Saturday Night, we headed to Pump It Up in Van Nuys to celebrate Ana's birthday. The boys had been excited all day and John was very concerned that we get there on time. He kept on asking us what the quickest route to Van Nuys was. As usual, he was a little shy when he got there, but he warmed up. Nicholas, on the other hand, was ready to go from the moment they let us into the bouncing rooms. He was running around fearlessly with all the other big kids. As the party progressed, they took us into the glow in the dark room and the boys were in heaven.
They could have stayed there all night, but we had to head home it was after 8 PM and we know they don't do well if they don't get enough sleep. As a treat, I decided to drive by the Van Nuys Airport to see if any planes were landing. Sadly, they weren't, but we did have an exciting time as we drove through a DUI checkpoint in front of the Budweiser brewery on Roscoe. John and Nicholas both waved and said hi to the officer as he talked to me and wished us a good night.
Last Sunday, we headed into the Valley for haircuts at The Yellow Balloon. It had been a while since we'd paid a visit to Vic. John always asks to be first because he thinks that he'll have more playing time if he does that. Now that I think of it, that's pretty much true since it usually takes a little longer to cut Nicholas' bowl cut just right. Anywho, Nicholas discovered the joy of pinball as we enjoyed the Star Wars pinball game. John was just happy to have his water and pop corn.
When we were finished, I decided to surprise them and take them to Castle Golf for a round of miniature golf. John had been asking us to go to miniature golf the night before (he wanted to go there after Ana's party), so I figured it would be fun to see if they liked it. I warned them that it would take a while. Playing 18 holes with 2 small children is not an easy task. They both took to it quite well. After our game, we had to have lunch at the snack bar. Let me tell you that the food at the snack bar is not as good as I remember it. It's probably the same, but I thought it was better.
We even headed over to Mami and Papi's to show off their new hair cuts. They wanted to go swimming in the inflatable pool, but we dashed their hopes when we told them it was too cold. Shame on us for ruining their fun.
The boys all plotted against the one lone girl, Adriana. They had plans to do karate chops and to throw rocks at her to prevent her from joining them in the creek. Thankfully, they didn't do that because that would not have been a good. 
As the night went on and dessert time was upon us, the boys picked up their cupcakes. Actually, they wanted their cupcakes before dinner, but we were able to convince them to eat their meals. John wanted to go eat the cupcakes outside so we did. He kept on insisting that he heard wolves in the hills and was scared until Jesse told him that there are no wolves in California. That saved the day. The rest of the boys went inside, but John and I were still talking and enjoying the fresh air. It wasn't horribly cold, but it was rather nippy.
Wednesday was Soup Day at Plymouth School. The kids each bring a vegetable to be added to a communal soup. As if that weren't enough participation, the kids get to chop up the vegetables. Maureen asked if I would help chop in the Big House aka John's class while she helped out in Fran's class. Now, my mother made me a nervous wreck when it comes to knives and small children and I mentioned this to Maureen. She allayed my fears by saying they would be cutting with plastic knives, so I was ok with my assignment.
Exactly what Nicholas did, I cannot say. I will say that he decided to bring an orange bell pepper and chop it up because it was orange. He also brought the requested carrots, but he was adamant about bringing a bell pepper. His teacher Fran was kind enough to allow him to do his thing. Like Pharoh, he's quite obstinate when he wants to be.
