Melissa’s Blog

Our play group has moved to Fridays now due to our toddlers starting pre school comes fall. We were hosting. So we got the house all cleaned up then ran to the store. The kids had fun riding in the car cart at the store. Nicole got out and Justin loved having the car to himself. Nicole wanted to be in the basket. She stacked up toilet paper and made herself a seat in the basket. Too funny until she started bopping-I didn’t want her to fall out. She was very helpful at unloading the groceries. Justin got out to help too. Justin wanted to unload all the yogurt. On the way home we had to listen to the new music cd, if I hear the froggie song again, I may shoot myself. We played it over and over again, so far they don’t want to hear any other songs. So play group was fun. The kiddos all played in the water. Then we threw the balls in the water, it was cute. Of course it is a lot of work to have play group with snacks and clean up. I am sick of cleaning the house. But we all had fun and it was nice to see my friends too. All the kids ate lunch together. I thought my kiddos would go down for a nap, they were looking pretty tired. I was wrong, 45 minutes of trying I gave up. They watched TV instead while I made a brownie cheesecake for Bret’s birthday on Sunday. How can these kiddos not be tired, I am exhausted. After TV we played. We set up the kids froggie table in the futon room and they had fun playing with the umbrella and having their snack at the table, it was cute. We got out a bunch of old toys the plane and train with handles. I made a ramp and a tunnel for the train and plane to go through. These kids have such big imaginations that I need to get more creative with our play. Then we played with the wooden blocks. Daddy came home. I had cooked all week so it was time to go out for dinner. We went to Islands, we hadn’t been there in such a long time. It was fun, the kids liked the tiki decorations. Nicole was busy talking and looking at all the people at other tables. Luckily they liked kids and made her smile and laugh. The kids did great at dinner, drawing and sitting on my lap. After we went to a new park right by Islands. The kids had a great time. First they climbed, then played on the see saw, then swings. Both of them were going so high on the swings, Justin was giggling while going so high. Then the kiddos just ran all around the basketball court. It was so cute watching them, we were all smiles. We had to race them back to the car-if we didn’t make it fun to get back to the car we would have still been at the park. We came home and went right upstairs. The kiddos dragged a bunch of stuff in the empty room upstairs just for fun. I traded out books so the kiddos were happy to see their old books. Daddy read to them tonight. All is quiet in our household.

What a great morning. We played at home, got dressed, changed clothes as Nicole spilled, played with trains, the roller coaster, etc. Before I knew it was time for music class. We were able to walk there. It is in the old Von’s shopping center, at least for this month. It was fun walking, the kiddos wanted to ride in the Bob stroller. Then we went over to the Asian market to buy more sticky rice and the kids weren’t going back in the stroller. They had fun walking and playing. They saw cats in our old vet’s office. Both kids wanted to pet them, Nicole loved it. Then we headed to music class. It was cute to watch the kiddos in the class and see how much they have grown since last class. They both sit next to me, not in my lap any more. A little sad for me but way more comfortable. Nicole follows everything Ms. Judy does, it is amazing, singing, doing all the movements. Justin just sat there taking it all in. But by the end he was getting all into it as well. We had fun dancing together. We met Len and Jen (my old co-workers) for lunch. It was nice to see them-it has been too long. The kiddos were a little shy at first but then came to life. Justin actually fell asleep on the way to meet them. After we were right by Grammy’s so we stopped in to say hi. The kiddos had fun playing. They wanted to go play upstairs in the office. Nicole wanted to play with this little brush and pretend to paint kitty’s on our hands. Nicole fell asleep on the way home. We stopped at Costco on the way home as we needed more food. The kiddos had fun in the cart eating their way through. Who knew they liked cranberry juice. We had fun shopping, talking about all the stuff in the store. It was great until we saw a black man, and Nicole said I don’t like black man. UGH. Now she says she loves him. We came home and played and played. We made a mess in the house. Then daddy came home and the kiddos went outside. They played with bubbles and the sand box. We had dinner then the kiddos painted for a while. They love to paint. Nice and messy they painted their arms and hands-little artists. Luckily tonight is bath night. We gave the kiddos a bath. The kids found our electric tooth brushes tonight. What fun they had. They learned to turn them on/off pretty quickly. The kiddos were a little crazy tonight but Justin fell asleep during my stories. Either they were very boring or he was tired. Nicole needed her back rubbed but I think she is sleeping now. I am off to bed too.

Crazy kiddos this morning. Bret left early this morning. The kids ate breakfast and got all this energy. They were running around with the balloons, screaming, chasing each other…just having a great time. We got all ready to go to the Woodbridge lagoon again. The kids ate a huge breakfast that lasted like an hour, they kept on coming back over to eat more. We went to the lagoon, but the weather was kinda cool. The sun wasn’t out but that didn’t stop them from getting in the water. The kids went right in. They had a great time. They had fun playing in the water, playing on kick boards, and balls. They didn’t stay in the water too long and the minute they got out they wanted to put their clothes back on. We stayed a bit longer and ate lunch at the lagoon. We came home and played outside for a while. Of course I had to fill up buckets of water a million times. We played with balls and read books. Then the kiddos played in their room for a bit and read books, no nap. After I let them out of their room, they needed some down time. So we watched the usual Barney and Elmo’s World. After we had a snack and played outside for a while. Justin was into the Diego rescue pack and Nicole was playing with her Minnie towel, pretending it was a cape. The kids were getting a little cranky being at home, so we went to the front yard and played. The kiddos brought balls with them and hit them at the block wall fence. It lasted all about 2 seconds when Justin threw a ball over the fence. So we had to walk all around to get it. On our way we ran into a neighbor and stopped to chat for a while. The kids got to pet her white dog named Sumo. The neighbors gave the kiddos a purple ball. So we found Justin’s ball and came home. By the time we got home daddy was home. So we played a little more on the greenbelt then had to make dinner. After dinner, we played in the backyard. The kiddos played catch with each other. Both are getting so great at catching and throwing. They are so proud of themselves when they catch the ball. We went upstairs and played. Daddy taught the kids to spit in the sink after brushing their teeth, so they showed me their new trick. Nicole is great at it, Justin swallows it and then sticks out his tongue and has a big silly grin on his face. We read some books and off to bed.

This morning we got ready for the cleaners. This house really needs to be cleaned. We played at home for a while. The kiddos wanted me to read to them for a while. We read so many books that I started to get tired. We got ready as we were heading to the lagoon for swimming. The kids love it there, they had a great time. Both wanted to go down the slides. Justin was more into the slides today. Nicole was happy bopping up and down in the water. Nicole sat in the water and sand and played in the sand for a long time. The kiddos found beach balls that they were loving playing with in the water. The kids were so happy. I just love this place-I wish we could go all the time. The kiddos were so hungry that they ate lunch on the way home. We got home and the kiddos played in the back of my car for a bit then we played in the garage too. It was so nice to come home to a clean house-too bad it doesn’t last too long. We came in and played with doll stroller, put books in the back of their trikes, played in the futon room, etc. Then I tried having the kids nap. What was I thinking? You guessed it they wouldn’t nap. I think I even fell asleep for a few minutes. They were nuts, jumping up and down, hiding under their blankets, etc. I finally gave up and the kiddos are watching Barney and Elmo’s World. After the non-nap the kiddos were getting a bit cranky. So I decided to head to Castle Park. I think the stroller ride over revived the kiddos. When we got to the park they were in good moods and ready to go. We played a bit at the park. Then we took a ball to the back board and they both threw it at the wall and chased it. I think they could have done this for hours. Of course I didn’t bring two balls, so I became a referee. We also played by the soccer net. We had a great time at the park even though it was a little hot. We took our time and walked home. The kids threw the ball as we walked home and chased it too. We stopped at Krista’s to say hello. We played in their yard and house for a bit. We couldn’t stay long as we had to come home and make dinner. Justin loved the big tractor Matthew had. It moved forward and backward on its own. He was so happy playing with it. Nicole was happy playing with Ellie’s stroller and dolly. Matthew and Ellie gave Nicole and Justin stamps. They walked us out to the stroller, Ellie snapped Nicole in, so cute. We came home and made dinner. The kids played naked in the backyard for a while. They were loving the lizard in the backyard, they call him Mr. Lizard. When he disappears the kids say he went to find his mommy. We went upstairs to take a bath. The kids love the bath, they drew all over the clean tub, and played with a squirt gun in the bath. After bath, I went to Bunco. I hadn’t been in so long. It was so nice to go and hang out with friends. I had a great time. Bret had a great time with the kids. The kids stayed naked for a bit, did boat, and read a ton of books. Dad said Nicole was very helpful.

The kids love Mondays so they can watch the trash truck. We heard it this morning and watched it from the living room. The kids showed me how it dumped the trash too. We had to get ready for a play group this morning. So I cleaned up quickly and off to the store. I barely had any snacks to serve. I went to the store that had the little carts but the kids chose to go in the car carts. This made for much faster shopping. They stayed in the cart until the very end. Play group was really nice as it was a small amount of kids. My kids actually made more of a mess with all the toys after everyone left. It was nice to see other moms. After the kids helped me clean up a bit. Luckily the cleaners come tomorrow. Then my kids and I had lunch and then played for a while together. I think Nicole and Justin pretty much took everything out of the futon room and it all landed on the couch in the family room. Thats what I get for trying to prepare dinner. Well the kiddos didn’t nap-ugh. So they watched Barney and Elmo’s World and ate Cheerios and Cottage Cheese. We played at home for a bit. The kiddos built big towers, and we read books. The kiddos still need a few more clothes to get them through summer, so we ran over to Carters. The kids had fun playing in the store while I shopped. They played with the lego table and jumped on the hop scotch thing on the floor. After we went by Lowe’s and the kids played, jumped off the benches onto the grass. The kids had fun. We came home and decided to wash mommy car. What was I thinking with 2 kiddos? It went well for a while, Justin was hose man and Nicole helped clean with her pink cloth. It went great until it was time to dry. Justin still wanted to spray the car and Nicole wanted to keep wiping with a wet cloth. I finally convinced them to help me dry. It was fun washing the car with them. I even got to vacuum the inside out. What a mess. Justin continued to play with the hose while Nicole was inside the car as I vacuumed. Then they played in the car for a bit. It was a little tough to convince them to get out of the car and come in the house. I drove the car in from the driveway into the garage and the kids loved the tiny ride not in their car seats (I may regret this later when I try to get them strapped down). We had a yummy dinner, then we played outside in the yard with the kiddos. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Nicole rode in the Bob stroller, Justin walked and played a bit but then got into the stroller. It was a nice family walk. We came home and the kiddos started to melt down a bit. So we went upstairs and got ready for bed. Justin decided to do what he called laundry. His version of laundry is taking everything out of their sock/underwear drawer and throwing it everywhere. Luckily he is a good sport about cleaning it up. It is pretty silly. We read books, Nicole’s favorite book is Turtle Throws A Tantrum, where Justin is happy to read anything. Justin went right to bed tonight. Nicole was crying and when I went up there, she told me bears were coming. So we walked down the hall and showed her there were no bears and off to dreamland she went.

This morning we decided to head to Laguna Beach. We parked where we had to take a trolley/shuttle. The kiddos played in the rocks in the parking lot and were so excited to take the shuttle. We went to Main Beach. The kids had a great time. Justin wanted to go to the water right away. Nicole wanted to play in the dry sand. Justin had a big smile on his face every time he got wet. Nicole kept falling down in the dry sand purposely, silly girl. Nicole and I played in the sand for a while and Justin and daddy were in the cold ocean. I dug a hole and Nicole wanted to stand in it. We built sand castles. Grandma/pa met us at the beach. Nicole then decided to go in the water. She would run in and run out when the wave came, screaming all the way out. We had a picnic lunch from BJ’s on the beach which was nice. Then we took the kiddos over to the play area. On our way over though they had to jump into the sand again and again. We finally made it over to the play area and the kiddos were having a blast. But then I needed to change Justin’s diaper so we had to go back. By then though it was time to pack up and find the shuttle. On the way home Justin was asleep pretty quickly but he was so funny hanging onto his water cup. He drinks in his sleep! The kiddos slept in the car for a short while then they came in and watched Barney. Daddy needed a nap too. We went and gave the kiddos a bath, so we didn’t have to worry about it tonight. I also wanted to make sure there was no more sand and take off the layer of sun screen. After bath we ran to Great Indoors to look at a light. The kids had fun playing in the store, looking and touching everything. Then we went and met grandma/pa for a Chinese dinner. The kids did great at the restaurant. They ate well and sat the entire time. After dinner we had family fun time outside in the grassy area by the restaurant. It was great. The kids had a blast running around, chasing us, playing peek a boo, going on our shoulders, being swung, playing ring around the rosie. Just good old fashioned fun with no toys. We were all smiling watching the kiddos. We came home and the kiddos were still a little hyper. It is almost 9:30 and they are still talking away in their cribs. I am going to get ready for bed, I was up early this morning and the beach made me tired.

This morning we were out early to go to the swap meet. No time for breakfast either, so we stopped and got bagels on the way. We hadn’t had bagels in a long time with the kiddos, so the kiddos were thrilled. We picked up Grammy on our way. I am thinking about decorating the kids play room, so I wanted to go and look for a border. The border store wasn’t there today though. Anyway we had a great time walking around the swap meet. Nicole had to touch everything and got a little screamy when we had to move onto something else. Justin just went with the flow. Justin found a little toy he liked, so we got it for him. It is this little basketball thing. I got some more books for the kiddos too. The kiddos got to go in the bounce house. The only problem was the bounce house was in the sun, so even that was hot. The kiddos had a blast but were so sweaty and hot. We got them some lemonade to cool off. When I told Nicole she was going to get lemonade, she said “that will cool me off”. After we stopped at Grammy’s for a while. Bret needed to help her with a few things. I played with the kiddos in the play room. I read a ton of books to them and we played with the ball toys, the caterpillar, etc. Before we knew it it was lunch time so we stayed for lunch. We all ate outside which was nice. It took Bret a while more to finish up so we figured we would leave at nap time. Justin fell asleep on the way home, we drove a little more to get Nicole to sleep. They are much happier with a nap, even if it is for 15 minutes. Bret wanted to check out Irvine Lake, so we drove out there while the kiddos sleep (just a few miles up the toll road). I am glad we didn’t make an outing of it as we found out it is $20 a person, plus $9.00 a child just to get in. We came home and just wanted to play at home for a while. The kiddos played a bit on their own which was nice. Then we all played, we went outside. We made a stepping stone with the kid’s hand prints. I think it came out really nice. It was a little tricky to make. The kids loved putting their hands in the cement, Nicole wanted to do it again. The kids were happy playing in the backyard, of course Justin loved playing with the hose. Nicole was making dog and cat food in the sandbox. I cleaned up the sand a bit. What a mess in our backyard. We ate dinner and then decided to head to Castle Park. The kids rode their tricycles there, it was so cute watching them ride. Then we rode around the park. Stopping a zillion times to put pine cones in the back of their bikes. Justin was so cute-he got two pine cones and automatically gave one to Nicole. Then she started giving some to Justin too. I just love when they share. They had a great time riding their bikes. Justin almost didn’t want to stop and play at the park. When he saw Nicole playing at the park he stopped. Justin went on the swings first on his belly. Nicole went on the play structure. Then they both were on the play structure, climbing, hanging, sliding, and jumping. It was a great family night. The weather was perfect and the kids were great. We came home and all the pine cones are now in the house-ugh. When we got home, it was time to get the kiddos upstairs and ready for bed. The only bad part of the little nap is it is 9:15 and the kiddos are still awake.

It feels like Sat, it is nice to have daddy home and extra day. We got the kids ready to go for the Woodbridge parade. I wish I knew little ones could have participated-I would have definitely decorated their trikes or cars and let them be in it. Anyway it was a cute family parade. The kids seemed to like it. Of course they liked when people threw candy our way. After the parade, we ran to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner at a friends tonight. The kiddos were getting a little cranky but I think they were just hungry. They seemed to be happy when we gave them lots of grapes and ate an early lunch. After lunch the kiddos played outside in the back yard. They had fun playing and fighting over the hose. Nicole was stepping in the mud. We finally came in and decided to give the kiddos a bath. They were pretty silly after bath. We tried to get them down for a nap. I gave up at 2:15. Oh well no nap, hopefully they won’t be too cranky tonight. We may have to miss the fireworks since they didn’t nap. In their beds, they were cracking each other up, I was even laughing even though I wanted them to nap. They were jumping and crazy. Whenever Justin jumped Nicole laughed so hard. After non nap, the kiddos watched Barney and Diego. Then we went to Vena’s for a 4th of July bbq. It was really nice, Candice and Victoria were there too. The kids had a blast. Vena has a blow up pool with a slide. Nicole and Justin loved it, Nicole especially. The kids all played so nicely. We brought our fish sprinkler too and Justin really liked that. Justin was having fun making baskets. I think they like the mini basketballs-we may have to get one for the kiddos so they play with our basketball. Nicole loved Cole and Grant’s kitchen with the bbq. Nicole was loving the bbq and flipping burgers. Justin loved playing with the flashlight. We had a great dinner. Of course Nicole wanted to sit in one of Grant and Cole’s booster seats. Justin was happy sitting at the picnic table with the other kids. It was a great evening with our friends. Surprisingly Nicole only had one melt down, not bad for no nap. Of course we got the kiddos down later than we thought, so we should have just went to fireworks. Oh well next year. We are too tired.

I was way too tired to blog last night, so finishing this morning. I went to bed at 9:00 with the kiddos. It is 6:00AM and the house is so nice and quiet.

This morning we met some friends (Vena, Candice, and Victoria) at Partopolis. It is a bounce house place. It was great for the first hour we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Nicole and Justin went right for the slides. They both jump before going down and actually jump so high you see air. Scary but they thought it was so silly. They had fun in the bounce houses. I had a great time jumping with them too. We jumped for a while until it was getting crowded. Then the kiddos went over to the toddler area. They played on rocking dogs, climbed on the little play structure, played in the play house, etc. Then they found the air hockey table. That occupied them for a while. After we went up to Foothill Ranch and had lunch with our friends, 3 sets of twins! We went to Peppino’s and was so impressed at how well al the kids did. I am in the kid’s room right now trying to get them to nap since we are having friends over tonight. Oh my god, they are addinf gray hair to my head. I changed Justin’s diaper, and they are both screaming “I made a stinky”. This is never going to work. They are singing the Barney song together. Just go to sleep, if it was me I would be sound asleep by now. Oh I think it may be working after 20 minutes, one down one more to go. They both finally went to sleep-ah. They slept for about an hour. I will take anything. I got ready for our friends to come over while the kids napped. After nap we had snack and read some of our new library books. Nicole was a little cranky though after nap which was weird. She snapped out of it after about an hour or so though. Anyway Jacole, Andy, and Nathaniel came over for play and dinner. It was nice. The kids played so well. We played inside for a while then when Bret lit the bbq we all went outside. It was a nice mellow night hanging out with friends. Nicole and Justin rode the king chair carousal again, they love it! Outside, the kiddos played in the sand box and painted with water. Like I said I was so tired last night, I just laid on the kid’s floor when they went to sleep. Nicole was so cute wanting to kiss and hug me while I was on the floor. I think I fell asleep before both of them.

Oh and I was only able to get one picture at Partyopolis as my camera battery died, so I will update when my friends send some pics.

This morning we just played at home for a while. The kiddos were busy playing with their pirate ship. For some reason they had to carry it around all over the downstairs. There was a little fighting but for the most they worked together carrying it around. It was silly. Then they had to go to work like daddy. They said goodbye to me, gave me a hug and kiss and off on their scooters they went. Then their scooters became planes. Then the king chair became a carousal (pic below). What imaginations! We went to pool day with the mom’s club today. Justin and Nicole had a great time. They went right into the baby pool and loved it. Nicole brought her floatie. They were all smiles in the water getting all wet. They had fun filling up buckets and pouring them out. They love getting me all wet. After we took showers in the outdoor showers and the kids loved that as well. Makes it easier as no bath tonight. They are silly kids. We came home and had lunch and then read a ton of books. I thought I could mellow them out enough to take a nap but no! So we watched a little TV. Uncle Alan stopped by on the way home from work since he had the baby with him. Nicole was happy to see the baby and immediately wanted us to change the babies diaper. Nicole and Justin were watching TV so they were going back and forth watching the baby and watching TV. I got to feed Tierney and play with her. She was happy lying on the changing table watching the mobile. Uncle Alan and baby didn’t not stay very long. After they left, the kiddos and I just played a bit. I was wondering if I would have two cranky kids this afternoon. Basically if you did everything they wanted you were all set. I needed to run to Target for a few things, so we got out of the house before crankiness set in. They just rode in the double cart thing, man I hate pushing that big thing. But they were happy. After Target we ran to the library. We walked in and a story time and craft was just starting. None of the kids weren’t really into the story time-they were all excited for the craft. The kids made sparkly masks. Nicole and Justin love squeezing glue. We had more glue then anything else. But then they covered their masks with glitter. Glitter everywhere. Then they crumpled up tissue paper and glued it onto the paper as well. Nicole liked crumpling, Justin wanted more glue. We went up and checked out some books. The kids were getting into everything, all the books, the computers, etc. By the library is a great grass area, so we played there for a while. The kids decided the gazebo area with a bench in it was a bus. So we pretended to drive it. The kids ran around and found a few bunnies as well. It was pretty nice. We called dad and had him meet us there too. Then we went across to the Marketplace for dinner. We ate outside and the kiddos wanted to feed the birdies. Justin was playing with ice and he was such a sweet kid and shared with Nicole. We came home and headed upstairs to try to get the kiddos down for an earlier bed time. 8:30 and it is quiet in the house. They were exhausted.