Melissa’s Blog

A week of rain and we are so happy today was a nice day. This morning was the garage sale for the mom’s club. The kids played in the garage and had fun. The excitement and craziness was enough to keep them occupied. After we went to the store as we needed to stock up on diapers. Then we took the kiddos to the marketplace and had lunch outside. We moved the car seats to the next shoulder strap-the kiddos are getting big! They had fun sitting in the van without the car seats-not sure they will ride in car seats anymore. Maybe we shouldn’t have taken them out in front of the kids. They were silly before nap bopping their heads in their cribs to my singing and laughing at one another. I guess the last laugh was on us because Nicole didn’t nap again. Silly girl. Luckily she wasn’t cranky at all and she amused herself for a bit. After nap we went to Grammy’s. Grammy’s friend of 40 years passed away plus she is leaving for NZ soon so she wanted to see the kids. The kids were as funny as ever. Making a tower out of CD’s, grammy played guitar and sang their favorite songs, etc.

It was a short week since Bret had Monday off, but it didn’t feel any shorter. After nap, the kids and I went over to Kristen and Teagan’s to play. The kids had a great time with all the new toys. I think they were just happy to get out of the house. Then we decided to go to open gym at the Kid’s Gym. I haven’t done that with them since they were just walking. It was fun and wasn’t crowded at all. The kids played on the roller coaster, went down slides, cooked in the kitchen, jumped, played with balls, etc. They had a great time and really needed it since they have been stuck indoors with the gloomy weather. Tonight was just a normal night with bath and running up and down the hallway. They say “daddy hide” and then go find him-at least most of the time.

My poor kiddos just want to play outside. This morning we went to morning class. It was so much fun to watch the kids in the class; they love it. They both try and follow what the instructor is doing, dance, play, etc. At the end Nicole said “I hug Ms. Judy (the instructor)” and Justin gave a big high five. You can just tell they really enjoy this class. After we just played at home. We turned on some music and danced for a bit. The kids wore their play shoes and made lots of noise with them on the floor. We went to Pavillions and the kids pushed the little grocery carts around. So stressful on me but they love it. The kids put all the food on the conveyer belt for me-they were pretty proud of themselves. We have a pirate ship and they have decided to call one of the pirates-Uncle Todd (see pic below). It is too funny. I just got Justin a Diego scooter so we brought that in from the garage to play with. Justin is getting the hang of it. Nicole was doing pretty well with it. Now I need to look on Craigslist for one for Nicole.

Today we started a new class called Little People’s Morning. It was really cute. First the kids have some free play with trains, legos, play doh, paints, kitchen, puzzles, etc. Then we did a craft, made snowman out of marshmallows (see picture). There was snack, songs, outdoor play time-we had a great time. It was a cute class and I am glad we are taking it. After nap we just hung out at home since it was raining outside. I decided to give the kids a bath and hope the rain would stop so I could go to the grocery store. Well the rain didn’t stop so we went to the store anyway just to get a few things. Tonight the kids colored and played with their stamps. They have stamp stuff ink all over them. After we put the kiddos to bed I am going out to Mom’s night out with the multiples group. We are making picture necklaces. It should be fun but I may be so tired tomorrow.

Yes you read the title correctly, Nicole did not nap! We started off the morning with the kids fighting over everything. At 10:00 we went to play group and it saved us all. We went to Jen’s and celebrated Christy’s baby shower there. The kids had a blast at play group and played well with the other munch kins. We ate lunch at Jen’s too. And came home to a clean house 🙂 The cleaners came. After Justin’s nap, we went to Carin’s and played. The fighting continued there a bit. But they had fun playing with play doh, coloring, and Justin loved the train she had. And Nicole did not fall asleep on the way to Carin’s (Ladera Ranch). After Carin’s I decided to take the kiddos to the MV Mall. We had a great time. The kids had endless energy because the minute we got into the mall, they ran. We ate dinner at the food court then the kids played with the lights on the ground by Old Navy. Justin loved it, stepping on all the pictures. We walked around a bit until we finally ended up at the play area. I had so much fun with the kids. And you would think Nicole would have fallen asleep on the way home, but no. Finally at 9:00 she has crashed.

Bret is off! I love this new job. If he was with DiTech he would have been working. We just went for a long walk this morning to the store. It took us three tries to get going this morning as it kept on starting to rain. Just rains for like a minute then stops. We would get half way down the street and have to turn back. Anyway we walked to the new Korean market to get Japanese rice. Then we just played at home. We met grandma/pa for dinner at Fuddruckers. Worst service ever, but great place to take the kids. The kids had a blast playing and driving the cars (video games).

We had another fun day with the kids. We decided to try taking them to the OC swap meet. Luckily it all went really well. Daddy bought Nicole a little yappy dog which she just loves. She held it the entire time at the swap meet. We only made it up one or two aisles but had a good time. After nap, we did some errands. We went to Home Depot and Toys R Us. The kids got their belated birthday balloons from Toys R Us. They also played a bit in the store, Justin went right for the train table. Then we just played at home for a bit and it was bath night. Nicole had such a hard time falling asleep last night-she was still up at 10:00. Hopefully tonight will be better. After the kids were in bed, some of the girls and I met for gelato. It was so nice-I really needed a night out. It was nice to talk to the girls without chasing kids around.

We had a busy but great family day. This morning we headed to Zoomars (www.zoomars.com). The kids had a blast. Right went we got out of the car, the kids got to see the Metrolink/Amtrack train. The both said “big train”. First, at Zoomars we went to feed the goats carrots. The horses needed some carrots too. Then we went into the bunny and guinea pig area. It was crowded but the kids still loved it. The bunnies and guinea pigs were trying to hide from the crowd. Bret caught a guinea pig for Nicole to hold; it was adorable. Justin was busy walking around and feeding the bunnies and guinea pigs. You would think this would be enough excitement but then we went on the little train. On the way home we stopped for lunch where we ran into Paula and gang. Nicole was so happy to see Paula; she just loves her. After nap we headed to Meadowwood Park for snow day. The kids were so not interested in touching the snow. Justin did like watching the other kids sledding. After Nicole danced to the music, she was determined to get to the slide and play equipmet. The kids really liked this park. We ran up and down the hill with them and got a great little video. After the park, we did some errands. Finally found Nicole Dora shoes (fake crocs) so Justin can now wear his car shoes (fake crocs).

We had a fun day with play dates today. Some friends came over this morning and played. The kids had fun but mostly just wanted to be outside. Justin was playing with a car toy and Nicole wanted and she bit him. I then gave him Nicole’s boo boo bunny and Nicole wanted the bunny. So badly in fact she said I bite self. What a character. They have been bringing their little stools to see what we are doing on the counters. Justin woke up 30 minutes into his nap. I ran up there, gave a cuddle and back to bed he went. After nap we had more friends over. It was fun. Again the kids just wanted to play outside. We walked our friends out and ran around outside in the cold a bit. The kids were so happy to be out and running around. We took a bath tonight and they didn’t want to stop drawing. Time to clean up the house.

This morning we went to music class. The kids had fun. They are learning all the new songs. We danced and played. We went to the park right by music class. Great park. There were ducks. Justin played in the leaves and tried to give the ducks the leaves. Justin was really into climbing at the park while Nicole was into swinging. Justin didn’t nap all that well today. Shortly after nap we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s. We just played and had dinner. The kids walked across their couch (tried to jump several times). Played with the doggie clock and were just as silly as ever. Justin seemed so tired-I thought for sure he would fall asleep on the way home but no they stayed awake. They were singing Pop Goes the Weasel.