Nellie the Elephant

The boys enjoy the Toy Dolls' version of Nellie the Elephant.  Who would have thought that a song from 1984 would give them so much joy.  I'll get video of both of them dancing to it.  It's INCREDIBLE!!

Pillow World

Maureen and the boys have all sorts of fun shenanigans while I am at work.  I guess that's good because I would probably stop them from having all sorts of fun.  I can be a killjoy at times because I know what type of hurt spots these little tykes can get.  I was quite accident prone.  Maureen has been known to be quite the Tumbellina, so I figure these boys will get quite a few injuries through the years.

Fun with Water Guns

Since it's getting a little hotter in our parts, we decided that today might be a good time to break out the Super Soaker guns for a little fun.  Needless to say, the boys were quite enthusiastic.  Nicholas doesn't quite get that he needs to keep his finger off the trigger or his gun will run out really quickly.  It's a lesson to be learned and he'll get through it while John has fun shooting Nicholas with an empty gun.

The Best Puppet Show Ever

Maureen and the boys built a puppet stage about a year ago.  Every so often, the boys decide to put on a puppet show for us.  Since it was a dreary and gloomy day outside yesterday, they decided to do a show for us.  As you can see, the production values are top notch and the writing is second to none.  I know this would win all sorts of dramatic awards for the staging and direction!

Fun in the Sun

A couple of weeks ago, the boys were out of school for Easter Vacation and headed down to the Wiseman house in Newport Beach for 4-days of fun in the sun!  Before they even left, Nicholas was taunting me about the fact that I had to go to work and not go down to the beach.  He'd say, "Ha, Ha, you have to go to work and not the beach house!"  He'd say it with such delight and glee.  That boy can be mean spirited at times.

So, while I was working, the boys were spending their days at the beach, going to the Fun Zone, dancing, and generally wreaking havoc in Southern Orange County.  Nicholas even caught a sea star.  I told Maureen that they'd have to dry him off if they were to bring it home.  She said that they didn't want to kill it and would put it back in the water before they left.  That's awful nice of them to free it.

Visit to The Yellow Balloon

The boys have been looking rather shaggy when it comes to their hair.  Nicholas' bangs were so long that we could barely see his eyes, so we decided to go see Vic for a visit.  As always, Vic did a great job with the boys and kept them, as well as Maureen and I, entertained.  He grew up in the Valley, so he always asks if I remember things.  Maureen, having grown up in Hancock Park, is clueless when he and I start talking about Valley things.  Enough of my woolgathering on growing up in the Valley, this is supposed to be about a haircut.  When we were finished, we headed over to Mami and Papi's to show off their new cuts.  Before we made it to their house, John asked if we could stop in at the local doughnut shop and pick up doughnuts for Mami, Papi, and Juan (they just love their uncle).  John presented to doughnuts to Papi and Nicholas took one over to Juan.  They both know the importance of sharing!  Well, that's unless they have to share with each other.

A Day of Fun and Merriment

The boys love to play in the sun.  They love to play in the water in the sun. On Friday, they were invited over to their friends' house to try out their new inflatable water slide.  Needless to say, Our Gonzalez Boys were on their best behavior and had as much fun as humanly possible!

After that, they headed over to Grammy's house to celebrate Grammy's birthday that was on Thursday.  For those keeping score, she turned 21-years old.  Anywho, they enjoyed some fun playtime with their cousin Adriana, both inside and in the backyard.

As if that weren't enough, Grammy ordered Rocco's Pizza for everyone to enjoy.  The boys just love Rocco's.  Actually, I really like it as well.  It's yummy and you can taste the quality.  To top off that wonderful meal, the boys took over a birthday cake from Hansen's for Grammy.  It was her favorite type of cake, Chocolate.  While he's not regularly a fan of chocolate, John made an exception for Grammy.  Happy belated birthday Grammy!

Regulars at the Farmer's Market for Breakfast

Last Saturday, we headed to the Farmer's Market to pick up some creme fraiche (don't ask), so we took the opportunity to pick up a couple of donuts at Bob's.  In the past, we used to sit at the circular tables with the folding chairs.  Of late, John likes to sit at the little blue tables with the tiny blue stools where all the regulars go have their breakfast and to commune with the friends.  Mind you, all of these regulars are probably in the seventies and eighties, but John really likes sitting with them.  He usually picks a spot near a very nice older gentleman who loves to talk to them.  Anyway, we found out he was 87-years old and he was talking to both John and Nicholas.  He told Nicholas that John would always be his very best friend.  That's a wise man!

Easter

It was a busy weekend for us.  We had two parties to attend on Saturday and one on Sunday.  After finishing up at Audrey's birthday party on Saturday, we headed over to Mami & Papi's house for an early Easter Egg hunt in the front year with Ana.  The boys were so excited and jazzed to have the Easter Egg hunt.  It was all they could think about.  Ana is a couple of years older than the boys so she knew to just go and grab as much as she could.  John kept on pointing eggs out to her without picking them up.  It was quite funny actually.  In the end, everyone got enough eggs and candy to keep them quite happy.  They spent the next couple of hours running around like little crazed candy fiends.  John and Nicholas almost didn't want to fall asleep because they were expecting the Easter Bunny to pay a visit in the morning.

Sure enough, the Easter Bunny was kind enough to drop off two baskets of goodies for our little guys.  John's comment when he saw the baskets was a very succinct, "I love the Easter Bunny!"  They were very excited to open up a few eggs to find Easter themed Hot Wheels cars.  I'd have to say that was pretty cool.  They were almost too excited to eat their breakfast and get ready for Easter Sunday Mass with Grammy, but we somehow got out the door early enough to secure a parking space and a seat.

At that point, we could hardly keep them under control because they knew that we were going to do an additional Easter Egg Hunt in the courtyard below.  Both boys were excited to run around and grab eggs.  Actually, they each had a pattern where they'd only grab certain colors.  They had already worked it out.  They did allow each other to pick up one or two of the other's designated colors, but there were no issues.  Nicholas immediately opened up his eggs, but he thankfully did not get any chocolate all over his clothes like he did last year.  That boy will always, and I do mean always be covered in chocolate or something else.

Last, but not least, we headed out to Malibu to Uncle Ron and Aunt Sally's place overlooking the ocean.  John and Nicholas both love the view, but they did have one early issue.  There is a little white dog named Lilly that lives there.  She's about 12-years old and loves to play with people.  At first, Nicholas was convinced that Lilly wanted to eat him.  Once Uncle Ron showed them how to get her to sit up for a treat, they were in love.  They just wanted to play with her.  John wanted her to run around and chase him.  Thankfully, Lilly was in a mood to rest and didn't want to chase after little mischievous boys.

All in all, it was a great weekend.  The boys got to see and play with their cousins on both sides of the family.  Actually, John and Nicholas were trying to play Rugby with Thomas and Nicholas like they did a couple of Thanksgivings ago.  I had to remind them that a hard wood deck is far less forgiving than soft grass.  They still decided to play Fight Club.  It was hillarious.  

Chocolate Face

A Nice Picture

Easter Sunday Mass

We went to Easter Mass with Grammy last Sunday.  Prior to going to Mass, I warned John this would be a little longer than normal, but not quite as long as Palm Sunday (that one tends to drag with the Passion and all).  So, they were excited to go to Grammy's Church.  John really wanted to walk through the red door, so we did.  From the get go, Nicholas was a little distracted.  It took about 40 minutes before John started asking, "Is this almost over because it's really boring?"  I thing their great grandmothers on both sides of the family would have been aghast to hear that.  It didn't help things that Fr. Truc decided to play "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables" during his homily.  That sent John over the edge to the point where we had to go outside so he and Nicholas could run up and down the handicapped ramp.  Finally after about 1 hour and 20 minutes, Mass was over and we were able to go home!  The boys survived Easter Sunday Mass and didn't make too much noise.