Melissa’s Blog

Justin woke up early so I got him out of his bed and put him in our bed. How can a little guy take up so much room in a king size bed? No room for me. When Nicole woke up she went to the bathroom and then came in our room. This was the first time we were greeted with a child in our room, it was cute. We were out and about early to go to Messy, Muddy, Hands, & Toes. This was the last class. The kids had fun. First we painted wood ducks. The kids really loved this one for some reason. We turned the ducks into magnets and we gladly put them on our fridge. Then the kids put stickers on crowns. They really liked this one too. It was cute watching all the kids wear their crowns. Justin decorated a yellow crown and Nicole a blue one. The last project was chalk on paper. Nicole and Justin showed no interest in this project at all. At the end the instructor gave the kids vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. The kiddos liked putting on the sprinkles and eating the ice cream. We changed out of messy clothes, got gas and went over to Scooter’s Jungle to meet some friends. The kids had a great time. There was a big slide and the kids smiled the whole way down. They went into the bounce house and played with everything. Justin loved being able to get water out of the water fountain by himself. Then the kiddos played with the air hockey. Justin loved hitting the puck. Nicole liked it when it Justin got a goal. I think they would have played air hockey the entire time, they loved it so much. Justin liked playing around with the ping pong paddle and ball too. Nicole loved sitting on the pedal merry go round and hiding in the tree house. She would get on the merry go round horse and say it is raining and run into the tree house, what an imagination. After finally getting the kids out of Scooter’s Jungle, we went to grandma/pa’s. We had lunch there and play time. And the kiddos were still jumping. They jumped off the ottoman onto pillows. I ran to Wal-Mart to get a few things. Hoe great to shop without kids, so easy and I can look at everything. The kids sort of napped, at least got a great rest. Grandpa and Justin went to look at trucks that were working outside the gate at their complex. There was a crane and a cement truck. Nicole got a bowl and a spoon and pretended to cook pudding. She would pretend go to the fridge/freezer to get things like milk, water, etc. We stayed for a while then it was time to come home just in case any one fell asleep on the way home. We came home and played. The kids just wanted to go outside. So they played in the backyard with the sand (made cakes), the rescue pack, swings, etc. We had dinner then played in the front too. They played with dirt and rocks and palm tree fawns. They played really well tonight together, fun to watch. We finally got upstairs and put away laundry. The kids ran around naked with their sheets as capes. They got more hyper as we got upstairs. We read lots of books and off to bed.

Bret and I were up late last night, we will pay for it today. Anyway we decided to go to the Woodbridge lagoon today with Krista, Matthew, and Ellie. We had a blast! The kids just love it there, they were in the water the entire time. A little scary on my own but the kids really listened and they have a healthy fear of water. Nicole got a little ride on the boogie board and was really liking the kick boards. It is probably time to look for kick boards for the kids or some water toys. Justin had a big smile on his face walking into the water. We managed the water slides too. Nicole, the little dare devil, wanted to go down it first. Justin saw how much fun it was and wanted to go too. They just loved it. They did great climbing to the top and I caught them on the way down. The smiles on their faces were priceless. I can’t wait to go again. After we met daddy for lunch. The kids were so happy to see daddy. It was just a great morning. We came home and it was clear the kiddos weren’t napping, so they watched some TV. Just at the end of TV Justin fell asleep. I only let him sleep a little bit but it was so cute watching him sleep on the couch-what a cutie pie. Then we went and took a bath. The kids just love being back in the bath time-although I would think they would be watered out after being at the lagoon. They had so much fun in the bathtub. But then Justin got his thumb in the shower door, ugh. He was pretty miserable, poor little guy. I think it will be ok but we will keep an eye on it. He only complained about it when he was bored, when playing he forgot all about it. The kids and I went to a friend’s house for dinner and play while daddy built the bbq (pic below). The kids always have fun at Vena’s house. Candice and her munch kins were there too. It was so nice hanging out with girl friends. Nicole was a little upset when all the kiddos were getting in their jammies and she found out I didn’t bring hers. Anyway, the kiddos were exhausted-we got them down a little early tonight. I am soon to follow as I am exhausted.

We had to get ready for the cleaners this morning and take Cindy home. Then pack up for the Spectrum too. We also had to drop Nicole’s pee in a cup off at the doctors. Crazy morning but we got out of the house. We met our friends at the Spectrum for play group today. We all met at the fountains by Carters. Justin did not hesitate he went right in the fountains, he smiled the whole time. He just loved it. Nicole liked it too but didn’t get as wet as Justin. Nicole decided to run in and out of Target. I think she liked how the doors opened. Justin and Teagan (Kristen) followed. It was pretty funny. I got a picture of them all being devils. They were having a blast. Then Nicole was going into Carters. I think she wanted to shop. Anyway we got all changed and headed up to ride the train. Of course we had to stop at all the fountains along the way. Justin loved riding the train. I brought our lunch so we ate really quick then rode on the carousal. Of course Justin had to ride the ostrich and Nicole the bunny. Justin said he liked the train better than the carousal and Nicole said she liked the carousal better. It was getting a little hot so we wondered into the book store. The kids had fun sitting there reading books. Of course they wanted Barney books. After the book store we ran into the toy store since it was right there. The kids played in the store for a bit then I just took them for a walk in the stroller around the Spectrum then we came home. We picked up Cindy and came home. The kiddos watched Barney and Elmo’s World. We had to go to Nicole’s doctor’s app’t. Her bladder infection is all better. I got my TB test that I needed to work in the kid’s pre school. We walked over to Ralph’s to get a few things. The kids got to push carts through the store. At the end they gave their carts to other kids, did a great job sharing. We came home and decided to take Cindy for a walk. Of course the kids wanted to walk her. The kids are able to but then the leash gets caught all around Cindy’s legs. We brought out the golf clubs and balls on the green belt. The kiddos had fun. Then daddy came home. We had another paver company out to discuss the back yard and had dinner. The kids played outside pretty much all night. It was such a nice night. I ran to a mom’s night out thing tonight and Bret is outside in the dark putting his new bbq together.

We hate Mondays as we get used to daddy being home then he goes back to work. We were out early to go pick up Cindy, we are dog sitting for a few days. The kiddos were pretty happy to see Cindy. It was fun walking over to Cindy’s house as the kids picked flowers, played with rocks, and just enjoyed being outside. Both kids wanted to hold Cindy’s leash. Nicole was telling Cindy what we were doing. She would say we are walking to our house and going in the front door. We played with Cindy for a bit then it was time to get ready to go to the park. We met Neyha (Krish and Isha) at Blue Gum. It was nice as I feel like I haven’t been to the park for a while. It is sad that the kids won’t see each other for a while as Neyha and family are moving on Wed. It will be fun when we all get together for a visit. Anyway the kiddos had a great time at the park. We weren’t there too long. After we went to the story time at Hush Baby at the District with Neyha. It was really cute and the kids liked it. It was a new story teller with lots of songs. The bunny and face or in case hand painting was still there. Justin got 2 doggies on his hand and Nicole got two lady bugs. Paula and gang showed up as well. So after we went to Chick-Fil-A to grab some lunch. My kiddos were starving. Then all the kids went and played in the play area. They had a really good time. We went into TJ Maxx as well. We were on the corner of Yale and Bryan and the kids fell asleep in the car. So I let them sleep in the car for a bit. So funny how sometimes the shock me and stay awake when I think they will sleep and just fall asleep other times. After they were so excited to see Cindy. Nicole is learning that dogs don’t hug. Justin has a cute smile on his face while petting Cindy. We played at home for awhile. The kiddos decided to throw balls at the ceiling fan. They played with their drawing things, chased the dog, drove the dog crazy, and chased one another. We went over to Jacole’s to play for a bit. Neyha came too. It was nice to just hang out as the kids played really well. When I asked my kiddos what their favorite things to play with there-Justin said trains and Nicole said the bouncy horse thingy. On the way home we stopped at Target. I was pushing it as I knew I would have hungry kids on my hands as it was close to dinner. We shopped and I let the kiddos play a bit in the toy aisles. Justin loved this little bat and ball thing and Nicole was ooing and ahhing over all the baby dolls. I got milk and had to open the milk on the way home to keep the munch kins happy. We got home and had dinner. Then we went on the green belt for a bit. I got the kiddos new golf clubs since there other ones are almost all broken. So we brought balls and golf clubs out and played golf. Nicole was more into playing with Cindy. Then the kiddos wanted to walk her. We came in and the kiddos had a bath. They love their bath and then they played for bit. We read books and off to bed.

Well a week later but we are celebrating father’s day. This morning we got going early and out the door. We went to the pool at Woodbury this morning. The kids had a blast and I am so bummed we didn’t bring a camera. You would think hours at the pool they would nap but no. We first started out in the baby pool. The kids loved the fountains too. Justin especially. There was a big pool that you could walk into (like the beach). Nicole would go from the fountains to the big pool, laughing. Justin would get wet in the fountains and giggle and scream. Nicole liked the baby pool the best. Both kids just had a great time. Both kids walked on their hands in the baby pool (like a wheelbarrow) and said I am swimming. Justin was off with daddy most of the time and Nicole stayed with me. We had a great morning. We came home and had lunch. The kids just read books and relaxed so we thought they would nap. They were pretty mellow. We gave up on naps and let them watch TV for a bit. I felt like I did a 100 loads of laundry today. We had fun building with mega blocks today; we hadn’t used them in so long. We made big towers. Nicole pretended to make a house for princess. Grandma/pa came over for dinner. Bret was busy cooking ribs for hours on the grill. Too bad his new grill hasn’t come yet. The kids were so happy to see grandma/pa. The kiddos played hard. Nicole loved running around with Justin. She was laughing so hard, so cute to watch. Justin rode his tricycle so fast throughout the house and over his sheet. The kids entertained us. It cooled off a bit outside so the kiddos played outside. Bubbles, sand box, hose….all the usual outside fun. Both kids had a little bit of a meltdown before dinner, combo of not napping and hunger. Well the ribs took way longer to cook then we anticipated. Anyway we had great dinner and deserts. The kids were pretty happy after dinner; they sure ate a lot. They jumped on the cushions of the couch on the floor. Then grandpa showed the kiddos how to use their sheets as capes, so the kiddos had fun pretend flying. The kiddos were exhausted and went to bed fairly quickly. Time to put away laundry.

Well Bret had to work late last night. Nicole had to get up to pee, it was a busy night in the Sanders’ household. This morning, I made a gourmet breakfast for everyone, blueberry pancakes, sausage (Nicole really wanted sausage), eggs, and fruit. The kiddos played really well this morning. We got dressed and decided to go to Santa Ana Mall. Daddy stayed home to take a nap to make up for being awake last night. The kids and I had so much fun at the mall. We didn’t take the stroller, so we could go up and down the escalators. The kiddos played in the play area for a bit. They had fun but then noticed all the ride on car things. They rode a fire truck then some pink car. I wanted to go into a couple stores, and the kids did so well. While I was shopping in Pumpkin Patch for the kiddos, they got stickers then got to watch some TV. I should have left them there and gone shopping-ha. They had fun. We went and played in the Disney store too. I bought the kiddos some sun glasses. Nicole wanted Minnie and Justin cars. They look like such cool dudes with their glasses on. Of course I tried to take a great pictures and now what I got was silly faces (still cute though). We came home and had lunch. Then we were determined to get the kids down for a nap, since we are having friends over. So I read a ton of books. I sat in their room and sang songs, told stories….then the rocking began. Justin rocked to sleep so quickly. Nicole took a while but it finally worked. Yeah! I just didn’t want any cranky kiddos tonight. After nap, we played for a bit and got ready for our friends to come over. Krista and Paula and their families came over. We just had a bbq. It was really nice. The kids all played so nicely, no fighting. Sara and Nicole played in the play house together, I heard them giggling. Nicole and Ellie were next to each other at dinner and they were having a conversation about straw cups. Justin was really into his Diego rescue pack. We played in the house for a while then the backyard then the front yard and greenbelt. Nicole and Justin did so well sharing all the toys. The kiddos finally settled down for sleep around 9:30. Have to finish cleaning up and off to bed, I am really tired.

It is hot! This morning we played in the backyard before it got to hot. We played with everything in the back yard. Justin really wanted to play with water. So he sprayed the hose for a while. Then rescue pack then the kiddos did bubbles. Then we set up the water table which Justin happily filled. They had so much fun playing with the water. Before we knew it they were bringing sand from the sand box over to the water table, handfulls at a time. Oh well they were having a blast. It is so nice to watch them play so nicely together. I think they will be best of friends. After lots of play time we went the grocery store. The kiddos still wanted to stay home and play. The kids helped me by pushing the little carts. Grocery shopping now takes like 90 minutes with the kiddos. Of course they have to empty the carts by themselves. They love pushing the carts and for now it is an easy why to shop with them. We came home and had lunch. They played with the ball popper, cars, drawing toys. Then it was time for a nap. Justin napped but Nicole who seemed so tired was wide awake. Ugh. The kiddos watched their Barney and Elmo’s World. Then we went to Costco. We are having friends over for a bbq, so needed to get some food. The kids love Costco, all the samples help and TV’s. We came home and made dinner. The kids played so well while we made dinner. They both got some of the train tracks out made in their words big tracks. We had dinner and the kids went and played in the living room for a bit. They were riding down the roller coaster and playing with the train table. We went up and took a bath. The kids were happy to be back in the bath again. Nicole wanted a wash cloth out of the linen closet and was singing a blankie song. She told me she learned it from Barney.Daddy had to do a little work, so we just read a ton of books and off to bed. Nicole was glad it was warm enough to wear her Dora jammies and Justin has his fire engine ones with shorts on. So a switch tonight, Justin was the one who was up late tonight.

We can’t wait till 5:00 when Bret’s plane lands. Well this morning I heard Justin at 7:00. I came in the room and told him to get back to bed. Little did I know he would sleep until 8:45. Nicole was up at 7:30. I am sitting in their room trying to get Nicole to nap right now. She seems tired. Anyway we had to be at Messy. Muddy, Hands, and Toes at 9:00. So Justin ate his breakfast on the go. The class was so cute. The kids first laced fruit loops on ribbon. Of course my kids ere still hungry from lack of breakfast, so they decided to eat most of them. So I laced them and they ate. Then we got spaghetti with paint on it. What a mess. The kiddos took the spaghetti on their paper and painted with it. It was fun. Justin and Nicole pretty much got paint all over their hands and did hand prints. Next was painting with brocoli. That was really cute. Nicole smears it all over the paper and Justin presses it down. The last project was painting with carrots. Of course the kiddos wanted to eat them. It was a great class. Then we just came home. After our big day yesterday home sounded nice. And the house was a mess. The kids played in the back of the car for a bit. Then came in the house and played. They were fighting a bit, so I decided it was time for a shower. They were pretty dirty from Sea World and class. They both love their baths and showers. Then we had lunch. We played with all the balls, babies, trains, blocks, etc. We came upstairs and read a ton of books. No nap and Nicole was pretty naughty at nap. She got her books taken away and had to stay in her bed even after I let Justin out. Then the kiddos just watched TV for a while, Barney and Elmo’s World. We played at home for a bit and ate popcorn. We went to Grammy’s while we waited for daddy to come home. Well the phone calls started and the plane was delayed and delayed. The kids were so excited to see daddy too. So we played at Grammy’s. It was so hot today so the kiddos played on the steps of the pool. Finally we found out daddy wouldn’t be coming in till about 8:35. Grammy and I took the kiddos to Red Robin. The kiddos did great, and got balloons as a reward for being so great at the restaurant. Nicole’s balloon popped on the way to the car, so we ran right in and got her another one. Justin chose a blue balloon and Nicole got a pink one. We hung out at Grammy’s waiting for daddy to come home. The kids played with Grammy’s toys. Justin really liked the tractor (a toy daddy had). Then the kiddos got into all the cd’s. UGh what a mess, but they were having fun building towers and playing together. We went to the airport to get daddy. The kids loved the light tunnel we had to go into to get daddy. Justin wanted to show daddy his blue balloon. We headed home and the kids gave daddy a big hug and Nicole wanted daddy to take her out of her car seat. Well the kids went to bed a little late but it was so sweet watching them with their daddy. Sanders’ family is intact again 🙂

What a great day but I am sure tired. It was tough packing up everything, I finally gave up and let the kiddos watch TV as I packed up the car. I made the mistake of trying to take out one of the back seats to make more room. I got one side out easily but then had trouble getting the other one out. After sweating to death, I finally go it (I need Bret). We left for Sea World around 11:00 this morning. We picked up Paula and her kids. We were ecstatic to find all 5 kids sleeping in the car on the way to Sea World. We got there around 12:15 and fed the kiddos lunch. Then we went and checked out the new Bay of Play, Sesame Street. There was so much to do a little overwhelming. We first played with these musical instruments then went into the moon bounce. Too bad the kids could only be in it for a few minutes. Then we went to this other area kind of like a jumpy soft area and the kids had a blast. Nicole and Justin loved getting up as high as they could and jumping in. The kids tried to climb these net things unsuccessfully to try to get up on the bridges. Luckily we found another way in. The kids liked being on the bridges then we went in the sand box. There were some cool trucks and stuff in the sand box. Then we met up with Vena and Stacie. The kids wanted to ride a ride, so we went on the tea cups. I wouldn’t let the kiddos spin them though. Justin loved the ride and Nicole was indifferent to it. It just me sick. There was so much to do and look at in the Bay of Play. We saw Grover, Tully, Ernie and Bert, and Cookie Monster. Of course the kiddos wouldn’t go over to them. They just liked keeping their distance and waving. After I think 3 hours or so we finally made it out of the bay of play. We went over to see the dolphins. I got to pet one. The kiddos liked to look at them and say hi dolphin, big dolphin. We went over to the pet show. The kiddos were happy sitting on my lap and watching the show. They liked the cats! After we had to run over to the Shamu show. The kids love Shamu! They would tell me when Shamu was jumping, spinning, splashing. Justin and Nicole were also eating all their friends snack through the show too. After Shamu we went and got dinner. Nicole and Justin didn’t eat too much, too much snacking. But they both drank a ton of milk. After dinner Nicole and Justin seemed kind of hyper, so we separated from our friends for a bit. I let Justin and Nicole just run around and play. They got their hands painted. Justin got a doggie and Nicole a kitty. I didn’t get to wash them off before bed so paint will be everywhere, oh well. We just played on a grassy area for a while. Justin and Nicole were having a blast running, playing, etc. Nicole really liked watching the people jump on the trampoline thing. She was still too little to go on it, but maybe next time. I think she would have stayed there for hours and just watched the jumping. I decided to take the kids to see the penguins. They liked the moving walkway of course. Near the end Nicole got a little scared as it was dark in there, so we went back outside and saw the outside penguins. Then it was time to go home. I think it took us until about 9:00 before we were even on the rode to come home. Finally around 9:40 Justin and Nicole finally fell asleep. We dropped Paula and kids off and came home. I am exhausted! Got to go call hubby and go to bed.

We miss daddy especially during the cranky hours of 3-6. We went to the Santa Ana zoo this morning. We had a great time at the zoo. Lisa (Chase and Alyssa) and Christy (Lexi and Sienna) met us there. We went over to the farm area first and saw the geese, chickens, turkeys, etc. Then the kiddos found the big water basin. It was so hot that I just let them play in it. I think they could have played in it all day. We then rode on the train. The kids love the train especially when we go through the tunnel. We had a picnic lunch at the zoo then headed to the monkey area. We stopped in the dirt area for a while, and the kids went into the tunnel and played/climbed on the fake lizard. By now it was getting kiind of late so we ran to see the monkeys and headed home. I was hoping the kiddos would take a 5 min nap on the way home, no such luck. I tried to get them to nap at home, again no such luck. So they watched a little TV. Then Carin (Sofi and Mylee) came over. The kiddos got a little cranky at this point. So we tried to go outside to see if that would help. We played with the water table and bubbles for a while. It was just tiring staying on top of them and keeping them distracted so they didn’t get too cranky. I love when I ask the kids a question and they say I don’t know-it is so cute. After dinner they were a bit better. What a mess-what was I thinking doing spaghetti by myself. We headed upstairs for an early shower. Both the kiddos were great as I showered one at a time. We played upstairs for a while. Then we came back down as Paula was coming over to put her car seats in my car for Sea World tomorrow. The kiddos were so happy to be out front-they ran on the green belt. Then Krista, Gary, Matthew, and Ellie stopped by as well. The kids were having a great time. Luckily it wasn’t too difficult getting the kids back upstairs. We read a few books and told stories. Then off to bed, they both went to bed pretty fast tonight. Time to go clean up and get ready for Sea World tomorrow.