The Makings of a Boy Band

In 12-years, these boys are going to be our meal tickets.  They have the makings of a great boy band.  I'm still thinking the Z-Boys since they all have that Zamarin blood coursing through their veins.  When little Gus is old enough to join them, it'll be pure pop gold.  All great boy bands (NKOTB, NSYNC, and BSB) all have five members!

Magic Jelly Beans

After returning from Mami & Papi's house on Saturday evening, Maureen and the boys had a very important task to do.  Maureen had purchased some Magic Jelly Beans and they needed to plant them in the courtyard before they went to bed.  These beans would sprout into a magical Whirley Pop overnight.  They went downstairs with their little shovels and watering cans and did a good job of planting the jelly beans.
John was very concerned about the potential rain overnight.   Maureen assured him that the rain was good for the jelly beans.

When the boys came into our room this morning, the first words out of John's mouth were, "Nicholas, let's go check on our magic jelly beans!"  This was before breakfast and before they'd seen the baskets that the Easter Bunny left for them.  Anywho, we held them off long enough to have breakfast and just before heading to mass.  Sure enough, there were two Whirley Pops in the place where they had buried their magic beans.  They were so excited that they had to open them up immediately.  Well actually, we had to wipe the mud off the sticks before they could eat them, but they did enjoy a few licks from their Whirley Pops before we went to mass this morning. I was a meanie and told them no, but Maureen asked me to relent.  Sometimes, it's just easier to give in when you are on a timetable.

Coloring Easter Eggs

 Maureen is quite ambitious when it comes to seasonal special projects.  The boys just love to react to all the fun stuff that they do.  They, unlike me, are not bothered by the smell of vinegar used in the coloring process.  Anywho, as you can see, they did a really good job and didn't make too much of a mess.  I wish they were that careful all of the time.  Sadly, they are not.

Butterfly Wranglers

Since mid-February, the boys have watched John's catepillars turn into butterflies.  Since Spring is here, they decided that it would be a good time to let the butterflies go free in the courtyard.  Their friend joined them.  As you can see, she was a bit more gentle than our rough and tumble boys.  They did have a bunch of fun though.

Three Year Check Up

A couple of weeks ago, Nicholas went to Dr K for his 3 year check up.  You may ask why so late?  Well, Dr. K's calendar is quite full and it's tough to get an appointment.  Plus, the boys were sick with colds or ear infections from mid-January to the end of February, so it would be tough to get a true read.  In any event, our Nicholas is quite normal and didn't cry when he got his shots.  He even enjoyed peeing in a cup when asked for a urine sample.  He was actually quite tickled to do that.

Zip Line Fun

John and Nicholas were invited to a fun birthday party at a kids gym in WeHo today.  They were quite good for the most part.  John was quite interactive with the party attendants while Nicholas was a bit more reserved.  One thing that they both enjoyed was riding on the zip line.  At first, John was a little scared, but when he saw that one of the attendants would be with him on the ride down, he felt better.  Nicholas was excited because he was going to get to ride it like the big kids.  The little ones typically ride in a little air plane, but Nicholas was too big for that.  Instead, he rode the line like his big brother.  Both were quite happy!

John's Heaven Can Wait Shot

Maureen thought John's outfit was very Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait.  What Do You Think?

Dad's Day To Play

For weeks, the boys had been reminding me that Dad's Day to Play was on Saturday, March 23rd.  They told me that it was my work for the day and that I had to be there at 9 AM.  Sure enough, we were there at 9 AM.  Having two boys, it was kind of tough, but we split up the time between the two classrooms.  John enjoyed visiting his old classroom and Nicholas enjoyed playing with the big boys.  He really didn't like the class pet rat, Jewel, because he's a little scared of rats.  I don't think he's ever seen a rat like Templeton from Charlotte's Web.  In any event, the boys had fun.  I suppose I could say the same aside from the fact that I had to play in the sand and I hate sand.

To top it off, we headed over to Tony P's for lunch that afternoon.  I'd say a good time was had by all!

Nicholas Goes Maori on Us

We stopped into the new City Target at the Beverly Connection a couple of weeks ago.  Nicholas asked for soem finger paints, so I said ok because I THOUGHT Maureen enjoyed finger painting with them.  Notice, I said THOUGHT because she later told me that she hates the mess it creates.  Anywho, after squeezing all his orange on his sheets of paper, he decided to play with the blue.  He got a little on himself and I helped him paint himself up like a Maori Warrior!

First Trip to Chuck E Cheese

Somehow, I tossed out the idea of visiting Chuck E Cheese yesterday.  The boys were excited because they've seen all sorts of ads and played CEC games online.  So, when they woke up this morning and asked Maureen if we could go, I couldn't say no, could I?

We headed out to the Burbank location.  As we approached, John was excited too see all sorts of familiar stores:  Ikea, Corner Bakery, Ralphs, and even Kmart.  There was a line out the door and John was worried there'd be too many people.  It turns out that there were two groups ahead of us and they were all getting stamped in.  Next, we ordered and picked a good spot to sit.  John wanted to go play skee ball immediately while Nicholas just wanted to drink his milk.  He pounded his little milk box in 2-seconds.

Both boys were quite good at getting tickets.  At the end of our visit, John had 181 tickets and Nicholas had 151.  They both ate two slices of pizza.  Nicholas asked Maureen to cut his up, but we convinced John to pick up his slice and eat it.  Needless to say, Nicholas did the same on his second piece.  On a side note, after we had eaten half the pizza, Nicholas turned to Maureen and said, "We have eaten half the pizza."  It's quite impressive for a 3-year old to know a fraction like that.




All in all, the boys were very well behaved.  They ate their pizza.  They played their games.  And, when it was time to go, they didn't complain.  I'd say it was a successful trip that we may have to repeat once a year.
Truth be known, I thought the pizza wasn't as bad as I recall.  I'd say it's a step above Little Caesar's, but just below Papa John's.

Magnolia Bakery For Breakfast

This morning, we decided to do a little something different for breakfast.  Normally, we'll give the boys something of a traditional breakfast like cereal, pancakes, toast, waffles, yogurt, or fruit.  Since we'd all been cooped up for a while, we decided to head to Babycakes on Larchmont.  I noticed it last week, but really didn't look into it.  Maureen hopped on the internet to see what she could find out about it.  It turns out that it's a vegan bakery.  We thought better of going there after reading a few reviews about the odd and gritty textures of the baked goods.  We already tried buying a healthy cookie at Whole Foods for John a while back.  That did not end well, so we decided to go to the Magnolia Bakery.

The boys were in heaven when we walked in.  They could smell the fresh baked goods.  They could see all the yummy cookies and cakes.  John was quite entertained with the automatic door button.  I think he could play with that all day.  So, we ordered a couple of cupcakes for the boys and a couple of pastries for Maureen and me.  The boys enjoyed their cupcakes and milk.  John tried my hot chocolate, but he wasn't crazy about it.  I was pleased with it.  To top it all off, I think we may have been undercharged for our meal. We'll definitely go back early in the morning since it was empty!

A Beach Day in March

Last week, it was in the eighties.  Since Friday is a half day at school, Maureen decided to take the boys to the beach for some fun in the sun.  For much of the end of January and February, the Gonzalez boys were rather sick whether it was a simple cold or a nasty ear infection.  Thankfully, the boys are back to normal aside from a cough here or there.

Anywho, Maureen thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the unseasonably hot weather and the boys were in heaven.  They live for going to the beach.  If the water weren't so cold, I'm sure John would have gone into the water.  I know Nicholas would have gone either way.  I don't think he went in, but I know they enjoyed the sand because there was quite a bit of it left our bed when they were changing.  Oh well, I'm used to crumbs and little bits being left in our bed.  These boys shed all sorts of things.

Now It Can Be Told

Last month, there was quite the manhunt going on in the City of Los Angeles.  LAPD was on full alert and they were providing armed safety teams for people that were mentioned in the manifesto of a former member of LAPD.  One of those teams was stationed at our building for a little over a week.  Every morning, there were at least 5 LAPD cruisers in front of our building and anywhere from 2 to 10 officers all over the building.  The boys were quite excited to see the officers, but didn't quite understand why they were there.  We never told them because they wouldn't have understood.  John even told the police officers that he wants to be a police officer one day and drive the old cars like the do on Adam-12.

It's My Birthday, My Buh-Buh-Buh Birthday

The boys were very excited to make a cake for me since it's my birthday.  They decided they'd make a 2-layer chocolate and vanilla cake.  When it came to making it a 2-layer cake, Nicholas objected, so I suggested they give me two cakes since I'm so old.  That worked out really well because they each got to frost their own cake and add sprinkles.  I hope you enjoy the video as much as they enjoyed making the cake!

A Special Birthday Treat

So, we've been following the development of our catepillars and guess what Maureen found in their net this morning?  Yes, there are now two butterflies and three cocoons.  Hopefully, we'll have five butterflies by the end of the week.

Tiny Choppers

Even though he says he wants to be a police officer at Wilshire Division, I think John may have a future in the culinary field.  By the transitive property of little brothers, I think Nicholas may want to follow in his footsteps.  Not only do they love preparing "food" for us in their kitchen, but they also love to chop really vegetables.  Maureen was chopping some carrots and mushrooms and the boys asked if they could help her.  They pulled out their toy knives and went to work.  They did such a good job that they took their chopped veggies down to their friend, Anabelle.  She was kind enough to eat them.

Uncle Earl's Pancakes

Maureen made a special breakfast treat for us all this morning.  She made Uncle Earl's Buttermilk Pancakes. I don't know who Uncle Earl is, but he has a super yummy pancake recipe.  How did all of this come about?  It all started yesterday morning when John asked us if we could go to Fiddler's Bistro for breakfast.  I said, "No, but maybe Mama can make us some special pancakes for breakfast tomorrow."  That was enough to divert the boys attention from eating out.

As the boys started trickling into our bedroom this morning, I reminded them that we were going to have special pancakes this morning.  John was extra excited and asked if he could help make them.  So, we watched an episode of Jonny Quest since it was 6 AM.  When I noticed Maureen had headed off to the kitchen, I mentioned it to the boys.  John and Nicholas immediately made a beeline for the kitchen.  They needed to help

Maureen had only added a few ingredients before the boys arrived.  They each got a chance to add some flour and sugar to the batter.  They each had their own measuring cups, but they forgot to wear their aprons from the 99 Cents Only store.  Anywho, they even got to use their own spatulas to mix the batter.  We had to warn John not to taste the batter since it had raw egg in it.

As is her custom, Maureen burned the first batch of pancakes, but our Nicholas was adventurous and tried them.  He really liked them.  I thought they were good, but a little smokey.  As the good batches started to come out, Nicholas tried them and said taht he liked them even better than the burnt ones.  I'd have to agree with that assessment.  

Pigs May Be Flying

As most of you know, Nicholas is ver difficult when it comes to eating anything.  He basically likes pizza, french fries, chips, cookies, chocolate, pancakes, bacon, and milk.  For the longest time, we've been trying to get him to eat a sandwich, but he always said no.  He loves American cheese, but he just wouldn't even touch anything with bread on it.  Well, I think we have crossed a major milestone because our Nicholas ate a  cheese sandwich the other day.  He just asked for it and Maureen made it for him.  Now, we'll see if he starts to eat other types of things.  If all goes well, let's hope he turns into a champion eater like our John.

Our Catepillars Are Now in Their Cocoons

We should see some butterflies in the next week or so.