Melissa’s Blog

Well on the way to a make up music class, the kiddos decided that they saw Santa. All of a sudden they both started screaming Santa, when I looked up it was just an Asian guy. It was so funny when the kids went running up to him yelling Santa. Then the guy got on the bus and the kids were screaming Santa got on the bus, it was pretty funny. The make up music class wasn’t with Ms. Judy, you can really tell a difference when Ms. Judy isn’t teaching. Parents talking and not participating, it was kinda sad really. I think I was the only one dancing with my kiddos. After we did a few errand and then I took the kiddos to Hush Baby for story time. It was so crowded that I wanted to leave but Nicole wanted to stay. It actually cleared out midway and the kids ended up having a great time. They liked singing the Old McDonald Song and they brought the puppy instead of the bunny. After I took the kids to In N Out Burger. They were so good for me there but near the end they weren’t listening at all. They were standing outside of all the stores saying take a picture of me. Here are the pics:

Nicole actually fell asleep on the way home and Justin followed shortly. They needed a nap today. After nap we went and did another errand then came home to play. Uncle Alan stopped by with surprises from Monterey Bay Aquarium. They got Sea Otter puppets and cool cups with twisty straws. They loved them both. Nicole loved looking at the pictures from the fair that Alan brought over. After Alan left the kiddos played with the hose, washed their trikes, dug in the dirt. Nicole played baby. I am working on Justin potty training again and this afternoon he did great. All proud of himself for going in the potty. Daddy came home and we had dinner. Then we went to Castle Park. The kids rode their tricycles, so cute watching them ride together. They rode around the park and picked up a zillion pine cones on the way and put them in the back of their bikes. They ran around so happy to find pine cones. They played at Castle Park for a bit, on the play structures. Went down the big slide and in the castle. We had a great time as a family, it was really nice. The weather was perfect. We came home and read a ton of books and the kiddos went to bed. We read Diego’s Wolf Pup Rescue and there is a part that mentions the pup licks Diego on the cheek. Well our kids decided to lick us too. The problem was they didn’t stop and their tongues were freezing from drinking ice water. Anyway it was so funny we were all laughing so hard. I was laughing when I told them to get daddy. Silly kids.

Since we played so much yesterday today we wanted to get some stuff done today. I took a walk by myself this morning. It was so weird not pushing a stroller or entertaining kids-it was nice but boring. Justin kept on saying he wanted to ride his bike at the park. So we loaded up the kids and bikes and went off to Blue Gum. They were so excited to play at the park. They were into climbing up this thing with a chain and then sliding down the slides. It was so cute watching them be so happy to be at the park. After the park we had to go to Target. We needed to buy a bigger tent. We are planning on going camping one night next weekend with some friends. Sounds like a lot of work for one night but should be a lot of fun. I needed to get an oil change for my car so we went to do that. We ate lunch while we were waiting for the car to be done. There was a TV there with the CARS movie on, so Justin was loving watching it. Then I took the kids to Toys R Us while Bret waited for the car. Nicole found a Hello Kitty doll she loved and carried it around. The kids were loving playing in the cars/jeeps, etc. I looked at doll house stuff for Nicole. We came home and the kiddos got their TV time. At the end of TV time Bret was using the hose and Justin gave up TV time to see what was going on with the hose. Justin just loves the hose. I think I changed his clothes twice today as he was all wet! We got the pool out and the kiddos splashed around in that for a bit. They played with the dump truck and the dirt in the backyard. I got rid of the sand and now I have to deal with dirt. Only until we get our new fence though then we can landscape. The kids just had a blast outside today. Bret was able to start on the sprinklers and I did a little cooking and laundry. Then I wanted to run to a store so the kiddos and I went leaving daddy to work on sprinklers. I saw a sign for a free music thing in the park so I called daddy and he met us. We had a picnic dinner with the kids and listened to the music. I wish I had my video camera to tape the kiddos dancing. It was so cute. They ran around the grass, circled and hung on trees, etc. They had a great time. I regret not going to more of these earlier in the summer. There was a little hill by the band so the kids had a great time playing on it, running and rolling up and down. The kids waved to the drummer and Justin especially liked being up close to the band. We had a great family night! We had to leave a bit early as the kids really needed a bath. Came home and did a quick bath. Didn’t even have time for books tonight. Just a little rocking and some stories and the kids were sound asleep.

This morning I needed to go for a walk. I haven’t gotten any exercise in so long. So the kiddos got in the Bob stroller and off we went. It was fun as they were looking all around and making comments. They say a bunny and a lizard. They did great in the stroller. We came home and had to get ready to go to Matthew and Ellie’s 4th birthday party. It was a beach themed party. Nicole even said she loved this party. They had a blast playing in the water. Krista took a slide and had it slide into the pool. Justin and Nicole had a blast sliding into the pool. They were a little intimated by the big kids but did follow them too. The big kids went down backwards so that give Justin and Nicole the idea. They also played in the sprinkler too. Justin is such a water boy-he was so wet. The kiddos decorated little bags too. Nicole colored mostly with pink where Justin wanted every color. It was a lot of fun and the kids love cake.

We came home and the kids were playing with their stuff from the goodie bag. I had a bright idea to try and get them to nap but that was not happening. The kiddos watched TV and daddy ran to Home Depot. I also polished Nicole’s nails for the first time and of course she wanted pink polish, so cute. After we went to Cole and Grant’s 2nd birthday party. It was a really cute party. The trackless train was there and all the kids were pretty much sitting on the front steps watching the train be put together. Justin and Nicole were so excited to ride on it. They actually rode on it by themselves but Nicole didn’t seem too happy about it-Justin just waved and said goodbye. Then we went on with the kids a few times. Then the kids just played with all the toys. It was hard keeping track of the kiddos as they were both going in two different directions. I knew they would be safe but I still like to keep track of them. Justin was riding this scooter thing (baby toy) down the hilly driveway with his feet up, so funny. Nicole was really into playing with the kangaroo climber in the house. The kids had a great time and played really well. Nicole and Justin both said they love parties. Of course for the ice cream cake we asked the kiddos if they needed help and we got I do it myself. Both parties today were great and the kids really had a fun day! When we got home the kiddos were wild. They were playing with their trains they got in their goodie bags and drinking out of their train cups. Finally got them upstairs and got them ready for bed. Nicole put her shirt on herself. It was so cute as she was so proud of herself. They are sleeping and I am following.

Seems like a short week since Bret was with us until Thursday. This morning we had to get ready for play group here. Lots of cleaning, etc. The kids were having fun playing in the dirt in the backyard, dirt everywhere. We went out and got some bagels and ran to the store. Justin and Nicole were fighting over all the toys. They were going to kill one another over the fire engine. I was getting so frustrated, so I finally pulled them away and we took a break on the stairs. The kids did well sharing with the other kids. Justin and Nicole are really getting into doing artsy stuff. So they sat at the kitchen table and colored and stamped all over their arms. They both look like they have some disease.

Neyha, Krish, and Isha were visiting too, so they came to play group. What a great surprise and it was great to see them. Nicole and Justin wanted to give Krish a hug and Nicole was into playing with baby Isha. The kids are getting a little crazy with balls in the house. The cover on our kitchen light got knocked off. After everyone left, we cleaned up for a bit. The kids played outside for a while. They played so well. They both painted the windows with water. They loved it when I was inside and came up to the window. They rode trikes, played on the see saw, and played with their squirty toys. They were playing so well together-it was so nice. The kiddos watched TV then Carin (Sofi and Mylee) came over to play. The kids decided to take all the cushions off the couch and jumping they went. It was cute but I don’t think I will ever have cushions on my couch again as they just had too much fun. Then we decided to go to the Spectrum as I had a few errands to do. We had to go to Target. Then I decided to let the kiddos play in the fountains. They had a blast! I got them cups and they watched them go up in the air. It was cute to watch them so happy. We came home and made dinner. Then the kiddos played with their trains and it was so hot in the living room that we dragged the kids to the backyard. They made baskets and got on their see saw again. They were all into swinging as high as they could go, touching the peach tree. The kiddos were wild and silly tonight. Bath was crazy with so much water ending up on the outside of the tub. They wanted to read a ton of books tonight then we laid down with them while we told stories.

Well now it is like we never left. This morning we got up and got ready for pre school. The kids were so excited to go to school-it was cute. We got to school and the kiddos were running around playing. First they played inside for a while. Then they headed outside and played with the water table. It was so cool-the water was blue like the ocean with all sorts of fake ocean animals in it. Both kids were amazed by the sea star. The kids also painted. I think Nicole painted like 10 pictures. Justin played with the cars and balls outside too. After going in the kids separated. Nicole played with the shopping cart and baby and Justin headed for the trains. It was nice seeing them so independent. They also did the messy crafts-gluing tissue paper to a fish and dot markers. The kids participated in circle time so well. We had a great time. On the way out the kiddos got buckets and fishy/octopus soap. The soap is now all over the carpet and the couch. But it was still cute. We needed to go to the grocery store. The kiddos pushed the little carts and were so good helping me shop. What a lot of work it is shopping with 2 kids. We came home and had lunch. Then headed to Costco. The kids wanted Brittany to push them in the Costco cart. They miss Brittany. The kids had so much fun at Costco and got a bunch of snacks. We came home and the kiddos watched TV. They were so happy to be watching Barney again. The kids are really into their Mickey and Minnie learn to dress dolls and they are even watching Barney with the kids. After TV we just played for a bit. The kids played trains and Nicole put trains down for a nap, silly girl. Justin built a big track. The kiddos pushed stuffed animals in their doll strollers. Daddy had to go to dinner with some co-workers so we headed over to Paula’s to play. The kiddos had a great time. First they put together a bug track and made the trains go around, Justin loved it. Nicole was really into the baby things, crib, car seat, etc. She even got to push baby in the swing, she loved it. The kids were so happy playing with the new toys. We all had dinner together. Justin ate really well, Nicole was too excited to get to the doll house to eat. Maybe it is time to get my old doll house out for her. We finally made it to the park. The kids were crazy and had a blast at the park. Lots of smiles and giggles along with climbing, sliding, etc. We came home and had to go upstairs and get ready for bed. The kiddos were pretty tired and went to sleep pretty easily.

We had a great time in Vegas. The kids were fantastic. We left on Sunday, 8/3. After pretty much packing up the house to bring with us, we were on our way. The kids were great on the long 4 hour drive. Justin fell asleep for a short bit and we stopped in Barstow for lunch. I couldn’t believe Nicole stayed awake the entire drive. The kids kept busy using their drawing toys, reading books, musical books, kids laptop, etc. I also had to read a bit. We saw the temperature keep rising, I think the high was 107. When we got to Vegas the kids were so excited to be in the hotel. We stayed at the MGM and the kids were just looking around at the hotels, they liked the lion on the outside of our hotel and liked the castle too (Excalibur). We got up to our room and had a view of everything. The kids got on the ledge and kept calling everything out they saw, the monorail, planes, helicopters, all the cabs, even pink ones (Nicole liked those)…I think they would have been happy looking out the window for hours. We walked around Vegas a bit and did the touristy things, the m&m store, Nicole wanted pink m&m’s and Justin wanted all colors blue, green, yellow, etc. We decided to go swimming. It was hot so we waited until after dinner when the sun wasn’t so hot. The kiddos loved the pool. Justin was so excited to be in his floaty and pretty much was swimming around, kicking, etc. He had the happiest little grin on his face, it was so cute. I had to assure Nicole I wouldn’t let her go under water.  On the way back from the pools, we had to stop and play on the lights. The lights had swim fishing, so here are Nicole and Justin in the middle of the lights laying down pretending to swim like fish. They had a great time. The next day Monday-we took a ride on the monorail. The kids were so excited to go for a ride on the monorail. We took it to the Hilton and walked over to Circus Circus. The kids had a great time at this hotel. They played a ton of games and rode on a ton of little rides. They liked all the circus games too. Justin won a penguin and Nicole won a basketball stuffed thing. We also watched the circus acts, the kids liked the swinging trapeze. After getting back to the MGM, we met up with Aunt Buffi and Cousin Brittany. They wanted to do some shopping, so shopping we went. We went to an outlet mall, luckily the kids were pretty happy with the carousal there and all the little rides. We came back to the hotel and I gave the kiddos a bath. They just loved hanging out in the room and taking a bath in a new place. The next day, Tuesday was full of shopping as well. We went to an outdoor outlet mall and it was hot (not horrible in the shade). We also went to Costco after the outlet mall for more shopping. Oh man I am so shopped out. I wanted to have some family fun, so we went down to the pools. The kids had a blast and are becoming quite the dare devils in the pool. They loved it when they could jump in from the edge and we would catch them. I put Justin on his belly and he was really kicking his legs having fun swimming. We got back to the hotel room and Grammy gave the kiddos a fire house toy. The kiddos played so well with it and for so long. I couldn’t believe there was minimal fighting and it was really cute to watch the kiddos. It was getting late and finally around 8:00 we took the kiddos for a stroller ride to show them all the Vegas lights. They enjoyed the night walk and fell fast asleep the minute their heads hit the pillows. On Wednesday it was time to pack up and come home. We had a great breakfast and finally got on the rode about 11:30ish. It was sad seeing the kiddos say goodbye to their relatives. The kids did great driving home. They both fell asleep for a bit so we just kept on driving. We got to Victorville before stopping. We fed the kids and played in Home Depot for a bit-it was too hot to play outside. Then back in the car. The kids were so excited to be home. It was almost like all new toys for them again. They played really well together, enough to let me unpack, get organized, do laundry, etc. I am so tired though. I am off to bed.

This morning we came downstairs and the kiddos immediately wanted to go outside in the backyard and play. Of course it is kinda cool out and they are playing in the water, oh well they had fun. We decided to go to the spectrum with the kiddos. It was so nice as we got there a bit early and the kiddos were the only ones playing in the fountains. They had so much fun. They filled up cups and threw the water out of them. Justin learned to splash the water coming out of the turtle. Nicole didn’t like it when she got splashed. They had a great time. Of course they wanted to ride the carousal too. So after the fountains we went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. The kids were great and we had a nice lunch together. Then of course down to the carousal we went. I rode too and Nicole thought it was so funny, of course she made sure I had a seatbelt on and she told me to hold on! We kept walking the Spectrum and there was a kids expo thing. Justin and Nicole both liked the martial arts place, they kicked plastic first and then they let them kick wood. Both kids broke the wood 🙂 They got water bottles, balloons, squishy cameras, etc…We went to Carters and Target real fast too. Had to get another floatie for the kids for Vegas, plus get daddy this water toy thing. When we got home we read books for so long. I thought I was going to have to read all the books in the basket. Then I finally turned on the TV for a bit. After TV we basically played out in the back yard all after noon. The kids played in their water table using theirs and daddy’s squirty toys (see pic).

The kids had another trike wash, so cute. We did some work in the backyard, raked where the grass is going and hooked up jacuzzi. Justin had fun squirting down the dirt to help make less dust. Nicole was busy pushing babies in the swings. Then the kdis wanted to help us. So they started putting rocks in the trash can and playing in the dirt. They called the rocks Easter eggs and filled up their baskets. This kept them occupied for a while which was nice so I could pack for Vegas. But the kids were really dirty, but oh well. After dinner the kiddos brought their trains to the kitchen table and their cups became tunnels. We had to convince them to move to the train table as they were starting to stand up on the chairs, a little scary. We had a good night, the kiddos played in our bed, rolling around and pretending to sleep. Couple books and Justin was asleep before we left the room. Nicole has been sneezing a bit today so I hope she is not getting sick.

We played at home for a while this morning. The kiddos rode their bikes and played with the water table. They took their toy pots and pans outside and used them in the water table. We got packed up and headed to the Santa Ana Zoo for play group. We had a lot of fun. The kids of course wanted to go in the jeep and then we went to the sand/rock play area. I have the dirtiest kids ever. They played there for so long. Then we went to see the monkeys-the kids liked watching the animals eat. Then we rode on the train and went to see the farm part of the zoo. We went to eat lunch and the kids played at the play area for a while. This is the first time I just sat and watched them rather than standing right over them. I went to check on them and they just waved and said I am having fun mommy. We came home and I tried so hard to get the kiddos to nap. No nap but they played for a while upstairs. The kiddos have been fighting a bit so I just decided to give them a bath, hoping then they wouldn’t fight. They found ways to fight in the tub. They tried to draw on one another with bath crayons, splash, steal each other toys…the usual. But they were also able to take a long bath which was fun for them. Usually we are rushing bath. After bath we came downstairs and played. We played outside and in the futon room. We had fun. Bret came home a bit early so I could run to the doctor. The kids had fun with daddy and they got to watch Barney an Elmo’s World. After dinner, I was kinda bored after being home all afternoon, so we decided to do a trike wash. We gave the kiddos a hose, sponges, bucket of soap and they had a great time washing their trikes. Of course we had to watch who had the hose, Jose (Justin’s nickname cause he loves the hose) was hogging it a bit. They now have shiny clean bikes. We went upstairs a bit earlier tonight. It actually made our bed time routine less stressful and more relaxing. We read a ton of books. Justin sat with daddy to read books and Nicole with me. It is 8:25 and everything is quiet upstairs, so nice when they go right to bed. We are pretty tired too.