Pool Party Baby

Grammy was kind enough to invite us over for a pool party/bbq for the boys.  Needless to say, they truly enjoyed themselves in the water.  John and Nicholas are true Aqualads when it comes to water.  I actually think that Nicholas would be able to swim if we just dropped him off in a pool.  John's a bit more cautious when it comes to moving around in the water, but he does love it so!

Last Day of School

John's first year of school was Thursday.  He had such a great thing where, as he puts it, "did many things."  He never says exactly what he does, but I'm pretty sure he does more than run around and sing songs.  Actually, he's quite the artist and loves to paint.  Thanks to Plymouth for providing John with a culturally and educationally stimulating environment.  He loves everyone there and he really loves going to school.  I'm sure he'll grow out of that like we all did; however, let's just enjoy it while we can.

To celebrate the last day, John went to Woodranch at the Grove with some of his classmates.  Things have certainly changed since my schooldays.  I remember having to clean our desks with brillo pads before they released us at 10:30 AM.

Fake Poop

These two boys are obsessed with their fake dog poop.  They love to sleep with it.  John keeps it under his pillow while Nicholas lovingly holds it in his hand.  I just don't get it.

Travel Town

Last Sunday, we headed to the Hollywood Farmer's Market to pick up some goods.  After that, the plan was to visit Travel Town.  For one reason or another, we were not able to go.  John asked me if we could go this weekend, so I said yes.  We headed out to Travel Town as soon as it opened.  We wanted to get there before it got too hot or there were too many people.  We were able to take a train ride to "Disneyland".  We were able to play at the secret train table at the gift shop.  And, we even ran into one of Maureen's friends/former coworker with her two children.  They set-up a playdate, but John kept saying he didn't want to go play with them.  I asked him today if he wanted to play with his new friends, and he said, "Yes, I have changed my mind."  If only things in life were that easy, everyone would be so much better off and happier.

On a side note, I was inspired to visit Travel Town by an episode of Adam-12 where Reed and Malloy have a shoot out with some bad guys at the trains.  Back then, they had a trolley that went around the park.  There is an old trolley car on the premises, so Maureen told the boys that "the crusty old" trolley was the one from Adam-12.  Every time we went by it, Nicholas would scream in that voice of his, "THERE'S THE CWUSTY OLD TROLLEY!"

The Summer of Fun

Maureen took the boys to Newport Beach to visit the Wiseman's on the bay.  Due to a previous engagement, they weren't able to arrive until later in the evening on Monday night.  That being the case, the boys were able to stay awake and look at the sunset over the bay.  They even had their own pajama dance party with their friends.  As if that weren't enough, they made it over to the Fun Zone on the ferry and had lunch at the original Ruby's on the Newport Beach Pier.  How cool is that?

 Needless to say, the boys were in heaven at the beach.  If they could visit the beach every day, they would.  They truly are the definition of playeros.

John's Birthday

John's 4th Birthday went off without a hitch.  He actually didn't want to go to sleep on Friday night.  He was too excited.  On Saturday the 7th, John opened his presents from Nicholas, the Upshaws, and us prior to heading over to Fiddler's Bistro for breakfast.  His choice was ice cream.  We went over to Grammy's to start setting up for the party.  He asked if we could have Astro Burger for lunch.  Since it was his birthday, I couldn't say no.  Did he eat his Astro Burger?  No, he did not.  We had dinner on Larchmont and headed home after some 31 Flavors.

On Sunday, we headed over to Grammy's to finish the set-up.  The "Bouncey" was there when we got there and the boys just wanted to start jumping around in it.  Nicholas was fearless and climbed up to the top of the slide and went down.  John was far more cautious and didn't want to go down the slide.  I scolded him for not going down the slide, but he rallied and went down the slide when he saw all his guests doing the same and having a great time.  Everyone had a great time.  At least, that's what they said.  John scored some pretty cool gifts from his friends and loved ones...Nicholas can't wait to have a birthday party with his classmates.  God help us with that one.

If you have 15 minutes to spare, you can sit through the video.  I think only the grandparents and parents of John have the will or stamina to do that.

Nicholas and His Buddy, Baby Jack

As Maureen prepared the birthday lollies for John's party, he kept on asking for one.  Maureen had to keep telling him no and that he had to wait for the birthday party.  On the actual date of the party, he kept on asking me for one, until I relented and gave him one.  His Little Buddy, Baby Jack, saw it and asked me for one as well.  I couldn't say no to that little cherub.

Soon, I had a bunch of rugrats asking me for lollipops and I kept telling them that the lollipops would make an appearance shortly.  When John asked, I couldn't say no and just started handing them out left and right.  The kids loved the colored chocolate pops and it gave them a little extra sugar.  In retrospect, maybe I should have waited?  Cake hadn't been served, but it kept the kids happy and the party moving smoothly.

Birthday Dinner

As is our custom, we headed over to Village Pizzeria on Larchmont of a nice birthday dinner of pizza with pizza chips (pepperoni pizza).  Since the boys hadn't been feeling well, we weren't sure if they were going to eat, but John sure did eat.  He ate a little over 3/4 of a slice.  He even got to see the episode of Visiting with Huell Howser that featured Village Pizzeria.  He asked when Huell was going to come talk to us at the pizzeria.  We told him that we'd have to call him and ask him to join us.  John asked for Huell's phone number at that point, so that he could personally invite him.

After that, I decided that we should walk over to 31 Flavors for some ice cream.  I initially told him that weren't going to get ice cream, but I relented.  It was his birthday afterall, and we had been going there on his birthday since his first one. The sneaky little scoundrel wouldn't let me take his photo.  Oh well, he really is like me with that aversion to cameras.

Birthday Breakfast

We told John that he could have anything he wanted for breakfast.  Guess what he wanted?  ICE CREAM!!!  Yes, we walked (he scootered) over to Fiddler's Bistro for a nice birthday breakfast.  The waitress jokingly told him that he couldn't have ice cream.  He believed her and was a bit worried that she was serious about that.  He was quite relieved when the big bowl of vanilla came out.  Of course, Nicholas wanted to join in on the fun and kept stealing little spoonfuls of it.

Birthday Presents

John woke up at a decent hour yesterday.  He didn't wake up too early, so we could tell he was feeling somewhat better.  He was excited because he knew that he would finally get to play with his birthday scooter.  When he went out to the living room he saw a few other presents.  He loves his blue soccer ball and likes to "play" soccer around the apartment.  I had to warn him that this soccer ball is hard and that it can break windows and mirrors.  Of course, he just loved his scooter.  He was so excited that he decided to scooter down to Fiddler's for his birthday breakfast.

John Knows What He Wants

Last Sunday, we headed over to Hansen Cakes to place an order for John's birthday cake.  He was very excited because he knew exactly what he wanted:  a blue ABC cake with blue frosting that says "Happy Birthday John".  He kept on saying that on the 5-minute drive to the showroom.  He even sat down at the desk and told the shop girl exactly what kind of cake he wanted.  I'll post a photo later from his birthday party.

Can You Guess What John Wants for His Birthday?

He wants a bicycle!  He already has this cool shark helmet, so we need to get him a cool bicycle to go with it.  

Tutti Frutti

Yesterday, we decided to head over to Tutti Frutti for an afternoon frozen yogurt snack for the boys.  They call it "Orange Ice Cream" since the building is orange, but aside from that, the graphics are green, blue and pink.  Anyhow, we walked down the street and the boys were ever so good as we crossed streets.  They know to hold our hands.

Once we got into the shop, they decided to stop and have a drink of some refreshing lemon water.  Actually, I wouldn't say it was terribly refreshing water, but it was water.  As I was adding their toppings to their vanilla yogurt, I could see a little 2-year old hand reaching for the spoons at the toppings bar.  I quickly took it out of his hands and added the toppings to his cup.  For the four of us, it cost us about $6 for our yogurt.  Had we gone for ice cream, it would have been between $9 and $12.  Thank God for self serve frozen yogurt!

BTW, John told me that I made him a beautiful ice cream.  He loved it with the rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chips, and mini M&Ms.

Anniversary Dinner

Since the boys are very picky with what they eat, we headed to CPK for dinner.  They call it fancy pizza, and, truth be known, I don't mind it.  While we were there, it seemed like every old person in Palm Desert stopped by our table to tell us how cute the boys were.  Sure, they have charm and grace like no other 4 or 2 year old boy, but it was really odd. 

Of course, the boys had to have their dessert, ice cream sundaes.  John is pretty good about eating a sundae, but Nicholas is a mess and a half.  It got even worse than this photo.  He got many drops and drips all over himself that didn't come out in the laundry yesterday.  We may have to take it to Art, our dry cleaner, to see if he can get the stains out.

Hotel Tubbies

John hates taking baths, but there is something about taking a bath in a hotel that makes everything so much better.  Nicholas, being a water baby, loves taking baths, but he really loves taking them in the hotel.

The Water Boys

Since the hotel has 7-pools, John and Nicholas were excited to see them.  John was particularly excited to go down the water slide.  Sadly, things did not go well for him on the slide.  Maureen went down the slide with him, but she couldn't keep his head above the water and he really freaked out.  Nicholas, on the other hand, loved going down the slide and being dunked a bit.  Actually, of the two, he's the water baby.

Eventually, we move to another pool where there weren't any other people.  It was like we had our own private pool for a good 30-minutes before some other people join us.  In that time, Nicholas enjoyed swimming around and being dunked under water.  John was a bit more cautious.  He wanted to take his time  in order to be ready for the experience.  Once he was ready, he really enjoyed it.  The other thing they enjoyed was lunch by the pool from the pool cafe.  It was like being at a restaurant and we all know how these boys love restaurants!

We told the boys that they could do some night swimming if they took naps.  Nicholas was the fastest to comply.  He was so tired from the morning swim that he fell asleep within 5-minutes.  John decided that he wanted to goof off a bit before he finally went down as well, but since they did comply, we were able to do some night swimming.  Actually, it was twilight swimming, but it was close enough for them.  They really enjoyed themselves; however, they did start to get a little cold.  So, we went back upstairs to get ready for bed.

Our Trip to the Desert

Maureen and I took the boys to Indian Wells for a couple of days to celebrate our 7th anniversary.  John had been asking for weeks since we booked the trip if we were ever going to go to the hotel in the desert with seven pools and a water slide.  Finally, the day arrived, but it didn't go as smoothly as planned.

Our John decided that we were going to drive out first thing in the morning.  When that happened, he threw a pretty good tantrum, but we eventually convinced him that we had to go to Target to pick up a few things and a fun game called Barrel of Monkeys.  After lunch, we were ready to go and headed off to hop onto the 10 Freeway for the 130-mile trip.  Within 5-minutes of getting in the car, both boys were asleep.  That saved us quite a bit of "Are we there yet?"

After a rather uneventful drive, we finally made it to the Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells.  As we entered our room, both boys were in heaven.  They love hotels.  Plus, John was excited that he was going to sleep in the sofa bed.  Nicholas was excited that he was going to sleep on John's air mattress.  Maureen and I were just excited to be in a nice air conditioned room.


After a bit of room service, we took a walk around the property.  Of course, we stopped by the pools to scope them out for the next days activities.  We also looked at the activities (foosball table, ping pong table, badmitten net, and the mini golf course).  We walked around the "lakes" and the boys even stalked the little jack rabbits.  All in all, it was an exciting time and just as soon as it began, it was time for it to end.  Bed time!