Melissa’s Blog

Well this morning I still wasn’t feeling great. The kids were playing in the hotel room and having a blast. Bret went and got some breakfast. The kids were so excited to eat in the hotel room. They liked eating at the table and Bret upgraded our room so we had a marina view. It was beautiful and the kiddos loved looking at the boats. Bret took the kiddos for a walk around the marina so I could rest. On the way home, I felt terrible, so we opted to drop the kids off at grandma/pa’s so I could come home and rest. Hopefully no one will get sick. By the end of the day, I was feeling like myself again. Grandma/pa bought cars for the kids, so daddy put them together. The kiddos didn’t nap at grandma/pa’s but they stayed in their travel beds and read books while grandpa napped 🙂 Grandma polished Nicole’s nails (hands and toes). We really missed the kids today while they were gone. When they got home, they were all excited to sit in their cars. They were a little scared to make them go but Nicole was more than happy just sitting in it. She kept on saying she was going to Starbucks and that she needed gas. Justin was happy to be riding his tricycle over bumps. We went upstairs and read books, then bed time. The kiddos went right to sleep.

What a great day so far. We got up this morning and headed to Sea World again. We had so much fun! First we went to the sea ottors. Today it was ok to see sea lions, so we saw that show. It was cute. My highlight was feeding and touching the dolphins. Justin threw a fish to the dolphins but wouldn’t touch them. I could have stayed there all day! Then we headed over to the big bird beach party show. The kids saw all their favorite Sesame Street gang, Elmo, Zoe, Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, and Tully. Justin loved watching the water ride. We had lunch then headed over to the penguins, polar bears, and baluga whales. Nicole fell in love with a penguin stuffed animal, so we got it for her. We just took it easy and had a great time showing the kids as much as we were up for seeing. We came back to the hotel around 2:00. The kiddos were as hyper as can be. So I give them a nice bath. now 3:15 they are napping. After nap we headed to Balboa Park. Not too exciting there. We were able to run into the model train museum. Justin loved it. He wanted to see more and more trains. I felt terrible that we only had 15 minutes in the museum. After we went out for dinner, the kids did so well at dinner plus it was a late dinner. Then we went back to the hotel, the kids just loved the hotel. They were opening and closing the microwave oven and pretending to heat up pancakes, mostly for Nicole’s baby. Then I started feel awful, I just wanted to go to bed. Dad took care of the kiddos so well. He took them out to see the fireworks from Sea World, but the kiddos were a bit scared. We had to bribe the kids with m&m’s to see the fireworks.

Today was so gloomy and cold when we woke up. We were going to go the park but it was too gloomy, so off to the MV mall. Before we left though I had a blast playing pretend with the kids. I sat at their little table and they brought over plates and told me what was on them, spaghetti, meatballs, salad, etc. They even brought me a fork and a spoon and we pretended to eat. Their imaginations are amazing. Back to the mall, Vena (Grant and Cole) were there too. We first played on the lights, the kiddos love it. No stroller with us so we went up and down the escalators. Then we headed to the toy store and played with the train table. After we went in the play area. It was a bit crowded but the kids had fun. I decided to have lunch at the food court with my kiddos. It was so much fun. The kiddos had a blast at the mall, running around, etc. When we got home we played in the futon room and read books for a while. I don’t know what I was thinking when I put the kiddos down for a nap, they were wired. I went up there and the kiddos pants were off including diaper and underwear. Crazy kiddos. So finally gave up on nap and let the kids watch Barney for a bit. We played red light/green light. Although the kids version is just to keep running at you and not stop. They laugh the whole time, so it is cute. We started My Gym again. The kids were ecstatic to say the least to go. It was amazing to watch them since it had been a while since we were there. They are able to do everything almost themselves, climb in and out of the ball pit (I still enjoyed throwing them in). They climbed like monkeys onto the bar and were able to hang up their by themselves. Of course the trampoline was exciting. They were jumping so high. I was having as much fun as they were. We came home and had dinner. Then we made cupcakes with the kids. Every year for my b-day I ask Bret to make me yellow cake with chocolate frosting. This year the best present was to be able to make it with my kids. I put the bowl on their table and they put all the ingredients in the bowl for me. They loved putting the egg in. They mixed it. They helped put the liners in the cupcake pan and of course they wanted to try to put the batter in the liners, what a mess! They helped put frosting on their cupcakes then we ate them. It was a great time together. The kids were pretty tired and went to bed pretty easily, we love that!

Here we are in San Diego. Our first weekend away with the kids since they started walking. We drove down here on Friday. We left at nap time. Of course the kiddos stayed awake the entire time. We checked in the hotel and then went straight to Sea World. We walked over to the park and Justin just loved all the boats. We had so much fun. But for some silly reason the kiddos didn’t want to Sea Lions. We went to the aquarium area and the kiddos loved looking at the fish and turtles. The kids were so excited to see Shamu so we went to the Shamu show. They loved watching him splash, jump, etc. We saw sea stars and the kids actually touched them, they liked this exhibit. We saw manarays but the kids didn’t want to touch them. We were by the flamingos at feeding time, my goodness I didn’t know they made all that noise. The kids were so excited to ride back in the shuttle. We had dinner at the hotel and then came up to the room to play. The kiddos were so excited to sleep in the hotel. We got them blow up sleeping bags and they were so excited about them. Nicole couldn’t wait to get into her bed. They helped blow them up. Nicole had a princess bed and Justin’s had a crocodile on it. Surprisingly it only took them about 45 minutes to go to sleep and they actually stayed in their beds. Of course, I had trouble sleeping as the hotel was kind of loud.

Best birthday ever, since the kids understand. They sang to me all the time today-I loved it! We went to paint, pour, and paste class this morning. The kids got so messy. First, they ran over to the play doh-they liked cutting it. Then they were all over the hand stamping. Their hands are still covered in blue paint. They made me a little mom’s day card. Then we made faces, drew on the face, and used string for the hair. They both loved cutting the string with scissors and yes Nicole tried to put the scissors up to hair. Then we went over to the cornmeal-what a mess. I was wearing navy blue and had cornmeal hand prints all over me. Oh well I sure looked like a mom today. Then we played at home. We rode bikes, played with play doh, trains, etc. We had a great time. Lunch and then I was hoping for a nap, but no nap. They played in their cribs and I tried to get them down with no luck. So we watched Barney then off to the park. We met some friends (Vena and Candice) at Hick’s Canyon Park (AKA see saw park). We had a great time at the park. Playing on everything, riding tricycles, sliding, swinging, etc. Vena brought some cupcakes and other sweets to help celebrate my birthday, so sweet. The kids were so excited about the cupcakes. We came home and made dinner. Then the kids played a bit and back to play doh. We used plastic knives and scissors to cut play doh. Bath night and then we have to pack and get ready to go to San Diego this weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday with my great family and friends.

We met some friends at Woodbury Park this morning. You guys had a great time at the park. You were really into the play house and putting sand on the table, apparently making cakes. You said you were making strawberry and chocolate cake-yum! It was cute. We were at the park for a few hours, I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my watch. Justin enjoyed climbing and Nicole liked the bouncy plane thing. After we had to go to the store to get milk. We stopped at Pavillions so you could push carts. There was only one cart and it made shopping hard. The kiddos did take turns but it wasn’t easy to manage. I guess a couple hours at the park equals a nap. The kiddos were tired. Then we just played at home with some friends and had dinner. We did play doh and drawing with crayons. We put your pictures on the fridge. It was bath night. You guys had a blast in the bath. Unfortunately we started late so the kiddos didn’t get much play time in the bath. We read books for a while. It is 9:15 and the kiddos are still up talking (the downside of a nap). They are talking to each other. Nicole keeps telling Justin she doesn’t wear diapers but Justin does. She says she has underwear, look at me. She is telling him after she wakes up she has underwater. Talky, talky, talky.

This morning we played at home for a while. The kiddos were upstairs playing for a while. Then we went to do an errand and then to story time at Hush Baby with the story lady. It was so cute. The kids just sat there and watched. They did get up to pet the bunny. They were so excited to see the bunny. They didn’t participate too much, just mostly watched. At the end they got their hands painted, Nicole got a butterfly and Justin a snake. But on the way home, they talked all about the story time. It was cute. We came home and had lunch and played. The kids walked around with their dress up shoes making a ton of noise on the floor. Justin is really into bopping balloons in their air. So for all these husbands who don’t allow their boys to have doll strollers, this is what boys do with them (pic below of Justin driving it up the slider). So nap time came, and the kids literally chant mommy, mommy, mommy, etc. I remember when I couldn’t wait for them to say mommy. I got the kiddos out of their cribs and we watched Barney for a bit. Barney and gang were doing the Baby Bop hop so the kids got up and started hopping too. We then went to Dinosaur Park in Laguna Hills. The kids had a great time at this park. Then we ran to a shoe store for me and off to grandma’s. We hung out at grandma’s for a while and had dinner. Nicole went poop on the big potty. I think she is over coming her fear of big potties. The kiddos had fun playing. Nicole dressed me up as a princess. As it was getting dark outside, the kids kept on saying they were scared of the dark, silly kiddos.

We got up and talked to Uncle Todd and family on the computer (video). At first all the kids were kind of quiet but then started talking. It was fun to see Meghan and Henry. We had to go to the grocery store this morning. The kids pushed the little carts. It was crazy but they had fun. After we went to Baby Matthew’s (Jen) 1st birthday party. I think for the first the hour the kiddos were in the bounce house having a great time. They were giggling and bouncing all over the place. Nicole layed down and Justin jumped over her and vice versa. It was a little scary for me. It was all good until a child came in with his face totally painted like Spiderman. They were terrified and I carried two crying children out of the bounce house. So there was a face painter there. The kids were willing to get their hands painted, Nicole asked for a purple kitty and Justin asked for a baseball. It was cute. Of course the bounce house was on grass and Nicole says she is scared of grass (barefoot). We had lunch and then played with balls. The kids had a great time at the party; it was hard to get them to come home. The kids were pretty tired and took a nap. I ran and did some errands during nap. We decided to make ribs tonight (first time). So Bret did all his research during nap, and smoked/bbq’d great ribs. After nap we just played with the kiddos at home, so we could cook. We played in and out. Nicole is really into putting her baby in her old car seat. Justin was busy bopping balloons. It was a nice quiet afternoon at home. During dinner, Justin was eating corn on the cob and all of a sudden said pop goes the corn and started laughing hysterically. We had a great dinner. So sad that the weekend is over.

Justin has learned the word, why. Boy we are in trouble now. We didn’t do anything too exciting today. I needed to go to Laguna Hills Mall this morning, so we all went. The kids loved going up and down the escalators. Both kids liked picking out their own clothes. Justin got some new clothes. I was shopping with Nicole and all of a sudden Justin came out in a suit. Daddy put it on him and it was the cutest thing ever, tie and all. I loved it-I wish I had the camera. Then we went and played on the lights, they just love it. We rode on a few cars and just had fun. Then we came home. The kiddos wanted to go in their little pool. So naked they got and they had a blast playing together. They moved the dump truck over and filled it up and dumped the water back out. Nap was non-existent. Grandpa stopped by to see the kids. They played in his car for a bit and went for a little ride. The kids learned how to open the windows and sun roof. The kids liked getting in the trunk and crawling through to the back seat. It was fun! Then we came in and the kiddos watched Barney. They were a bit tired but didn’t nap. Then we went to the Spectrum and played. Bret and the kids went on the train. Justin wanted to go on the ferris wheel, so him and I went. It was fun, He kept on saying “going up and down”. We went on the carousal too and then grandma showed up. We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We had fun but the spectrum was so crowded. We came home and then bath. Grammy called from NZ. The kiddos talked to her for a while. They had lots to tell her. The kiddos were tired and went right to sleep.

We went to check out a Gymboree class this morning. It was a cute class; the kiddos had fun. I know I am biased but it seemed as though my kids were the best behaved. My kids waited their turns, etc. The music was great at Gymboree, but My Gym seems best for us. Then we met daddy for lunch. The kids had fun at his work. They liked playing with the water fountains there and walking on the rocks. We had lunch there and the kids were so happy to be with dad. We came home and the kids spent about 40 minutes in their cribs. They were chanting mommy, mommy, mommy so I finally got the kiddos out of their cribs. I let them watch Barney for a bit and all of a sudden I had two sleeping kids on the couch. They were sitting up sleeping next to each other, so cute. I moved them apart and laid them down. Now they probably won’t go down easily to sleep-ugh. After nap we played at home for a bit then went for a walk around the neighborhood with our doll strollers. Nicole made sure her baby had sun screen on and kept on putting up the sun shade. The kids were into everything while walking, rocks, running up and down people’s driveways and walkways, opening mail boxes, etc. Then we went out and got some dinner, played at a fountain, and played video games…we had fun. Then we headed to Costco to get a few things. We came home and played. The kids called grandma/pa to say goodnight. The kids wanted to read their favorite Zoe book but we couldn’t find it. Well it is almost 9:25 and the kids are still up babbling and don’t seem ready at all to go to sleep-ugh.