The Sprinkles Cupcake Machine

John didn't feel like he wanted to go to Sprinkles for cupcakes this morning.  He kept on telling us, "No, I want to go to the Century City Mall to play."  Nicholas was well aware of the latest innovation at Sprinkles, the Cupcake ATM.  When we got to the shop and didn't go in, John was confused.  He went to the little pick machine and started to select our cupcakes.  He was so impressed when the window would open and there's be a little brown box with a delicious cupcake waiting for him.  He was so thrilled that he asked to do it again and again and again and again.  He was a good helper and gladly pulled the boxes from the machine.

BTW, he really liked his red velvet cupcake this afternoon.  It was his desert after his pizza dinner...a pizza dinner that he made with a little help from me.  My little sous chef is growing up.

Fun at the Wiseman Residence

We were fortunate enough to have been invited over to the Wiseman residence for some fun in the sun.  Shawna had recently purchased and inflatable water slide at Target and wanted to share the fun with the Gonzalez boys during a barbecue.  Both boys were excited to get a chance to go down the slide.  Who wouldn't be excited.



When we got there, guess who was shy and scared to even go near it?  It wasn't Nicholas for sure.  He went and started to climb that thing as if he were a mountain climber.  After a little cajoling, John was able to join in on the fun.  They both enjoyed it so much because they were able to climb up by themselves and go down the slide by themselves.  They also did go down with Alyssa and Kailyn (sorry if it is misspelled) who were both very kind to help the boys when they needed it.

Afterwards, John pair up with Jake to play Jedi Knights and Nicholas played with Jack for a while until it was time for Jack to take a tubby.  Jokingly, we asked Nicholas if he wanted to take a tubby with Jack and he said ok.  Sure enough, the boys took a tubby together without incident.  They are starting to play more and more like the good little buddies that they are.

Giggles and Hugs

Every morning when he wakes up, John asks one question, "What fun thing are we going to do today?"  Actually, his first question is "Can I have a cookie?"  This morning, he had two ideas for fun activities.  His first thought was to go to Travel Town to go ride on the trains.  His second thought was to go to the Century City Mall to go on the climbing tree and to go to Giggles and Hugs for some fun on the pirate ship.  We decided to head over to Century City since I don't think I could handle Travel Town today.  Actually, we're going there tomorrow.

Anyway, John and Nicholas were in heaven.  John was ordering us around as if we were his pirate crew.  Nicholas kept going below the deck and called it the laundry room.  I was very impressed that both boys could climb up the cargo net ladder by themselves.

Maureen and I even joined in the fun with the boys and played in the ball room below the deck with the boys.  Somehow, we were able to convince the boys that it was time to go to lunch upstairs and then John said, "We need to go back to the climbing tree."

 

So, we headed over to the climbing tree to let them work off some of their lunch.  John was able to climb up to a fairly high level.  Nicholas, when he wasn't having words with a little boy names Sascha, would climb up to a certain level and then stop because he'd get scared.  He eventually climbed down on his own and we went home.

Uncle Robert

Uncle Robert has been coming up to help Papi with his recovery from knee surgery.  Most people usually drive up the freeway, but Robert takes the train.  When the boys found out that he takes the train from Carlsbad to the Valley, they were so excited.  Every time I tell them that Robert is visiting, John asks if he came up on the train and that if he'll be there the next time we go visit.

Slurpees by the Fountain

There are days that the boys like to head over to the fountain for some fun and games.  One day, I thought it would be a very nice treat if I were to get them Slurpees from 7-11.  As some of you know, John loves the color blue, so I always get him a Blue Raspberry and Red Cherry Slurpee.  Nicholas loves the color orange, but he doesn't like the Mango Slurpee, so he gets the same one as John.  It's just much easier that way and he loves it.

On my way back from the dry cleaner's, I stopped in at 7-11 and bought them their Slurpees.  They, of course, knew they were getting Slurpees since John had asked me for one.  He has me wrapped around his little finger.  As Aunt Sally said to Maureen at Easter, "I think someone's a little spoiled."


We've learned a little secret on how to keep the cold cup from bothering the boys' hands.  We use a coffee cup  sleeve to ensure that the cup doesn't get too cold.  Now, they feel like grown ups because they are drinking their beverages like grown ups.

Haircuts at the Yellow Balloon

Last weekend, we finally took the boys to the Yellow Balloon for their haircuts.  It had been about 7-weeks since their last cut.  John looked a little shaggy, but Nicholas was in full bowl cut mode.  He could not see through his bangs.  It's the curse of his fine hair.

Anywho, we had a nice time.  Vic did an amazing job on the boys hair.  John is an old pro at getting his hair cut and may one day transition over to Jerry's Barber Shop if he wants.  Nicholas is still a little to squirmy and whiny when it comes to hair cuts.  He still cries a little, but not as much as he used to do.

As we all know, the great joy of getting a haircut at the Yellow Balloon is the popcorn and lollipops at the shop and a trip to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf across the street for chocolate milk and muffins.  We skipped the milk and muffins since we had to go to Target to pick up a few things.  John took it in stride and said, "We can go to Coffee Bean next time."

Storytime

Last night, I was trying to get the boys to go to sleep.  John decided that he needed to look at his dark blue Mary, Jesus, and Joseph book.  When we couldn't find it, he went to ask Maureen for it.  Once he had the book, he said he was going to read it to me.  I think he does a pretty good job of telling the story.  He even gives the Inn Keeper a special voice.

You can also hear Nicholas chiming in every so often, but this was mostly John's show.

Happy Mother's Day

Guess who decided to wake us up this morning with their dazzling personalities?  First, Nicholas comes in and starts to make some noise.  Soon enough, we are watching Peppa Pig at 6:15 this morning.  I like Peppa Pig and all, but it still is rather early.  A little after that, John comes in saying, "I'm hungry.  Can I have some cookies?"  We said no, but it was time to get up and make breakfast.  Of course, I reminded the boys to say "Happy Mother's Day" to Maureen which they did.

We met up with Grammy to go to Mass.  I'm still not a fan of the new responses that we have to use.  Do we really need to say, "And with your spirit" as many times as we are asked to do so?  I don't think so.  It's all just a weird thing of semantics.  Anywho, John was good, but Nicholas kept on talking as if he were at home watching tv.  I had to take him down to the corner store to buy some chocolate milk.  At that point, John grew very antsy and decide that we needed to go outside and visit the statues.  Needless to say, I spent more time outside than inside the Church.

We took Grammy to lunch at Woodranch Cafe.  It was ever so tasty.  We just love Woodranch.  The boys like to sit on the patio because they get to see the fountain next to Maggiano's.  Nicholas was a bit cranky and refused to eat much until he saw desert, the Oreo Cookie Delight.  It was a ball of vanilla ice cream covered in Oreo cookie dust over a plate of hot fudge.  At that point, he demanded a spoon and went to town with it.  John really didn't want any, but the boys did enjoy having lunch with Grammy.  Actually, they just like going to lunch, but going with Grammy makes it extra special.

After that, we headed out to the Valley to visit Mami.  She was actually at the hospital since Papi was still there after his surgery on Friday.  Nicholas was out like a light and taking a nap, but John got to enjoy some fun time with Mami.  As we were leaving, Nicholas woke up and he was able to give Mami a big hug.  On our drive home, Nicholas said, "Oh no, we didn't stop in at Mami and Papi's house!"  He was quite upset.  I had to start talking to him about an episode of Adam-12 to bring him back down.  Those two little boys are such drama queens.

Happy Mother's Day!

Sleeping Princes

Our boys tend to sleep in quite odd ways.

Johnny likes to sleep with his wubbies, bunny rabbit, Chica, and Scout.  They keep him company and Scout even calls him by his name before he sings songs to John.

Nicholas likes to sleep with half his body off his bed.  I'm not sure why, but he always winds up with two legs hanging down onto the air mattress that we have next to his bed.  There was a time that he regularly fell out of his bed.  As you can see, he also likes to sleep with his friends as well

Fun with Our Building Friends

John and Nicholas often go down to the courtyard for a good stretch before dinner.  Quite often, their friend, Kenneth, joins them.  Kenneth and his friends are so nice to the boys.  They treat them as equals and even come to our apartment to ask if the boys can play with them.  One day, Kenneth found a ladybug and let Nicholas play with it.  I like their building friends.  They are quite respectful and play nicely with our tiny tots!

Dinner Tonight

Dinner tonight was quite interesting.  John got it in his head that we were headed over to Fiddler's Bistro for dinner.  Maureen and I had decided to have dinner at Lulu's Cafe since we hadn't eaten there.  Needless to say, our little "drama queen" started to throw a fit in the car.  It was quite a nice tantrum, I must say.  It was so bad that I almost turned the car around.  Somehow, Maureen was able to talk him out of the car rather quickly.  He decided that he'd join us at the table and allow us to have dinner, but that he wouldn't eat anything and that we'd go to Fiddler's after we finished at Lulu's.  He kept on repeating that as we sat down.  He even told the hostess who seated us that he wasn't going to eat or drink anything there, but that he was going to go to "The Breakfast Friends" for a hamburger, french fries, ranch, and lemonade.

He was a little shocked that we went along with his plan to go to another restaurant for his dinner and was a little miffed when the hostess did not bring him a drink.  Secretly, I told her to bring him one after she'd already brought our drinks.  He was shocked when a drink arrived for him, but he insisted that he was not going to drink it until he saw me trying to take a sip.  At that point, he said that he'd try it, but he was still going to eat at "The Breakfast Friends."

When our meals arrived, he asked where his plate was.  We told him that he told us not to get him anything.  As Maureen started giving Nicholas some cheechas from my plate, John asked if he could take one from mine.  I told him, "Sure, but don't fill up."  After he tried those yummy fries seasoned with salt and thyme, he was sold.  He said, "I'm going to have dinner here."  So, Maureen shared her caprese sandwich and I shared my hamburger.

Sadly, there are two other incidents to report from dinner.  First, Nicholas decided to put some salt on his cheechas.  The salt shaker flowed a little too quickly and his plate was covered with salt in no time.  Second, John spilled most of his lemonade in our booth.  Our waitress was so nice about the spill and even brought him another cup of lemonade.  I cannot say enough good things about the wait staff and food at Lulu's Cafe.

P.S. We still love Fiddler's, but we decided to change it up a bit tonight.  And, we even paid a visit to our local Domino's Pizza.  The boys think Domino's is the best pizza ever and now they've seen where they make it.  It was a really good day and I didn't even mention the fun at Costco.

Fun at the Fire Station

Today, it was Fire Station Service Day in the City of Los Angeles.  We stopped by our local station to take a tour and see what goes on behind the scenes.  Nicholas laughed at everything our tour guide said.  He was just a little giggle puss the entire time.  John was a bit more reserved as always, but he climbed out of his shell as soon as he saw the giant map of the city.  He immediately spotted La Cienega, 6th Street, and Fairfax.  Our guide was quite impressed.  The firemen told us that we are welcome to visit anytime.  John and Nicholas just might have to bake up a batch of their pumpkin muffins to stop by and say, "Hello."

On a side note, John was a bit miffed that they did not have a dalmatian at the fire station.  He didn't mention it at the station, but he did make a point of it at home.

This Is The New Blog

It's been fun doing the two blogs for Nicholas and John; however, I thought it might be time to create a single blog for both since they both have very similar adventures.  It's going to be fun and I'll be able to update it at a more steady pace.  I promise.