Melissa’s Blog

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.

Play group was at Blue Gum this morning. The kids had fun, climbing, swinging, playing in the club house, etc. We had a great turn out! It was hard for me to talk to other moms as my kids were getting into everything. After the park we ate lunch and headed to pre school. The kids had a blast at pre school. They both made pictures with glue and glitter (pics below Nicole’s work is on the left). Nicole is usually busy washing her hands and doesn’t do the craft. There was play doh. The kids played outside in the little cars, tunnel, on the play equipment. And they painted on the easel for the first time(pics below Justin”s work is on the right). They loved it. It was cute. They both drew lines with the paint brushes. The kids went down later than usual for nap. After nap we ran to Costco to get some fruit then had to come home and get dinner ready. Tonight was bath night and they drew all over the tub. Purple crayon isn’t easy to get off.

This morning we met Neyha, Krish, and Baby Isha at the park. It was so windy so we decided to go to the mall. We went to South Coast Plaza. I have never taken the kids myself so I was a bit nervous. We had a great time. The kids ran around the mall, up and down the ramps, played at Pottery Barn Kids, and went on the carousal twice. The kids both tell me they rode a yellow and an orange horse. Then we took the kids to Rain Forest Cafe. I ended up having to leave right when the food came as my kids were terrified of the storm and the gorillas. All day long the kids have been saying “scared of gorilla”. Nicole beats on her belly like a gorilla now. After nap we headed to grandma and grandpas and had dinner. Bret wasn’t feeling great today so we decided to get out of the house. Grandma made spaghetti and somehow Nicole ended up with a noodle in her nose. Poor little girl she was miserable until we finally got it. She told us she had a noodle in her nose-smart little girl. It was very weird she must have swallowed and snorted it up her nose as no one saw her put noodles in her nose. The noodle was kinda long too so we would have seen if she stuffed it up her nose.

The weather felt like summer today. It was so nice. This morning the kiddos and I went shopping at Target. What a great time to go there was no one there. Then I met Neyha, Krish, and Isha at the park. We had a great time. It is amazing to watch all the kids. Nicole appreciated the nice day and wanted to eat her lunch on the picnic table. They are so cute eating on it together. Nicole had a hard time going down for a nap, in fact I ended up on the floor with her for a while. Finally she fell asleep but it took about an hour. Justin took a great nap today-his best yet, 3 hours. After nap we did a few errands the decided to have a bbq (burgers-yum). I guess baby Isha made an impression on Nicole as she was drawing Isha and Justin was drawing monkeys.

We finally took pictures of the weather station, now you can see the ugliness of it all. But the flip side is you can see the weather at our house at www.irvineweather.org. We had a fun day and the weather was so nice. We met Jacole and Nathaniel at the Irvine Regional Park. We went on the train ride and the kids loved it. We also saw Jeff and Wendy Lenning there. After the train ride we tried to let the kids go on a pony ride. Justin said he wanted to ride a horse, so we paid and he backed out. Oh well, we will try again next time. Then we walked around a bit and fed the ducks. After nap, the kids played in the backyard. They just love it outside. We had to dump the sand in the sand box as it was smelly from water sitting in it. We also went to the Laguna Hills Mall. I had to do a little shopping. The kids love jumping on the light thing on the ground, it is really cute. Sometime we have to remember the video camera. 45 minutes after the kid’s bedtime and I still hear Nicole up there.

Today we went to play at Robins from the multiples group. The kids had a blast, she has a great yard. Although it was a little muddy and Nicole was not happy about getting dirty. They both played on a 3 wheeled scooter-maybe time to get some scooters. After nap, we met some friends at Blue Gum Park. I brought the kid’s bikes but the kids had no interest until other kids played with them. They loved the little bubble container Kristen and Teagan brought. They had fun bringing sand in the little play house. After park the kids wanted to go in the bike trailer. Just as I was strapping them in dad came home, so we went for a quick bike ride. Got some dinner to go and you can tell it was bath night based on the picture below. Also note my little graffiti artists. I have been calling Nicole my love bug and she says Justin is my teradactial. Justin went pee pee on the potty. Not sure if he meant to but hopefully our excitement was enough to make him do it again.