Melissa’s Blog

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.

Sunday 6/15, Father’s Day. Bret and I were busy getting ready for Vegas in the morning. We played with the kids in the morning and gave them showers. We played outside for a while with their trikes. They watched daddy mow the lawn then I took them for a walk to find grandma/pa. Grandma/pa were staying with the kids while we went away. It was so hard to leave my precious kids but knew they were in good hands. It was so nice being away with Bret. The best 24 hours we have had in a long time. It was so relaxing. We got to Vegas, rented the car, then went to our hotel (Mandalay Bay). I love that hotel. We decided to go hit the pool. They have a lazy river ride, so we got some rafts and just went around and around (so relaxing). It was so nice not be in a rush and just to do whatever we wanted. We sat by the pool in the shade and just talked and enjoyed being together. Of course we talked about the kids! We had a great prime rib dinner at this  excellent steak house. It was a perfect evening. I was so tired though, too much relaxing for me, so we called it an early night. In the morning, we just took it easy again. Got some coffee did a little gambling. The gambling wasn’t going so well. We lost a little, no big deal it was fun playing. We went to our favorite Burger place for lunch, The Burger Bar. Of course twins work there so that made us miss our twins. After lunch, we did more gambling, walk around, went to the toy store for the kids…..All of a sudden the day was over and it was time to come home for me. As much as I missed the kids and was excited to come home, I was sad to leave Bret. I miss him so much. When I got home, Nicole greeted me with a big hug where as Justin basically just said hi mom. He was happy playing outside in the water table. It was so good to see my munch kins and hear all about what they did. They went to My Gym, baked cupcakes, played inside and outside, just had a great time with grandma/pa. So great to come home and see them so happy. Tonight grandma and I took them to Chick Fil A for dinner. They played in the play area a bit and had a great time. They were wild tonight. It is 10:00 and Nicole is still not asleep-ugh. Time for me to go upstairs now too.

I love the weekends with my family. This morning we went to Hicks Canyon Park with the mom’s club for donuts with dad. It was fun. Nicole woke up early so daddy and her went and got the donuts and coffee of course. We ate breakfast then headed to the park. The kids were so happy to be at the park. We all went on the see saw together. Nicole was into playing in the sand. Justin was all over the park climbing, driving, etc. We could only stay at the park for a short time as I was going to get a pedicure and Bret was going to help someone with their computer. Grandma met us at the nail place. Grandma treated Nicole to a manicure and a pedicure. Nicole got purple polka dots on her nails and white ones on her toes. I got crazy blue toes. After we met grandma/pa at The Hat for lunch. Nicole had fun playing with the straws and Justin was trying to climb all over the booths. It was a nice morning. Nicole seemed so tired so I thought the kids would nap, but I was wrong. So we gave up on naps and the kids had some quiet time in the futon room. Then we watched Barney and Elmo’s World. It was such a nice day so we played in the yard. We got the water table out and naked kids and we were good to go. I put ice in the water table too and the kid had a great time with ice. For some silly reason they were putting the ice on the door mat and laughing hysterically. They were also splashing and giggling. I just love when they laugh together. They were also sticking one foot in the water table then running in the house laughing. Of course water everywhere in the house. They had a great time in the back yard. We came in and played some more. All the cushions were off on the couch so the kiddos had a blast jumping on them. We decided to go to dinner at some bbq place in the marketplace. Here is where we were feeling like Nicole should have napped. It ended up working out ok though. Bret ordered food and I took the kiddos to the fountains and the escalators. By the time we go to the dinner table Nicole had perked up again. We came home and played on the green belt. Justin played golf and Nicole played with the big blue ball. It was fun until Justin accidentally hit Nicole with the golf club-ouch! We came in and the kids rode their tricycles, crashing into each other laughing. We went up stairs and read books. Then I told them stories about Sally and Billy (made up) and they love it, then off to bed.

Well this morning I was supposed to go to the park with the multiples group but it didn’t sound like many people were going, so I cancelled the event. I felt so bad as someone did show up. So instead the kids and I just had a great time. We played at home for a while. The kids love playing in the yard, swinging to hit the tree, sandbox, bubbles, etc. They also helped me pick up some leaves. We also went to the grocery store. The kiddos had fun pushing carts of course. The kids picked out balloons for daddy for father’s day but I think they just really wanted balloons. One says king of the grill which is perfect as daddy is getting a new grill 🙂 We came home and had lunch. The kiddos were so silly. They would turn on their radio toy then run around. When it turned off they would come running back in the futon room and turn it on then off running again. Silly munchkins. They played with their drawing toys and I read some books. Well the kiddos seemed to be a little tired so forced napping started. I stayed in there room until they fell asleep. Usually when I do that they are so hyper and it doesn’t work. Since it worked today they must have been tired. I forgot how nice nap time was and having time to myself. I gave the kiddos a shower after nap since we were heading to Grammy’s tonight. It was bath night and it is easier to give them one here. The kids were really great since I was showering them by myself. The kids miss their bath but they are getting used to their showers. I let them play with the shower head and squirt me too. After bath we had a snack. Then the fun began. We played in the front yard. We got the tricycles out. I told the kids not to go past the red car and they listened and they had so much fun on their trikes. Then we got balls out and went on the green belt. We got the huge exercise ball. Nicole wanted me to throw it in the air a zillion times. Justin brought out a golf ball, so I asked him to go get his golf club too. He learned how to play golf today. So cute he was so proud of himself. We just had a great afternoon. The kids kept running in the house and getting stuff. Of course baby had to come out. It is really nice living right next to the green belt. Then daddy pulled up, the kids were so excited to see him. Shortly after daddy got home we left for Grammy’s house. The kids say they are scared of the planes on the way to Grammy’s. We also got to listen to the Barney I love you song and the wheels on the bus the whole way there. It is really cute for 5 minutes. The kids had fun at Grammy’s. They played in the play room and out in the back with us. They wanted to put chairs by the pool and watch the water in the pool. Justin and Grammy were playing catch with his jammies and he was laughing so hard. He thought it was the funniest thing ever. Then Nicole got in the action too. I love hearing the kids giggle so much. Well 9:30 and it is finally quiet up there. We are off to bed too.

We were up and out the door this morning to go to Messy, Muddy, Hands, and Toes class. What a great class. It was all outside today. I tried to keep the kiddos dry until the end. We had so much fun. We first used stamps and paint. That is where the mess began. They had so much fun with the stamps. Then we used brushes with paint and painted with balloons. Some gluing as well. But once they noticed the shaving cream they were off. There was a pool filled with shaving cream. They both would touch it with a finger then have a big grin on their faces, so cute. They put it all in their hands and then would run and wash their hands. It was cute to watch them. Then they found the pool of water. The water was warm too. They went right in. They were sitting in the water and playing. Justin’s diaper weighed about 10 pounds. The kiddos didn’t even make it to the mud, they were just having so much fun playing in the water. I was a bit nervous with Nicole sitting in the water with her bladder infection but she wasn’t in it for too long. Of course Nicole was all wet and wanted to get into dry clothes as fast as possible. I got some great pictures from class. After we went over to the park for a bit. The kids played. It was so cute all the kids (Stacie’s, Candice’s, Vena’a, and mine) were all in the little play house. They were pretending that it was someone’s birthday. Everyone was singing happy birthday, etc. It was so cute. Then we had to leave to go run some errands. We stopped at Old Navy to get a gift card for Neyha since she is moving. The kids had a blast playing in Old Navy-there was a bench with a dog on it and they kids loved sitting on the bench next to the dog. We went over to TJ Maxx as well while we were over there. We came home and had lunch and played. The kiddos were kind of cranky. So I decided not to fight them on nap, instead I put them in the jog stroller and went for a walk. It was great to go for a walk but hot. Justin fell asleep first and Nicole woke him up-I was so mad. She just wanted to play with him. He fell back to sleep and she fell asleep too. They only napped for about 30 minutes but at least it was something. After they watched a little TV and then we went to Blue Gum Park. Thought I would get them out of the house since I was planning to go out with some friends tonight. Vena met us at the park. The kiddos had a great time. Vena made banana smoothies and brought Justin and Nicole some. Of course they loved it! The kiddos all played in the sand together, played in the play house, etc. It was so cute watching all the kiddos. On the way home we ran to Costco to get some fruit. Then it was time for me to leave to meet some friends at Macaroni Grill for Neyha’s going away party. It was so nice. I had a great time hanging out with my friends. It was a nice get away for me. I always say this but I need to do this more often. The kids had a great time with daddy. The best part for me was coming home. I missed the kiddos so much. I got the biggest hugs and kisses. It was so sweet. We had to sing the I love you song (Barney). Of course Nicole told me to hold hands and stand up like Barney. What a great way to come home to my family. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Not sure if nap was a good idea as it is 9:30 and Nicole is still awake-ugh. It doesn’t seem to matter how long they nap they still have trouble going to sleep if they nap.

We got out early this morning for a trip to Orchard Park. We had a great time. I had so much fun playing with the kiddos. We played in the sand for a while. No fighting, just playing nicely together. The kids played in the swings for a bit. Then they were sliding down the slide a zillion times. I would high five them or tickle them when they came down, they were laughing so hard. Then they were playing chase each other. Nicole loved it when Justin chased her rather than the opposite. The weather was perfect and we had a blast. We came home and we just played outside in the yard for a while. The kids had fun with the rescue pack, bubble, sand box, etc. We had lunch and played upstairs for a bit. The kids had some quiet time in our bed and I did some ironing while they relaxed and drank water in our bed. We went down to their room for quiet time and read books. This afternoon we went to our My Gym class. The kids had a blast there. They follow everything Neil does for circle time. Also they actually let Neil do some things with them, usually they say I want mommy. Justin and Nicole taught all their friends (Ashley and Jordon) to jump in the ball pit. They were just cracking up while jumping in. The kiddos have become so independent at the gym. They loved playing with the balls and then there was a bubble storm. Neil was teasing the kids as to when the bubbles were going to start and you should have seen Nicole’s face she was so happy when they started. They had fun popping them and chasing them. We came home and I had two tired kids. We had dinner and then went upstairs. We gave the kiddos showers tonight. I think Nicole’s bladder infection is much better. She was able to wear underwear all day with no issues. Luckily we caught it early enough. So we had a mellow night, reading books. Nicole wanted me to read the same book over and over again. We put them to bed a little earlier and I had to tell them lots of stories. But they are sound asleep.

Poor Nicole. She only needed to get up once at night though. She is wearing a pull up. When she is not distracted though she wants to use the potty a lot. Anyway we went to Heritage Park in Tustin this morning. It was fun, cute park. The kids had a great time; they were happy to be at the park. They loved haging onto this bar thing and I held them too. Then it slid to the other side. Big smiles while they were on it. I just love to see them smile and hear them laugh. Nicole stayed in the swing for a while. Justin was really into going on the big swing. The kids had their snack at the park. I have never seen two kids eat so much cantalope. We were at the park for a while and came home to a clean house. I love that. The cleaners were still here and Nicole and Justin were very intrigued. They were trying to play peek a boo with the cleaners. I played outside with the kiddos while the cleaners finished. Then we had lunch. After quiet time I let the kiddos watch some TV. I needed a break. After I needed to do a return at Kohls. The kids were into everything, touching all the clothes, trying to get stickers off the clothes, playing with the baby bibs, the toys, etc. Needless to say doing a return sometimes is not an easy task. We then went to the gym for open play. We didn’t stay too long but the kiddos had fun. They ran down the ramp, played with all the balls, etc. We came home and had dinner. Justin pulled a kitchen drawer out and dropped it on his big toe, ugh. He is ok but I am sure it hurt. We took a walk around the neighborhood using the jog stroller. Justin brought a car with him and Nicole grabbed a tractor. It was a nice walk, we saw bunnies. We came home and drove the cars for a short time. Then it was time to go upstairs. Daddy did boat rides then read books and off to bed. Nicole loves when I tell her stories now. I told her a story about a little girl named Sally and she loved it.