Melissa’s Blog

We finally made it to Disney, thanks to Bret’s company. There was a moment at Disney that I thought I can’t believe we are here with our kids. 4 years or so with our battle of trying to get pregnant, I never thought Disney would be a reality with kids! I actually got a bit teary eyed. We had a great time at Disney. We got annual passes so I can go almost every day-ha. It was really crowded today though, so we didn’t get on many rides. We went on the train, rode the carousal, Dumbo (stood in line for about 45 min), and the Autopia. Justin was so excited to drive the car. I drove with Nicole and she is definitely a crazy driver. Unfortunately it was too crowded to go on many more rides. But we saw the band and the characters dancing around, Mickey, Pinnochio, Goofy, Pluto, etc. The kids liked the music and were afraid of all the characters. Nikki really wanted to see Minnie Mouse and we saw her finally on a float in a parade. We did a lot of walking. We went over to toon town to see Mickey and Minnie’s house. That was really cute. The kids took a little nap in the stroller, thank goodness as Nicole was melting down a bit. Finally we decided Disney was just too crowded and ventured over to CA Adventures. On our way we stopped at the Disney fire station. The kids loved climbing all over the truck. We got to CA Adventures just in time for the parade. The kids loved it, well Nicole didn’t like the water squirting at us. Justin loved the water, he kept on saying he got wet with a big smile even when the water didn’t get him. We went on the carousal again and the ferris wheel. The lines were still pretty miserable at CA Adventure. We grabbed some dinner and headed home. The kiddos went to bed a little late tonight so hopefully they will sleep in.

Justin can’t get enough of Lincoln logs. We built like 10 houses today. He had fun knocking them down too. Nicole gets so jealous when I try and give justin 100% of my attention. I feel so bad as Justin never requires my attention so it is fun to just build with him. He really likes that. We checked out the story time at the library by Heritage Park. It was cute. The kids did great listening and participating in the story time-it was cute. After we went and read books in the library. The kids had fun picking out the books and having me read them. We came home and just played. The kiddos wanted to play outside for a while. They did fight over everything today-ugh. We did dress up for a while. Nicole got all dressed up and insisted I wear all her bracelets, my hands are too big. Justin was wearing bracelets as well. We did the string a ball toy thing. Nicole was still having trouble and Justin did it. He was so proud of himself, stringing beads. It was cute. Then they pulled them all around the house. Through the kitchen, dining room, hallway, family room, over and over again. They watched some TV. After TV the kids wanted to wash cars. So outside we went. They were so good washing mommy car. Of course Justin had to do the hose. They both got their rags and helped as they liked the bubbles. They didn’t get the drying concept. Then they wanted to do daddy car as daddy biked to work. Of course they lost interest when I started daddy’s car, oh well. So they played, Nicole was pushing the umbrella stroller and jumping on the hoppity ball thing. Justin just wanted to water anything he could with the hose. After we planted some flower seeds in the pots the kids decorated. They loved it. We had a lot of fun. Then we did lots of bubbles. After dinner, the kids put beads on the strings. They walked around pulling them saying they are snakes and caterpillars. I love their imagination. We played outside and made baskets. The kids are getting pretty good at dribbling and making baskets, in fact I raised the basket tonight. We went upstairs and did the night time routine and the kids are fast asleep.

This morning we got out of the house by 8:15 to get to pre school. It was the kiddos first day, but it was a work day for me, so they weren’t alone. It was a fun day at school. My job was the blue table and outside. I got to take the kids height and weight, so we can see how much they grow by the end of the year. Then I was outside the rest of the time. Nicole and Justin went right for the bikes outside. It was a little scary as they were going fast down the little hill, but soon enough they got the hang of it. The kiddos loved their red buckets to put all their stuff in. They found their little cubbies to put all their stuff in too. Justin was ok without me, but Nicole wanted me to go wherever she went. Justin was into playing trains and making tracks. All of a sudden I look up and Nicole is all in dress up, shoes, hat, dress, so cute. She was into pushing the baby in the little stroller. Since I was working this day, Nicole and Justin had to bring something to share. I forgot but luckily I had their skateboard dog/kitty in the car. They sat on the teachers lap and talked about their toys. Nicole said her kitty’s name was mommy and Justin said his dog’s name was daddy. They both proudly showed how they pull their animals, it was cute. Justin came home with an envelope with a paper that he cut. I had no idea what they were doing inside. Hopefully the kids will remember to put their art work in their buckets to bring home, so I can display them. Both kids ate so much snack-they were starving. They both painted and got back on the bikes when we went outside. We came home and they both wanted lunch. Nicole ate a lot but not Justin. The kiddos decided the shower down stairs was a pirate ship and all the toys went in there. What a mess, so cute though.

I tried to get them to nap. Read a bunch of books in my bed, then tried to lay down with them…it just didn’t work, hopefully Nicole won’t be too cranky later. I gave up and let them watch Barney. Then we went to the grocery store, the kids had so much fun with the carts. Nicole is really into wanting to help me lately and with everything. I promised the kids when we got home we could paint their red buckets from pre school. So on the greenbelt we went and the kids loved it.

The kiddos are going to have the most decorated buckets at pre school. It was fun watching them paint, but what a mess! After we came in and made dinner. Daddy and the kids were using their squirty toys. Nicole wanted to help so I tried to think of ways she could help with dinner. They were such a mess from painting and spaghetti that after dinner we just gave them a bath. They played for a bit, read stories, and off to bed.

The kids slept really well last night and made up for no nap yesterday. This morning they wanted to go outside right away. Putting their skateboard dog and kitty through the play house windows. We are keeping Justin pantless at home to get him used to using the potty. He is great using the potty when he is naked. Doesn’t seem to mind using the potty when naked for both pee and poop but if you put underwear on him, he just can’t be bothered to use the potty. Boys! Justin is really into his Lincoln Logs, so we built houses this morning. Nicole was busy changing baby’s poopy diaper. We listened to some new kids music, and the kids kept saying what’s this song? We went over to Stacie’s for a play date. The kids had a great time. There was water colors to do, play do, toys everywhere, hanging balls, a great little kitchen, etc. I didn’t think my kids would ever leave. All the kids ate lunch together, so cute. Nicole wore the cutest apron with a chef’s hat. Justin loved the little sink water table.

We came home and the kiddos played a bit. Nicole is being helpful with everything, cleaning, laundry. The kids watched TV then we played. We built towers out of mega blocks and read some books. Then I took the kiddos to 24 hour fitness so I could work out. They loved it. They didn’t want to leave, it was funny. I didn’t have time to make dinner, so we just went to Pat & Oscar’s. The kids had fun playing around the fountain. We came home and dad and the kids used their squirty things outside. Water everywhere. Then we did bubbles, the kids were chasing the bubbles and Nicole’s baby was even popping bubbles with Nicole holding her. We were successful in getting them to bed by 8:05-yeah, now pre school tomorrow.

The kids were up a little earlier than usual, which is a good thing as they need to get up earlier for pre school. Hopefully we can put them to bed earlier tonight. Justin and I played with the cars this morning. He likes to line them all up. We had to clean up all the toys as the cleaners were coming. The kids were so excited to go to the bounce house place. We decided to go at the last minute to open play. The kids had so much fun. Mostly they spent time on the huge slide. Nicole always waited for Justin at the top. She wanted to hold hands and slide down with her brother, so sweet. They also went in all the other bounce houses but liked the slide the best. A little boy pushed them down the slide once and thats all they keep talking about. They were so hungry after the open play that I ran up to Foothill Ranch by Walmart and fed them at the food court. I have never seen them eat so much pizza. We came home and the kiddos wanted to play outside. They pushed their babies in the stroller and talked about Santa. It was so nice to come home to a clean house. We played outside for a bit. The kids put all their outside toys in their play house. Then we did bubbles for a while. The kids blew their own bubbles then they popped mine. We had fun doing bubbles. We came inside to watch some TV, take a break from our busy day. Well the futon has become a train and it seems as though almost every toy they own is now on the train (futon). Then we took a bath. We had fun in the bath. The kids love trying to clean themselves and put shampoo in their hair. Paula and gang came over after bath. Nicole was kind of a mess, she was tired but I couldn’t get her to nap. She was crying over almost everything and not sharing very well. We went to Chick Fil A for their kids night. The kids painted sun catcher things and had a great time doing it. After we ate dinner it was getting really crowded but the kids wanted to go in the play area. It was crazy in there thus Nicole and Justin were getting crazy and not acting appropriately so we left. They got balloons and they are sleeping with their balloons under their canopy/tent. We got home and went upstairs. The kids were content with their balloons, pretending they were kites and flying them all around. We read books and actually got them to bed at 8:00. We are trying to move their bedtime up since pre school is starting, we need them to get up earlier in the morning.

We got ready to go to playball this morning. It is a cute class through the city. It is kind of a coordination/listening class. The kids played Sporty says (like SImon says but Sporty is the mascot for Playball). They ran around and stopped and did what Sporty says. In between drills they had to sit and listen. The next one was kick the ball, then throw the ball up in the air (act like a butterfly), then catch the mice (roll a tennis ball and the kids put a funnel over it)….it was an interesting class, the kids really enjoyed it. After we went to see little bunny fu fu at story time. The kids love it. We came home and had lunch. The kids watched some TV and we played at home. Justin and I had fun playing with his shake and go cars. We needed to get out of the house, so we headed to Blue Gum Park. The kids took their trikes and sand toys. They had a great time at the park. We got there and there was no one there and Nicole was so worried there were no friends there. She was very happy when people started to come to the park. Both kids shared their trikes, so nice to see. They made sand cakes in the play house. They looked for leaves to put in the back of their trikes. We came home and made dinner. Kiddos played in the backyard for a bit then we went on the greenbelt. The kids love it when we chase them. Inside Nicole and Justin were looking at the possum skin we have from NZ and Nicole kept calling it possumus. It was pretty funny. We are trying to get the kiddos in bed a little earlier since pre school is starting. We made it earlier by about 10 minutes. It is so hard to get them down early as we are busy playing outside after dinner. The time goes by so fast after dinner until bedtime.

We are glad this is daddy’s last day on call. He was up last night, so the kids and I snuck downstairs and played. Nicole can dress herself, shirt and pants. She sits on the couch and puts them on. We had breakfast and dad came down shortly after. We played at home for a bit then took the tricycles to castle park. The kids biked around the park picking up pine cones along the way. Then we played at the park for a bit. The kids loved the tire swing. They played on the play structure and slides, etc. We came home and had lunch. Then we gave the kiddos a bath. They just love their bath. Love when I take the bucket and dump it out like a fountain. After we headed to South Coast Plaza for some children’s festival. It wasn’t too exciting and of course crowded. We walked around a bit, Grammy met us there too. Then Ms. Judy from music class was doing a demo class so we sat and watched it. The kids decorated flower pots with stickers and glitter and glue. Of course they  had to ride the carousal too. No bunnies and ostriches, the kids had to ride good old fashioned horses and they didn’t seem to mind. Next we went to Grammy’s and had dinner. The kiddos rode trikes around her neighborhood and played. Daddy had to do a little work plus fix some things for Grammy. Justin fell asleep on the way home, tired boy. Nicole is still babbling away in her bed.

My first thought was too bad Tracey, our doggie, isn’t around to enjoy the grass-she would have loved it. Bret got up early and got sod. Justin and I got to play and read books as Nicole slept in. When daddy got back with the grass, Justin wanted to watch and help. Justin decided he wanted to wear his pj’s all day while Nicole wore her Dorothy the Dinasour outfit. People probably couldn’t believe how we dress out kids. We played all morning long at home and had a great time. After the grass was done, the kids took pieces and lined them up in the backyard.

We played at home most of the day as daddy is on call. The kids were busy helping me organize the play room. They played with toys they hadn’t seen in a while, cars, etc. They also played upstairs a bit. The ball popper has made its way into the tent. We read a ton of books up there as well. Came down and watched TV. I turned on some Barney video with Mother Goose and they said they didn’t like it. I was working on Nicole’s tutu a bit too. Bret realized a sprinkler was broken so he worked on that a bit. And we all played on the greenbelt while the glue dried. We brought balls, golf clubs, scooters, bikes out. The kids had a great time. We decided to get some dinner to go then go to Hicks Canyon Park. The kids had so much fun at the park, climbing wherever they could. They played in the sand for a while as well. We came home and the kids were pretty mellow. We read a lot of books and they went to sleep pretty fast.

Justin decided to stay in his pj’s today. Nicole put her own shorts on for the first time, she was so proud of herself. It was so cute! This morning we headed over to Candice’s for a great play date. We missed most of the mess, I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Candice made flubber for kids then did painting with pudding, so cute. Nicole and Justin were content just playing inside so I just left it at that. All the kids had such a great time, Nicole and Justin didn’t want to leave all the toys. Here is a picture of al the kids with hats on, so cute.

After we went to Costco. It felt like we were at Costco forever, but the kiddos had fun. They played with toys. The highlight was the X-mas stuff is out. They were so excited to see the lights on the trees, thought it was so cool. There was a light up Santa and the kids were scared at first. The second time they went up to touch it Nicole said I am not scared anymore. They were crazy in the really cold section, running around like crazy. They loved being cold. It was so funny. I had to pull them out as I was afraid they would freeze. I had to hug them after and warm them up. After we got in the car I said outloud how do I get out of here, Nicole told me-back up the car and go this way. We came home and the kiddos watched TV. Then we played we built with the mega blocks. Justin built the biggest tower ever and Nicole built a backyard. We heard the garage and the kids wanted to hide from daddy. Dad had to go to LA today so he took the train. I talked to the kids about it so when daddy came home, Nicole asked him how was your train ride, so silly. We went to Pei Wei for dinner and Justin just loved the noodles. It was bath night and the kiddos are sound asleep.

Today we were supposed to go to the RSM lagoon but the weather was a bit gloomy. So we had friends over. We had a great time with our friends. The kids played all over the house and played really well together. Mostly we were outside. Nicole loved the babies that were here, baby Sienna and Matthew. There were toys everywhere! The kids all had lunch together, it was cute. After everyone left, Nicole and Justin finished their lunches then just played. Justin found his measuring tape and was so happy. And Nicole put on all her bracelets and princess shoes (see pics).

Then the kiddos decided to bring all their food from their kitchen. At first they carried it all up in their little Dora and Spiderman bags/lunch bag things. Then Justin did a couple rounds with everything in his hands. So funny watching him carry all the stuff. And Nikki up at the top of the stairs saying buddy you dropped something. What a mess to clean up. But then I went upstairs and the kids took all these clothes and spread them out all over the upstairs. It was so funny, they were having a blast. Luckily they are great about cleaning up these days. We watched some TV. I convinced them to watch Diego but then they wanted Barney and Elmo’s World. After TV we played with trains for a while. The kids make big trains then they say they have 5 trains even though they have 10. Grammy came over. The kids played catch and baseball with her. We all had dinner. Then the kids pretended to paint the fence. And our fence is finally done-YEAH! Bret and I went to a mandatory parents meeting at pre school tonight while Grammy stayed with the kids. Nicole walked us to the door and practically kicked us out. Grammy said the kiddos did really well for her. She was teaching them who Blake and their other cousins were and Grammy said you probably don’t remember Blake. Nicole was so concerned that she didn’t remember Blake. Grammy said it was so funny. Grammy read a book about gingerbread cookies and then decorated gingerbread cookies with the kids. It sounded like everyone had fun!