired.

We played this morning at home for a while. We played with a lot of the toys. The kiddos even went upstairs to play, we were all over the house. Got Nicole dressed and she decided she wanted to change her outfit. Luckily we found one to her liking, silly girl. She chose an Elmo shirt and Justin is happy wearing his Snoopy shirt. I keep calling him Snoopy and he says no I am Justin! The kiddos played in their tunnel this morning. Nicole kept saying it is warm in there. We had a fun little morning at home. Then we headed to the grocery store. The kids pushed the little carts. It all went well for a while then I could tell the kiddos were getting bored. They were finding trouble to get into wanting to smash all the bread. We found an aisle with sun glasses so the kiddos were happy playing with the glasses for a bit. They are great little helpers taking everything out of the basket. And if you try to help them, you get a very loud I’ll do it 🙂 Anyway we came out of the store to pouring rain. The kids liked it a little bit. If it was warmer we would have played in it. They liked the loud rain on the windshield. We came home and had lunch. Nicole sat her baby at the table with us. Too bad she insisted in putting baby in Justin’s chair. We went upstairs for nap pretty early and just read a ton of books. The kiddos took a nap, a short one but none the less a nap. After nap we played upstairs for a while then decided to give the kiddos a bath. This way they can take a really long bath and play instead of at night when we feel rushed. They had so much fun in the bath, so cute. They love coloring on the tub and pouring water in cups, etc. After bath it was snack time. It was too wet to go to the park, so the big excitement is we did stamps. The kids love it. They were screaming out what each animal was as they stamped and the sound it makes. I was just laughing. When daddy got home they went up to him screaming roar (guess they just stamped a lion), so funny. After dinner we played. Nicole dressed up as a princess and Justin was all into the balls. Throwing balls at daddy is fun. It felt like a long day maybe because of the dreary weather. We read a million books tonight then it was off to bed. This may be the last night the kiddos are in their cribs, very scary.

We hadn’t been to the zoo for a while, so today was a great day to go! Off to the Santa Ana Zoo we went. We had a great time. I wanted to make sure the kids got to go on the train, so we hung out at the front of the zoo. First we went on the jeep, the kids took turns pretending to drive it. Nicole’s imagination is becoming do creative. In the jeep she pretended to put on her seat belt. We then went over to the farm area, we saw the geese, roosters, chickens, turkeys, etc. The kids loved watching the animals. Then we fed the goats. Justin was so excited to feed the goats; he was so cute. He was all smiles while feeding the goats. Nicole didn’t want to feed the goats. We then went over to the cows and horses. After we got in line for the train. The kids were so excited to go on the train. They were watching the over head train. They were all smiles on the train. After we ran into Neyha. Justin and Nicole were excited to see Baby Isha and Krish. Anyway we had such a good day at the zoo. We came home and had lunch. After lunch we played a bit then the kiddos took a nap. After nap we headed to My Gym for a little bit of open gym then our class. The kids were so excited to be there. The first thing they did was jump on the trampoline. Justin enjoyed making baskets. They jumped in and out of the ball pit. They just love the gym. Then class started. Nicole likes to declare circle time. We did some songs and play time. The kiddos noticed the train tracks and were so excited that they were going to bring out the train. The minute they said train Nicole and Justin ran over there. They were smiling and giving high fives while on the train. I think they rode it about 3 times each. It was also bubble day. Bubbles everywhere. The kids were going crazy. It was a fun gym class today. After class we headed over to Grammy’s. She just got back from New Zealand. The kids were excited to see her, it was like she never left. They had fun talking to Grammy and playing at her house. The kids got some new clothes and of course Nicole had to put them on right away. Every time a plane went over Grammy’s house the kids said plane and came running over to us, silly munch kins.

We met Vena, Candice, and Stacie for swimming this morning. Of course the weather wasn’t as nice as it has been. The kiddos had a great time. They loved the baby pool and all the toys Candice brought. It was so cute watching all the kids. Justin and Nicole even wandered over to the big pool and stayed on the stairs. Justin and Nicole loved walking in the pool and getting in and out themselves. They were busy splashing and reaching down for all the toys. Whoever knew the shower at the end would be the best part. I think it is time to give J & N a shower, they just loved it! All the kids had a pizza snack afterwards and we went over to the park after. The kids had so much fun, climbing and sliding. There was this huge slide and Justin went down. I went to catch him and my mouth hit his head, luckily it hurt me way more than him. We came home and ate lunch. Then it was off to pre school. This was the last pre school class until August. The kids had a blast! They painted, and played in corn starch and water (with food coloring). There was shaving cream, but I think my kiddos just liked it as they got to wash their hands after. Messy stuff to do everywhere. The kids did their hand prints in paint and drew with markers. All the kids helped make pudding too. Justin and Nicole poured the mix in, helped pour the milk, and mixed. Then they got to eat it! Then it was time for story time and songs. The kids did well sitting by themselves for snack but then Nikki came looking for me, so sweet. She wanted mommy to eat with her. Nicole finally sat on the potties there but didn’t go. Sitting on it was a big step though. So you would think after all this activity the kids would nap, but not mine. So they are watching Barney right now. We pulled out all the toys and played inside for a while. Then we headed out to the front yard. Within a half hour they rode tricycles, pushed baby stroller, and took a quick stroller ride in the Bob stroller. They had fun riding their trikes over the water and pushing their strollers over the water. When dad got home from work, we headed to the MV mall. A toy store in the mall had Thomas the train night. First we ate in the food court then of course played on the lights. The toy store wasn’t all that exciting. Just a bunch of track laid out on the floor. I thought Justin would be all over it but him and Nicole were just as happy playing with the train table. They rode on a couple of cars and a motorcycle thing. We then headed to Pottery Barn Kids. Nicole fell in love with a dolly there. The kids pushed strollers and played with the kitchen. Then of course it was time to go to the play area. They were wild. I was afraid they were going to get hurt-they were that wild. They were running, jumping, etc. Nicole wanted to do a summer sault down the slide. It was fun to watch them. We headed home. Of course with no nap we didn’t get them to bed any earlier and I am exhausted.

We hung out at home this morning for a while. We played in every room of the house. The kids were into their babies, the baby driving toy, putting tracks together, etc. It was very mellow and minimal fighting-it was really nice. We played outside for a while too. The kiddos kept putting their feet in their pool, plus their lawnmower, and broom. They were busy playing with the rescue pack and taking turns. I was tired of the turn taking so I let Justin play with the hose for a while. He was loving playing with the hose. Then we headed to Target. We needed lots of stuff. The kiddos were great and I let them play in the toy section for a while. We looked at clothes for the kiddos too. The kiddos loved picking out clothes. Nicole would go up to an item of clothing and would say oh I love this. I think we were at Target for about an hour and a half. After we came home and had lunch. The kiddos put their blankets on the kitchen floor and would stand on them and say slippery. Then they laid down on the floor and put their blankets on them and say goodnight. We went upstairs and read books for a while. Finally the kiddos took a nap. After nap I decided to give the kiddos a bath. We got bath out of the way so we could play outside after dinner since the weather was so nice. Dad came home to two very happy naked kids (bath just finished). We ate dinner outside and the kids loved it. After dinner, we went and played in the front. The kids drove their cars for a while. Justin wanted to drive over big leaves. They just go around in circles. Nicole was really into giving me her credit card and wanting to put gas in her car. I decided to do a little gardening while we were up front. Nicole was such a big help. She put all the weeds in the bucket for me. She was so happy to be helping me. I just loved it! Hopefully we will be gardening together for years to come. We came in and the kids got their Mickey/Minnie cups and pretended to drink coffee. We read some books and off to bed. I still hear Nicole upstairs but hopefully she will go to sleep soon.

We decided to beat the heat and go to the Spectrum early. We went over to the fountains by the food court. Both kids had a great time. Even Nicole was willing to go in and got wet. She would put her back to the turtle and lift up her shirt and get all wet. Justin was stepping on the fountains and smiling the entire time. They liked it when daddy picked them up and put them in the water. I think dad had as much fun as the kids. Dad was getting his hat all wet and Justin decided to copy him. Justin had a blast filling up his Diego hat with water. After we had a snack there and watched the kids playing. We went over to the Mac store and played video games (Dora). They had fun clicking the mouse and pressing all the keyboard buttons. Then the kiddos rode the train with daddy. We had lunch and got a few things from Target and came home. The kids took a little nap today. After nap we ran to Toys “R” Us as I saw a Diego rescue pack that was on sale and I knew Justin would love it. It is a backpack that holds water and you pump the water out. We got Nicole a Dora dolly where Nicole can brush her hair. So we went out and played with the rescue pack and Justin loved squirting things. It was so cute. But we soon realized we should have bought two. The kiddos did a great job sharing the toy. After we went to Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate mom’s day and mine and my dad’s birthday. The kiddos did great. The kiddos tried and liked spumoni ice-cream. After dinner we went down to Balboa. We rode the ferry and rode it back to the fun zone. The kiddos like the ferry ride. They played in the arcade for a while, driving cars, ski ball, and just playing. We walked around a bit. We had a great time and time for me to go to bed.

Today was really hot! We started our day around 5:45 to get ready for a garage sale. My parents have so much stuff they need to get rid of so we offered our driveway plus we had a few things to sell too. I was impressed my ghetto signs actually brought people here. The kids slept in till about 7:30 which helped us to get ready for the sale. The kids were all excited about the garage sale. They kept on saying people here. They wanted to eat their breakfast in the garage. So we brought out their little table and off they went. But they were really distracted. They were busy playing in their cars, watching the people, playing in the garage, etc. They were so great during the garage sale. They just amused themselves in the garage and surprisingly stayed in the garage. At the end I brought out their trikes, so they were happy biking around the garage. Then I took the stroller out of the car and they climbed right in. I think they are liking their stroller these days. But of course whoever sits in the back (usually Nicole) kicks the person in front. Anyway I think we picked the hottest day of the year to have the garage sale-ugh. We cleaned up and had some lunch. Bret and I did a run to Goodwill. We came home and Bret got the kiddos to take a nap today. They took a great nap and so did I. After nap we went to Grammy’s. She is coming home this week so it was time to make sure her car was working and turn on the water heater. The kids played on the first step of the pool and had a blast kicking and splashing. It was cold! Dad went in but the kids weren’t too excited about going all the way in. Nicole slipped on the step and under the water she went. With my clothes on I pulled her out quickly and her first words out of her mouth were baby. So we rescued baby too. Nicole was a little nervous but we took her right back in the pool and she wasn’t scared. She was such a brave little trooper. When you talk to her about it with a big smile she says she went under the water. We got some food for dinner to go and ate at Grammy’s. We played with all the toys. Then we rode tricycles and went for a stroller walk. It was so nice out this evening. We came home and the kids were a bit wired, since they napped. We put them to bed a little late and it is around 9:30 and I still hear them. I am exhausted so I hope they go to sleep soon!