Melissa’s Blog

We had a nice relaxing morning, read the paper and ate breakfast. Daddy took the kiddos out to the green belt and played golf for a bit. I just cleaned up a bit and made a grocery list. The kiddos and I went to the grocery store. The kids pushed little carts for me and helped me shop. Shopping takes a while but is so nice as they love the little carts. The kiddos got balloons too. Nicole’s popped and the lady gave her another one. They were so excited that they could push their carts and hold the balloon at the same time. I love that it is the little things that make them so happy. When we got home the kiddos played with trains for a long time then we decided to go to the mall. The mall is a venture that really doesn’t include shopping any more. We ate lunch. Then we played on the lights, play area, the riding toys, etc. The kiddos had a great time and loved playing at the mall. When we got home the kiddos played with their balloons for a while, punching them and bopping them. Then we took out the wooden blocks and now there are blocks all over the futon room. They had a great time. It was funny to listen to them carry on a conversation, Nicole even asked Justin if he was going to poop on the potty. They are so cute together. Here are some pics from the block building:

Justin and I did blocks and Nicole and daddy used markers. Justin used the blocks as tracks for his trains. He especially liked the ramps. Blocks were everywhere but we had fun. After the kiddos wanted to do the big Dora puzzle so we all did it at the kitchen table. The kids can’t really do the puzzle on their own but they sure like trying. I decided to cook for the first time in a few years, yes I cook quick things but this was a real meal. It was nice to cook. I always feel like I am never organized enough to cook. The kids played outside while I cooked. They had fun shoveling the dirt. I can’t wait until our backyard is officially done. It is almost there. After dinner, Nicole re-discovered her princess CD player. She learned she could open it and change the cd. Both kids loved dancing to the music. It was cooler out so we wanted to take the kiddos out and ride bikes. Nicole wanted to stay home and play her cd player and Justin wanted to ride bikes. But Nicole didn’t want to be without Justin, so we all went to ride bikes. Both kids had to fill their baskets, the funny thing Justin took was a pretend turkey leg from their kitchen and Nicole took her cd player and her baby on her back. We had fun outside. We came home and read books. The kiddos went right to sleep.

Kids slept in again, love it! This morning I rode my bike a bit. Then we were out and about early to head to the RSM Lagoon. We had a great time. No one was there-we basically had the place to ourselves. The kids were all excited to go in the water. Nicole just loves the water so much. They were having fun running into the water. The lagoon is such a great place to take the kiddos. We played ball in the water, built sand castles, and buried and unburied daddy in the sand. We had lunch there too. Then took showers. Justin wasn’t too happy about the shower though. We stopped at Toys R Us in Mission Viejo on the way home. We are planning to get the kiddos new beds. We found Diego and Dora ones. So Toys R Us had the Diego one. I think we have to order Nicole’s online. The kids had a great time at Toys R Us. It was there grand re-opening, so they had hand painting. Nicole got hello kitty and Justin got Nemo. The kids played in the store. They loved playing on the cars then bikes. The only way I was going to look around was if they kids biked around. So we biked up and down all the aisles. Then the characters came out. There was yellow sunshine care bear, star wars characters, Strawberry Shortcake, and Geoffrey the giraffe. The kids were not too happy with the characters. Justin actually gave Strawberry Shortcake a high 5. Nicole was upset when she noticed the yellow care bear was behind her while on the bike. We decided to stop at Dairy Queen after and get some ice cream. It was a fun family day but we were all ready to come home. At home the kiddos watched some TV so they could get a rest. After we played at home for a bit, read some books, played in the futon room. Then we were off again. We wanted to try to go to the orange balloon at the great park again. We got there early enough that we were number 40 on the list. We had a picnic dinner with the kiddos and then just played on the grass. There were some entertainers out there. These people in a big sheet sort of thing (hard to explain) at first the kiddos were scared but then they liked them. Well liked them enough to give them high fives. One of the people were doing summer saults so Justin followed and did one too. The kiddos just ran around together and took everything in. We finally got on the balloon. They kids as they said it were super excited. They loved it. They commented on everything they could see below and when it was over, the kids said “I do it again”. It was really a fun night. Someday we will get the kiddos in bed earlier but somehow lately they aren’t in bed until 8:30. Everyone is sleeping 🙂

The kids slept in a little bit. But I heard them earlier, I think they only slept in cause I was on their floor. We were off early this morning to meet Vena. Vena and I got in a little walk around her neighborhood before play group. It was nice to walk and the kiddos did great in the stroller. Then we went to Vena’s to play for a bit. We couldn’t stay to long though. The kids still love Cole and Grant’s little guitars. We also went to the sing a long at Pottery Barn Kids in the MV Mall. It was so cute, the kids had a blast. The kids really liked this guy, they were dancing, jumping, clapping and participating. It was really crowded though but fun. Then we went and had lunch with some of our friends at the food court. The mall was pretty crowded today but we went into the play area after. The kids had fun. The climbed on everything, went down the slide, jumped, etc. Nicole liked playing with baby Tobin (Wendy). Then we went and walked through the mall and of course had to do all the kid things, light, train table at the Toy Professor, the Build A Bear store, etc. Nicole says her favorite part of the mall was going in the teddy bear store. I thought the kiddos may take a nap on the way home but no. Nicole had a melt down when we got home, ugh. Justin has been in underwear again at home, so far he does really well in the house. However yesterday while outside riding his bike he had an accident. He gets so distracted and forgets to go-guess I need to remind him often. One day it will just click. After tv time, we just played at home. The kids have never played so nicely. I was able to sit on the couch and work on Nicole’s tu tu I am making her. There was no fighting and they were sharing. They were playing ball together, building towers, etc. It was amazing! I started the cuckoo clock and the kids loved it. It was funny every time it cuckooed. Guess I have to turn it on once a year. Daddy came home and he fixed the tracks on the train table. The kids played trains while we made dinner. After dinner we decided to go up in the orange balloon at the Great Park. We got the kids so excited for it. When we got there, the line was too long. It sounded like we wouldn’t go up until 9:00ish, way past the kiddos bedtime. The kids kept on asking to go in it, we felt so bad. But they did enjoy watching the balloon and playing. The kids played on the grass and ran around. I love watching them play like that. They also watched these people dancing and gave them all high 5’s. We came home and it was time for bed. We went upstairs read a book-told stories and put the kiddos to bed.

This morning we heard Justin around 5:00ish, I guess heading downstairs. This is the first time he has ever gotten out of bed without telling us. Bret grabbed him and put him back in our bed. He was asleep soon after and slept in until 8:00. He looked so comfy in our bed. We were in a hurry to get out of here to go to pre school. I hate being late. The kids just love this pre school, it is so nice. Justin was into the trains as usual. Nicole wanted me to come outside with her, she played in moon sand. I got Justin to come out and play with the parachute. The kiddos loved the parachute. So cute to watch the smiles on their faces. Justin and Nicole loved when the blow up crab went flying up in the air on the parachute. The kids loved going under it too. Justin had fun playing on the play structure, climbing, sliding, and swinging. The kids went in for circle time; stories and dancing. Nicole and Justin participated so well. I love when they ask Justin something and he points with his finger as he talks. The kids did snack together while the moms and teacher had a discussion. Nicole was a little hesitant at first to go without me, but then she was off. After we came over and my friend, Wendy and her kiddos, Tobin and Camden, came over. I needed a haircut so badly so she cut mine and the kiddo’s hair. Nicole didn’t need a haircut but she wanted one. The kids did great. Wendy’s kids started melting down near the end. After lunch the kiddos and I just played at home. It was nice to be home playing. The kiddos played really well together for the most part. They were happy to be home too. We did the Dora puzzle on the kitchen table-they wanted to do it over and over again. Our backyard fence is still being worked on so we haven’t been in our backyard much. I finally decided to go out there. We hooked up the fishy sprinkler and the kiddos had so much fun. So cute to watch.

I actually sat for a few minutes and started on the tu tu I am making for Nikki. Then we decided to go out in the front and the kiddos rode their scooters. They also rode tricycles. They had so much fun outside. Daddy decided we all should go out to dinner, so we went to the Woodbury center. The kids had so much fun playing on the grass, running around and playing tag. Of course the kiddos pushed each other down but were laughing. The kiddos took their skateboard animals and Justin decided his doggie liked the grass better than the concrete. We had a fun night but had to come home to put the kiddos in the bath. The kids were kind of crazy in the bath for some reason. They were a little out of control tonight at home. I think they were just tired as they went right to bed.

We were out all day. It is nice to be at home. I had to go get a blood test today. I explained to the kids what we were doing and how they needed to act. I even bribed them by saying if you are good we can get ice cream after lunch. To my surprise they were excellent. They immediately sat right down and were the best behaved kids ever. I was so proud even though I did need to bribe them. I probably didn’t even need to bribe them but it doesn’t hurt. Nicole was so concerned about my boo boo-what a sweetie pie. After we got some bagels and went on our way to music class. The kids had fun in music class. They liked playing with the sticks and they also enjoyed climbing all over me. After music we went to Fashion Island. We went to Barnes and Noble and the kiddos played with the train table. I wanted to read books with them but they wanted to play trains. Finally Nicole found a potty book she loved. She said she loved it because of the little girl. There was a little boy there who was a nightmare, Justin and Nicole just kept on looking at him. I wish I knew what Nicole and Justin were thinking. This kid was out of control. Grammy met us there and then we had lunch. Nicole decided she needed a high chair. I let the kiddos bring their skateboard dog and cat. So they had fun pulling them around the mall. After lunch I promised the kiddos ice cream so off to Hagan Diaz. The kids both wanted chocolate ice cream. Who knew a cone could make such a mess. Justin was a little messier than Nikki. They had ice cream everywhere on their face, clothes, shoes, etc. But they loved it and they were so cute eating it. They were playing on the grass area. Security scolded me as he thought my kids were too far away from me. Everybody commented that it looked as though the kids liked ice cream. Serious mess! After the kiddos played in the area with the fish. They both wanted to go to Grammy’s house, so off we went. They played for a bit. Grammy bought them trikes and she put one together, so they both wanted to ride the one. Of course I had their trikes in the back of my car but they weren’t good enough. So Grammy tried to get the other one together but no luck. So we finally got in the pool. Nicole is a little fish these days, she loved it. Justin had fun too. They both jumped in and I caught them. They played on the stairs too. Justin got out first and Nicole stayed in for a long time. Justin even said he went pee pee on the potty. After we got out of the pool, we decided to stay at Grammy’s. Daddy came over too. The kids built cd towers and took turns with the one bike while dad built the other one. I was so impressed watching the kids share the bike. They were communicating well and taking turns without adult intervention, it was amazing. We had dinner but the kids didn’t eat too much. They were too excited to ride their bikes. They rode around the pool, having fun together, and filling the baskets on their bikes. They watched a little TV and then it was time to come home. The kiddos were tired, it was a long day. They went to sleep pretty quickly.

Busy day, I am exhausted. This morning was pre school morning. Since I was snack mom today I decided to drive. So nice not to walk in the warm weather. The kids had so much fun. They made octupuses with paper plates and staples and decorated them. So cute. Then they did more glue and glitter. They made fishy scenes. I think my kiddos used up all the glue and glitter. The kiddos weren’t outside much. They were into building tracks and playing tracks. Nicole wanted to dress up but that didn’t last long. They did so well at circle time while I prepared the snack. I am so nervous about leaving them for the first time. They love it there but they also love it while I am there. When I re-joined them at circle time the kiddos were so happy. After pre school we met our friends, Victoria, Vena. and Stacie at the Woodbury pools. My kids loved it! Nicole was so happy to be in the little pool. She was jumping in it and just loved it. I couldn’t even get her out to eat lunch. Justin loved it too but he was more into the fountains. I felt bad as I couldn’t leave Nicole to go over with Justin. But he was pretty happy over by the fountains and I could still see him. He would come running over to tell me he got all wet. The kids had as much fun in the showers as they did the pools. Nicole is doing so well with water in her eyes. Justin was busy with the sprayer shower head, spraying everything-the plants, me, Nicole, etc. Justin looked so tired so I decided to head to Costco hoping he would fall asleep. He fell asleep so fast-he woke up a little early this morning. At Costco, I got gas and then just had Nicole in the front sleep while Justin got a little more sleep. They had a great time in Costco. They loved the snacks and looking at the TV’s. Going to Costco with the kids is pretty easy. We came home and the kiddos watched TV while I got organized. Then the kiddos and I just played for a bit. We put up the kiddos new pictures from pre school and we played with the kitchen. The kiddos rode their scooters and filled their baskets on their scooters with pretend foods. We met our friend Stacie and Nikki at Chick Fil A tonight. It is kids night on Tuesdays. They had crafts, balloons, face/hand painting, etc. It was cute, a little crazy but manageable. The kids decorated balls and visors. Nicole got a pink cat painted on her hand and Justin got a blue dog. They played in the play area for a bit. They loved going in the yellow slide tunnel thing. We came home and the kids were pretty tired from our busy day. Off to bed and I am following soon. Right now Justin is singing and Nicole is saying Justin is waking me up-ha ha ha

This morning Justin shocked us by pooping in the potty! He did so great, we are so proud. He is doing so well with the potty. There is hope that he will be in underwear before pre school officially starts. I gave him M&M’s after. He was so proud of himself and we even called daddy at work to tell him. This morning we have been just playing, reading books. Nicole did markers while Justin played on the train table. I tried to clean up the house a bit, quick vacuum, etc. Vena and kiddos came over to play for a bit before we all went to story time. We went to Hush Baby for little bunny fu fu story time. The kids just love this story time-it is great. They love getting bopped in the head by bunny fu fu then kissed. They always wait patiently for the hand painting. Nicole got a pink dog and Justin got a blue dog, so cute. Then we went over to In N Out Burger for lunch. The kids were so good for me. We had a great time. We went to Michael’s after as I am going to attempt to make Nicole a tu tu. The kids love wearing these hats at Michael’s-they say they are picking out their costumes, like our Dora Halloween book we read to the kids. It was a pretty hot day, so Carin invited us to the Ladera water park. Well I debated about going and should have probably stayed home based on what happened. Well I got there and got the kiddos out of the car and realized I forgot their bathing suits. Of course the kiddos really wanted bathing suits. So off to Kohl’s we went. I found Justin a spider man suit but couldn’t find one for Nicole. I convinced her to go in the water with pink shorts and a Minnie shirt. Then on the way back to the water park, Carin called and said someone pooped in the pool and it was closed. Oh man! So we went to another little water park and a kiddo pool. Nicole and Justin had a great time in the pool. Nicole was jumping in and using her kick board. Justin lost his footing so in the water with my pants on. Oh well. Justin really wanted to go the fountain part of the pools, so we went over. Nicole and Sofi wanted back in the pool though. The kiddos got out of the pool and were starving. Lots of snacks and I couldn’t believe they stayed awake on the way home. We decided to skip dinner since so they had so many snacks. So we went to the grocery store. We tried to get one kiddo to stay home with daddy and one come with me. But the kiddos wanted each other to come to the store. So we all went. The kiddos put their dog/cat skateboards in the little carts and pushed them around. Nicole had a little melt down at the end of our store trip-all of a sudden she was starving. So we made a quick dinner and then played. We went upstairs and did our usual brush teeth, read books, etc. Hopefully soon it will be quiet up there.

We were out and about early this Sunday morning. Our first stop was Lowe’s. We needed to get all our Malibu lights working again. Thanks to Bret only one malibu is not working now. Then we headed to a kid’s furniture store. We are looking into new beds for the kiddos. Of course it wasn’t open. We were near Ikea, so we went over there and let the kiddos play. They had a great time, trying out the beds, crawling through tunnels, sitting in new chairs, etc. We were around our favorite sandwich place, Little Pickle, so we stopped there to get lunch. Then on the way home we stopped at the kid’s furniture store. The kids loved the bunk beds with the slides. it was really cute. But if we are going to keep both kids together then we can definitely not fit two of those in one room. The kids had a blast playing at the furniture store. There was this awesome castle/princess bed there but it was huge and so expensive. We came home and the kiddos played. They were happy outside, blowing bubbles and playing catch in their play house. They watched a little TV. Then we headed to the lagoon in Rancho Santa Margarita. We met my brother and baby Tierney there. We had a great time. No water slides like the lagoon here in Irvine but it was still great. The kids could go out pretty far with their head above water. I got to hold Tierney while Bret was in the water with the kids. Nicole and Justin loved it and enjoyed making sand castles in the sand. After Alan and Tierney left, we got back in the water with the kiddos. Just loved jumping on my knees and being thrown in the air over the rope and in his words like Shamu. Nicole decided she wanted to go under the water. So with daddy’s help under the water she went. She loved it, she did it about another 5 times. She went under the rope and was so proud of herself. Hopefully she will remember this next year for her swim lessons. It is amazing to go through the first things with the kids. This is the first time she has willingly went under water, so cute. We gave the kiddos showers there and off to a concert in the park in Irvine (Bruce Springstein tribute band). We met some friends there and had a picnic dinner. The kids had fun playing in Penny’s wagon and jumping out of it. We went over to see some guy blowing bubbles. The kids had a blast trying to pop the big bubbles. We both held the kids and let them reach way up high to pop the bubbles. It was cute. We had a great time. Kiddos were pretty tired from our big day, they went to sleep pretty easily. Oh I asked the kiddos what their favorite food it and I got ice-cream, not much of a shocker.

Well we had fun last night on our night out. We went to a friend’s birthday luau. It was nice to get out, definitely very weird. I can’t remember the last time we did something like this. We decided to go to Tanaka Farms this morning for the watermelon tour. We had a great time. Nicole was at first scared of the scare crown and wouldn’t take a picture but before I knew it she was posing in front of it. Justin said he was too scared. The kids were so well behaved on the wagon ride. They liked the big tractor. We got lots of veggies and fruits to sample on the wagon. The kids tried the tomato’s but did not like them. We got green beans and carrots which the kids liked. We got off the tractor and got to try so many more fruits. We got yellow cucembers, zucchini, canteloupe, and yellow and pink watermelon. The kids got to pick out a watermelon to take home. It was so cute watching the munch kins carry their watermelons.

We came home and just had fun playing at home. Justin wanted daddy to play trains with him. Nicole was making a rainbow out of the tracks. The kids played pretty well, at least while they were in different rooms. We tried to give the kids some quiet time in their beds, but they were wild. They just played and made a bunch of noise. Finally let them watch TV. We did some cleaning out today, gave some stuff away free on freecycle and sold the changing table too. Kind of sad, but opening a new chapter in our lives. Getting rid of the changing table makes more room for toys! Justin was pretty much in underwear most of the day while we were home. He did so well. I am so proud of him. We are getting there, slowly but surely. Nicole says she is helping potty training Justin. We decided to go down to the Woodbridge Lake and let the kiddos ride their trikes. They loved it. I think Justin could have rode for hours. We ran into Jacole and family. The kids rode around and played. They saw the ducks and Nicole wanted to take them home. There was a concert in the park too. By the time we made it over there, the kids wanted to eat. So we went over to Ruby’s and had dinner. The kids are liking food on sticks these days and ate an entire corn dog each. We went into Barnes and Noble-the kids read some books. Then they kept asking to ride bikes again, so we got them out of the car and they rode bikes around the lake. So cute watching them go down hills. We ran up and down the grass hill too. We just had a fun night. We are just tired and we still hear Nicole upstairs chatting away.

Well this morning we just took it easy and played at home for a while. Here is a picture of what the kiddos wore today. They looked pretty silly but so cute too with their boots. They just love their boots and Nicole loved wearing her ballerina dress.

We went over to Vena’s this morning. It was fun, lots of friends. My kids don’t get while the younger kids grab a hold of toys though. My kids mostly played outside. They loved Cole and Grant’s little guitars. After we went to the grocery store. The kids did so great helping me shop and push carts. We got home and had lunch. The kiddos haven’t been into eating lunch lately. After lunch we just played then I ran an errand. We came home and the kids watched TV. Our back fence is all pulled out now. It looks so nice all open. I wish we could have a huge yard, it would be so nice. Of course we want our privacy back and are looking forward to the new fence going up. The kids played so well today. We were in and out. The outside is a mess right now though. Then Grammy came over for dinner. We had dinner and the kids played. They played with the doggie bone toy and Nicole was really into diapering her baby. Every minute she needed a new diaper. The kids didn’t eat much dinner but they were all into the pudding. Then they wanted to use their fishy sprinkler but that only lasted a few minutes. It was cook though. Grammy is going to babysit tonight so we can go to a friend’s party. We are going to put the kids to sleep and sneak out. Too bad we are tired! We gave the kiddos to bath and then read books. Nicole has a new trick of jumping on one foot. And I wasn’t watching her as I was finishing putting away laundry. So she finally said “watch me, Melissa”, it as hilarious.