Buzz

As some of you may know, Maureen and I really butchered Nicholas' hair last month during a heatwave.  The poor boy had so many bald spots, it looked like he had some sort of condition.  Anywho, we took him to The Yellow Balloon yesterday to see his normal stylist, Vic.  In order to fix the damage and even it out, Vic said that we needed to give Nick a buzz.  He did not like that one bit.  He basically screamed the entire time that Vic was working on him.  Thankfully, it was over quickly and all the problems were solved with a mini doughnut from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Someone Enjoys Baseball

John enjoys playing baseball in the backyard.  He does make contact about 20% of the time and still tires even though he does not hit the ball.  Our Nicholas, on the other hand, likes to wear his cap and run around.  He's not much for hitting the ball.  I think John will be the power hitter and Nicholas will be the pitcher.

The Boys Have A Screening Room

The boys enjoy screening their favorite dvds in their own portable screening room.  It's called a portable dvd player that allows them to take it wherever they go.  They tend to like watching it on their beds.  They are very good about sharing the screen and watching what the other wants to watch.  Thank God!

Tonight, we are going to watch some Fantasia.  And by that, I mean the Disney film, not the American Idol winner.

Secret Disney Trip

 On Wednesday, Maureen took the boys to Disneyland to meet up with the Wiseman family.  They had no clue until Maureen told them.  Actually, she wasn't going to tell them, but she had to when they were lollygagging and she needed to light a fire under their "you know whats".  Needless to say, they were thrilled with the day and didn't get home until 9 PM.

Special thanks to Grammy for paying for this special day.  Next time, you really have to go with them to enjoy it first hand.

Fun at the Farmer's Market

After doughnuts, we went for a little walk around the Farmer's Market.  In front of the clock tower/Taschen store, there was a small stage set-up.  John was very concerned that someone might tell him to get off the stage.  We told him to climb on board and put on a show.  Nicholas, being fearless, didn't need any prodding.  For the most part, it's quite entertaining to see the boys singing.

Dinner at Maggiano's

Last week, I had to fly to Cleveland for a couple of days.   Grammy invited Maureen and the boys to dinner at Maggiano's.  This was the first time that the boys had been to Maggiano's since a disasterous visit where John just wanted to run around and we had to take all of our food to go.  This time, things went much better.  As you can see, Nicholas enjoyed the dinner rolls and John was BLOWN AWAY by the size of the pepperoni on their pizza.

Breakfast at Bob's

Yesterday, i told John and Nicholas that we'd go to get doughnuts after we had Maureen's car washed.  By the time we finished, it was getting late, so I told them we'd go today.  As soon as he woke up, John came into the room and said, "Are we going to go get doughnuts?  I want two today."  Nicholas was far more reserved until we got there.  When he realized that they didn't have a kitty cat doughnut, he had a slight melt down.  It was our mistake, really.  We told him that they'd have them not knowing that they aren't ready until about 9 AM. When all was said and done, they were quite satisfied.  John had a chocolate frosted cake and a glazed buttermilk.  Nicholas had a nice rainbow sprinkles doughnut and some of mine as well.  Actually, John kept taking bites out of mine as well even though he got the exact same thing as I did.

Happy Birthday Papi

Papi turned 75 on Friday.  The boys and Ana enjoyed his cake for him.

Huh?

I have no clue what's going on in this picture, but I'm sure they had fun doing whatever it was that they were doing!

Late Night Viewing

Wednesday, Nicholas woke up and started to cry.  After a while, John woke up and complained that he couldn't sleep.  It seemed like it was going to be another night of John sleeping in our bed while Nicholas just worked out his crankiness in their room.  About 20-minutes after John joined me in the bed, Maureen called me into the boys' room.  She said that Nicholas wanted to watch Dora on the portable DVD player.  Sure enough, the boy quieted down as soon as the DVD player started up.  John also wanted to watch Dora, so he climbed into Nicholas' bed to watch Dora and the Pirate Piggies along with his little brother.

The Flying Gonzalez Cousins

While visiting with Mami and Papi, John and Nicholas encountered their cousin, Ana.  This girl is destined to be in the circus if you ask me.  John's got some good moves on the hammock, but Ana just blows his act away with her tricks.  

Summer Fun

Since it was a really, really hot day, we decided that we needed to go somewhere the boys could really enjoy themselves that had air conditioning.  I suggested Chuck E Cheese and the boys were so excited to go until Maureen mentioned Rockin' Kids at the Burbank Mall.  They went there earlier in the year and have been dying to go back.  Both were more excited to go to Rockin' Kids than Chuck E Cheese.

All in all, it's a pretty good deal.  It's $9/child and they can come and go as they please all day.  There is a giant inflatable slide and bouncer and all sorts of fun games for the kids to play.  Both were very good when it was time to go.  I'm not sure if they realized that they might get to come again if they are good or they were excited because I was going to get them Icees.  I think it was the Icees.

Cooking is Fun

John always asks Maureen why she doesn't make his spaghetti.  He says that Mami always makes good spaghetti for him when they visit, so Maureen decided to take the bull by the horns and make some spaghetti.  As you know, John has quite the culinary interest and was determined to help make both the sauce and the noodles.  He actually did quite a nice job and was quite proud of his job in pulling the basil apart.  When it came time to eat, it was a different matter.  He said the sauce tasted yucky and he only like Mami's sauce.

Happy Birthday Mami

Last Friday, the boys made a special trip to Mami and Papi's house to celebrate Mami's birthday.  Before they drove out to The Valley, they made some special cupcakes.  John picked out a very fun and special funfetti mix for the cupcakes.  When they got to the house, John was expecting more guests and was a bit crestfallen when Maureen told him that no one else was coming. He actually wanted to go home.  He wanted Mami to have a birthday party like his with all his friends.  He got over it eventually and had a fun time.  Nicholas just wanted to have the cupcakes.  He's easy like that.

Hmmm, What a Glorious Day for an Ice Cream

When I got home this evening, I was greeted at the door by two little boys.  One was in his Aquaman underwear.  The other was in a Cars Pull-Up.  They were finishing up their dinner when one says to me, "Daddy, can I have a vanilla ice cream cone?"  What can I say to that?  I'm a softee and of course gave it to them.  Needless to say, Nicholas was eventually covered from head to toe in melted ice cream.

Dinosaur Park

Today, we headed to Dinosaur Park to go to Annabelle's birthay party.  Annabelle lives in our building and is one of the boys' dear, dear building friends.  While John was being very shy and anti-social (no shock there), Nicholas dove in head first and started to explore.  In this photo, he's going into the jaw of a saber tooth tiger jaw.  It's not real of course, but the boys don't know it.  They think they are dinosaur bones and we won't tell them differently.  They think the mammoths in the tar pits are elephants.  How can we ruin the grand illusion of it all?

The boys had a good time, aside from the food.  As you know, Nicholas has my eating habits and he wasn't quite up to eating salad, spanikopita,empanadas, or papas con carne.  John was in a bit of a mood because he decided to stay up late last night.  He was up until a little before 10 PM.  Anywho, they did enjoy the cake and activities.  John had been itching to paint for quite some time before a spot finally opened up at the table for him to join in the fun.  Don't worry, we fed the boys.  We stopped in at the cafe at the fountain for a nice late afternoon lunch.  John enjoyed his burger and Nicholas enjoyed his chips and gummies.

Dancing King

We headed over to LACMA to listen to some Latin Jazz with the boys and the Lopez Ohana joined us for some fun.  John really got into it.  In this video, you can see him dancing up a storm.  He loved the music and applauded at the appropriate times.  That boy is quite cultured.  I don't know where he gets it from.

A Future Singing Star

A couple of nights ago, I was working at the computer and heard something coming from the boys' room.  It was about 7:45 PM and I thought they were asleep.  I was mistaken.  Apparently, John decided to have a concert for Nicholas.  Sadly, I have no video, but the audio is priceless.