Melissa’s Blog

Crap I have gained a few lbs. Ugh, time to get eating properly again-well I will start tomorrow 🙂 This morning we were off to go get a b-day gift for our friend’s party. We had to stop a few places and my kiddos were troopers. I guess they saw the light at the end of the tunnel of going to a party. We went to Micheal, Katie, and Sarah’s 6th birthday party. It was at a bounce house place. The kids had a great time and it was just so nice. Nikki and Katie wanted to be twins today and wore their Hello Kitty dresses together, so cute. Nikki got a little frustrated when Katie was busy playing with her other friends and not giving Nikki 100% of her attention. Good thing for Nikki to learn that Katie has other friends and it was Katie’s day. The kids loved bouncing.

Well Bret got a call regarding the Irvine raffle. The good news is we won $500.00 the bad news is we spent $700.00. At least we recovered a little bit of our money. Oh and minus taxes. The kids played with their dogs; Blues Clues and Magenta today. The put leashes and collars on them. The kids wanted collars around their necks but I said no. They were so sad. I suggested the leashes attached to backpacks.

This was a story Justin made up. He told me the name was Henry gets lost. The story is this “Henry gets lost and Molly finds him. He wanted to call daddy at work to tell him the story. We went to a friend’s pool this afternoon. The kids had a great time; I even got in the pool with them. The kids all loved jumping in and splashing me. When we got home the kids played with daddy while I had the board meeting for pre school here. Nikki wanted to show everyone her room, it was cute. Nikki was so sad I was downstairs-she even asked if daddy could be at the meeting.

This morning Nikki and I ran out to Kohl’s. She loved picking out things for me to try on. Dad and Justin went geo-caching. It was like a scavenger hunt and I am sure Justin had a great time. Then we went to the kids swim lessons. We played in the pool for a bit with them. We showered and went to the MV mall. We had lunch and I shopped a little bit. Dad and Justin played some virtual game then met us at the play area. Nikki came in a store with me, she was so funny pretending she was an adult and picking out clothes. Whatever I tried on in the fitting room she had to put it on as well. It was really cute. After the mall we went to some friends house in Mission Viejo. We haven’t seen them in a year or two. They had 7 yr old twins and a 14 month baby. Nikki loved the little girl. Justin and Nikki started on their trampoline playing. They have a trampoline in the ground, it is so cool. Then the kiddos went swimming. Justin got a hold of sprayers and sprayed all over. Dad went in and joined him. Justin was laughing every time he got squirted; he just loved it. It was nice watching him have so much fun and interact with the two dads. Nicole was able to swim to the deep end. She was so proud of herself. We all went to Islands for dinner and just had a great time together. On the way to Islands, we took the girls and Justin went with Jake in their car. After dinner we got frozen yogurt then headed home. I read the kids lots of books and they were tired, went right to sleep.

This morning I was off to get my hair cut finally! I met dad and the kiddos at the pool. Since summer is almost over we are doing both Sat and Sun for swim lessons. It was fun to be in the pool with the kiddos. Justin is really practicing his strokes and jumped in over and over again. Nikki is still a crazy fish in the water. She is more into playing then her strokes. Dad threw her up in the water so high, the look on her face was great-I wish I had my camera. So dad and I played with the kids in the pool for a while. Then we took showers. It was kind of a lazy day. I was so tired and took a short nap on the floor of the kids playroom. Nikki and I had some alone time playing in the play room. We played grocery store, had a birthday party w/baby, and played with animals. Dad and Justin played with the bristel blocks making planes, etc. We played outside in the backyard. Dad and Nikki went to go get some coffee together. He said Nikki was the sweetest thing out with him. Justin and I played here, we played shake n go racers and another race track. We finally decided we had better do something with our day. We ended up going to pirate park. The kiddos took their scooters and sand toys. We had fun playing with them and watching them play together. After dinner we let them watch a little TV. We read all our library books then headed upstairs. Nikki and I had a tea party with her dogs Zoe and Rusty while dad and Justin played cars. Justin was very wiggly in bed tonight.

I worked on painting the kiddos fire engine and bird house. I also did a huge load of laundry. The kiddos played for a while. We also played some games, Memory, High Ho Cherry-o, etc. Then we headed out to Fashion Island. The kids have been wanting to go there lately. We didn’t have too much time there but the kids played by the fish for a bit. It didn’t last as long as I had hoped. I am in the middle of a book and I was able to read while they played. We went and had lunch. I treated them to ice cream, it was a fun outing. We  headed over to Grammy’s for an afternoon of play. The kids played with the toys upstairs for a long time. We went swimming-it was cold. But we had a blast in the pool. Nikki was wild in the pool. Jumping into the floatie, jumping on me, pretending to be Shamu, etc. Justin was on the kick board practicing his strokes. He got cold though and got out. He was so cold and wanted to take a warm shower. So the kids took a bath at Grammy’s and had a great time. Unfortunately Justin was kind of showing Nikki his penis and it was a big discussion in the bath. I think it was just because there were no bath toys but may have to re-think this bathing together. After they were naked for a while. They were busy playing. Grammy showed me this dress for Nicole that has a matching dress for her dolls that she got for birthday or Christmas. I was worried about the size though. We told her Grammy bought it for Meghan (didn’t show her the doll dress) and could we try it on to see how it fits her. Nikki said she loved it and to keep this one for her and buy Meghan another one. Grammy is going to exchange it for a bigger size-I hope they have the same one as it was really cute. Dad came to Grammy’s, kids still naked. They were playing so well but around 6:30 we were all getting hungry. They were mostly playing with the fisher price people, the cars, and the swings. We went to Norms for a quick dinner then headed home. Justin drove with me which was nice to have Justin time. Nikki went with daddy. Kids were pretty tired-me too!

Dad worked from home today. He snuck upstairs and it was nice to go say hi to him whenever I wanted. The sun was bright and it was hot early. We headed to the pool. It was nice to finally swim when it was hot out. The kids had a great time, mostly splashing me. Both jumped in and wanted me to catch them. Justin was really practicing his strokes. Both loved swimming over to the swim lanes. I can’t find their kick boards though, ugh. They seem to use those the most. After the pool I gave the kiddos a shower and we came home. We had lunch then just played. The kids played with stamps and made some pics. Dad built a spiral track and it was like a new toy for the kiddos. They played on the train table for a while. We waited for Tierney to arrive. Then we just played in the play room with T. T was into everything. Justin and Nicole played cars with the car carriers. We did a few errands. The kids were great and very helpful while we were out. We went to the craft store and I let the kiddos get wood things to paint. Nikki picked out a bird house w/bird and Justin picked out a fire engine. Dad was able to play when we got home. We painted parts of the bird house and fire truck then headed out for dinner. The kids were pretty hyper this evening, probably all the syrup they ate with their Mickey pancakes for dinner. We took them to monkey bar park on the way home. Nikki did the monkey bars once or twice but then wasn’t too into them. We had a nice family time; we all went down the slide together like a choo choo. Justin called this one thing, little climber thing, his booby slide. When we got home I went for a quick walk with a friend. The kids were still pretty hyper so we played car wash. They were running up and down the hallway. Both Bret and I held a towel up so it was a double car wash-they thought it was great. A couple books and off to bed. While talking to Nikki she asked how a baby gets out of the mom’s tummy. After trying to divert her attention elsewhere I finally told her. Once I told her the subject was dropped. I thought there would be a ton of questions. Actually now that I think about it she is probably processing it all and will ask her questions in the morning.

Last night Bret and I went to  bed too late. I didn’t want to get up this morning. I decided I didn’t need to rest so off we went with our day. We met my photography group at the Laguna Niguel Botanical Gardens. It was really pretty and the kids had fun playing together. Nicole and Justin met a new friend they really liked it. They all played at the play structure as well. I got some cute pics:

The kids were troopers with me taking pictures. We came home and had lunch and rested. Nikki made pretty pictures with stamps and markers. Justin used his shake n go car racer set. I looked at all the pics I took. I let the kiddos watch TV, Word Girl and Martha Speaks, while I took a quick nap. Then we got ready to go to Laguna Beach. We parked and took the trolley shuttle to the beach. That was fun in itself for the kiddos. We had a fun night. We went to the ocean first and the kids were in the water having a great time. Justin told me it was cold the first time he went in but the second time it was warm. After the water we went over to the play structure. The kids were having such a great time playing we decided to get dinner to go and have a picnic. The kids ate a little but then said they wanted to take a break to play. It was so warm by the beach and it was just nice watching the kiddos play. I took my camera so I will have to see if I got any good pics. My kiddos were so good today, it was so nice. They had a cookie and a shower when we got home. As usual bedtime was 9:00.

Below are some pics from the beach. I was proud of getting the jumping shot:

This morning we got ready for the cleaners. The kids helped as well. I don’t think the kiddos even ate breakfast until 9:00. We decided to take advantage of the free summer movies, so we went and saw the Squekal, Chipmunks. Justin and Nicole wanted to wear their Chipmunk/Chipette shirts. Justin didn’t care that his was long sleeve and it was hot. I brought a short sleeve shirt for him to change into. The kids loved the movie this time. I tried to read my book during the movie but it was loud. While the singing was going I was able to read. After we went to grandma/pa’s for a visit. The kids were crazy. They took all the pillows off the couch and jumped and jumped, etc. Nicole got her clothes wet from a water balloon so both kids were playing in their underwear, sillies. We had lunch there and then the kids just played. Justin played with cars, Nikki pretended to be a baby. The kids had a great time,. We did an errand on the way home and played at home. Nicole wanted to bake yesterday and we didn’t get a chance so we did it tonight. We made banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, yum! The kids decided to play with the hose. They sprayed down the back patio-I am not sure what they were trying to do. But they had fun being together and getting soaked. Before we knew it the kiddos were naked running around. We ate dinner outside with naked kids. The naked kids decided to go into the jacuzzi. Dad and I enjoyed being outside-the weather was great! I went to Bunco and the kiddos had daddy time.

Not much too blog about today as it wasn’t a very exciting day. We stayed home this morning which was really nice. I tried to get some things done around here and for a moment there I actually got bored. I started spray painting our gates, hid the rust. The kids helped and played all around me. They were pulling off all the couch cushions and making obstacle courses. I took off all our bedding, mattress pads, etc and washed it. I had the mattress pad on the chairs drying so the kiddos made a fort under there. Couch cushions and carpets came outside. They pretended the cushions were dog beds. After lunch we went out for a bit. I needed to go to Target and Lowes. We also ended up at Carters too. When we got back to the car from all our errands it was hot. We decided to go to the pool. The kids are fish. I had a great time in the pool with them. They took showers and we came home. The kids were playing on our bed while I put away a ton of laundry. They were also wrapping each other up as presents. Dad came home and we made dinner. I worked on the spray painting again. After dinner the kids played trains and were in the backyard. We put them in the stroller and headed for frozen yogurt. YUM! I got home and went for a walk with my friend while dad got the kiddos ready for bed. I got the best greeting from Nikki. I played doll house with her for a bit but that meant the kids didn’t go to sleep until after 9:00, ugh. Justin has been kissing my nose at night, so I got him back and he was just laughing, so funny.

It was birthday party day! Dad always missed out on our adventures during the week, so he decided he wanted to go on a hike. We went to Lower Peters Canyon. The kids had a great time. It was a really nice family event-I hope we do it more often. Then it was all about birthday party’s. The first one included a jump house, pool, and a taco cart. Dad was willing to go for the taco cart. I managed to bring everything from towels, sunscreen, etc…but I forgot the kiddos bathing suits. Dad ran to Target to get bathing suits. The kids had a great time at the party, it was really nice. Then we had to hurry out of this party to go to another. I need to stop planning so many things. The next party was a reptile theme. It was really great, it included bounce house, sno cone machine, and a reptile show. The kids held snakes, lizards, frogs, etc. I was kind of glad the kiddos chose not to hold the tarantula. It was creepy for me but the kiddos loved it. Dad was able to stay for a while at this party but then needed to head home to do some work. The kids were in the bounce house for the longest time. They were all throwing balls at one another but having a great time. Justin played with all the trains as well. It was really nice the kids and I walked home from the party. It probably took us about 25 minutes. The kids had a great time in the stroller. They liked walking home in the dark. They wanted the blanket to cover the entire stroller and they were just giggling underneath. So cute to listen to. I don’t think the kiddos got to bed after 9:00 but it was a fun day!

We just played this morning at home. I followed the kiddos around cleaning up after them. We hosted a pre school play date. The kids all played really well. Messy house but by the time the last mom left we had it all cleaned up. Justin was really liking one of the older boys, it was cute to watch. I got to talk to the moms and hang out. After everyone left, Nikki and Justin were hungry so we had a snack and then just hung out for a while. Nikki is really wanting to rock climb again. She keeps asking me how she can do it in the house. The kids have been wanting smoothies lately and since I had a coupon for a free one at McDonalds we went. The little things that make them happy. The smoothie ended up being a $60 one since I went to the grocery store after. The kids played in the play area for a bit then we headed to the store. Justin made a friend in the play area. I love watching him become so independent. He is an amazing little guy! We came home and made dinner. Nikki and daddy played bad guys. Dad would catch the bad guy, AKA Nikki with a hula hoop then tie her up by the play house which was jail. He would tie it so she could get out of it fast and she thought it was so funny. Justin went in the jacuzzi. He is such a little swimmer, diving for things and just having fun. I tried to hang out with him while he was in the jacuzzi. Upstairs we got the kiddos ready for bed. Nicole’s doll house was kind of unorganized, so her and I got it all ready to play. We played for a bit. Then the kiddos relaxed in our bed and watched a little TV. So cute to watch them in our bed, they are the cutest kids ever! After TV we visited quickly and then the kids were off to bed. Justin was so tired and cuddly. Nikki had to make sure I knew she was sister Incredible and I was the mommy Incredible. We need to watch that movie sometime soon.