A good friend and I have been playing schedule tag for almost 2 months now. We’ve been dying to get out and get a pedicure. Goodness knows I needed one! My poor heels were cracking! After weeks of research, and attempting to get an appointment for both of us at any single place, we finally went to a place in Natomas called Top Coat Nails, over by Sam’s Club. It wasn’t bad! I wish they would’ve worked on my heels a little more, but it’ll do. They had some super cool chairs that had the built in shiatsu type massagers in it. It was super comfy!

Anyway.. We had a good time just sitting and chatting and talking about things other than drool, diapers, and tantrums. I needed that. I’m not saying that we didn’t talk about that at all. We did. We just were able to get away from those topics, uninterrupted by children. Ahhhh relaxation. 

The prices were fairly reasonable, but a little misleading. Their website stated that the pedicure we chose was $35, but then they charged us $40 because their particular location had  VIP lounge. We didn’t use the VIP lounge, which was just 2 chairs set off to the side and they could close a curtain off so you didn’t have to see the rest of the room. Nothing too fancy.. I still don’t exactly understand that reasoning behind the price difference, but, I think next time I’ll go to the location that doesn’t have their VIP lounge. If it saves me money, I’m all for it. 

We left there fairly happy with our service, and hopefully we’ll be able to meet up like this at least once every couple of months.. I know it’s going to be hard, but I think we can do it… 

When I got home, the girls were awake and so happy to see me. I was happy to see them too. I loved getting hugs and kisses when I walked into the house. 

I don’t remember who said it, but I can truly understand how taking time away for yourself helps make you a better mommy. It’s hard to get away, and I miss them like crazy while I’m gone, but when I get home and they run up to me to give me a huge hug, and I hear them yell “MOMMY!!! YOU’RE HOME!!!” I just melt… 

For the second time in as many years, a beautiful playground in a Natomas neighborhood was burned to the ground. I don’t know what asshole did this, or why, but I hope to GOD the guilt just eats them up, and they turn themselves in to the authorities. My meetup groups loved Fort Natomas, and would go there frequently, and now no one can enjoy this park.

Back in June of 2006, this playground was set fire by arsonists, and the community was just devastated. They quickly formulated plans to rebuild Fort Natomas. In November of 2006, after months of sales, fundraisers and planning, 7 days of work in the cold and pouring rain, several hundred or more volunteers, and $300,000 , the park was rebuilt and opened for children to play again. 

I was able to take the girls to enjoy this park for the first time in January of this year, and they absolutely loved it. We came home with lots of pictures to show Daddy, and got him all excited about visiting Fort Natomas with us one weekend. It truly was a beautiful park, and you could just feel the energy and love of all the people who helped rebuild it! When I saw the story on Good Day Sacramento this morning, I seriously just wanted to cry. The girls knew exactly what they were seeing when they turned to look at the TV. They were visibly upset when they realized that the playground they love to go to was “on fire”. I explained to them that a mean person set the park on fire, and that the good police men and women will do everything they can to find that mean person and put them in jail… They told me “We hope so!” so I know they understand what’s going on. I’ve debated taking them by the park, but not sure if I’m ready to deal with the tears that will surely follow… from all of us. 

The latest word from CBS13.com is that Mayor Heather Fargo and City Councilmember Ray Tretheway are offering $5,000 for the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for destroying the play area.

Also, if anyone has ANY information pertaining to the investigation of this fire, the Sacramento Fire Department urges you to call their arson tip line at 916-808-8732. I am pretty sure you can remain anonymous. 

I also saw a poster at the playground saying that if you’d like to help, or have information you can send an email to fortnatomas AT gmail DOT com or call 916-808-7001. 

I truly hope that the person or persons that set Fort Natomas on fire are caught and punished to the fullest extent. Why anyone would want to destroy a wonderful place that children play is beyond me.. 

UPDATE 5-28-08: Councilmember Tretheway appeared on Good Day Sacramento to ask for help in finding the arsonist, and help rebuilding Fort Natomas again!

www.fortnatomas.org has been created and there are more updates there. They are accepting donations at: 

Gifts to Share / Rebuild Fort Natomas (Tax ID No.: 94-985546)
C/O Councilmember Ray Tretheway
915 I Street, Fifth Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Update 5-29-08 The reward has now been raised to $7,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist.

Poopie comes out.”

Yes.. My daughter said that.

Let’s go back to this morning. We were on our way to the gym, and Monkey See asks me if she can go to the potty at daycare. “Of course sweetie! You just need to let your teacher know that you have to go!”. “Oh, Okay Mommy. I can do that.” with a huge smile on her face. 

Since the whole potty training began, I have lost count of how many times the potty is flushed downstairs. Luckily, I’ve only had to do one load of laundry to wash the extra panties. They’ve only had one accident each per day still.  I’m seriously amazed! They’re doing really well with keeping up on the potty. 

Once we got home from the gym and Sam’s club, they went down for a nap. I was really hoping for a nice long nap like usual, but no. Monkey See woke up after about 30 minutes crying. I ran upstairs to check on her, and she said she had to go potty. Up she goes out of her bed, and running to the potty. Sure enough.. she had a lot to let out… We got her dressed back up and back in bed. She was asleep in a few minutes. Monkey Do woke up about 20 minutes later. She needed to go potty… Ok.. Potty… Let’s go.. She did a little. I tried to put her back in bed, but she fought me a little more. I finally talked her into trying to go back to sleep. It didn’t work. She was quiet for a little bit, but then out of nowhere I hear “TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR… ” I jumped up and ran upstairs… “Shh honey. Sister’s asleep! You should be sleeping too.” “No mommy, I’m all done.”  ”Ok, Ok, let’s go to mommy’s room and lay down. Maybe you can fall asleep in Mommy’s bed.” In my dreams… She got my iPhone and watched video after video. I now know the entire Dora’s Fairy Tale Adventure by heart. But, no more sleep. Monkey Do refused to sleep. The cutest thing though. While I lay down in bed next to her just relaxing, she held my hand while she watched her Wonder Pets and snuggled with her Pooh Bear… I don’t know why, but it was the sweetest thing. 

Daddy got home early and surprised us. Monkey Do was happy to see him. She cheerfully announced that she was laying in his spot.. Monkey See was still peacefully sleeping in her room. We all talked about going out to a couple of stores, and then going out for dinner. Once we figured everything out, we woke up Monkey See and she was so happy! She needed that sleep!

We were out and about tonight, returning some clothes that I bought on a whim… All of which were just too tight. I swear XL now isn’t what it used to be… UGH. I just don’t get it. Why must everything be so small now? Don’t the people who make clothing know that a woman who carried a baby or two isn’t made in the form of Barbie anymore? Especially since we don’t have the money for the supreme personal trainers of the stars… I can’t stand shopping for clothes anymore. Things that used to fit me don’t anymore. Ah.. but such is the life of a mommy… That extra belly skin just covered in those zebra stripes is my badge of honor… Just not planning on showing it off to anyone except my hubby.. and well.. even that’s hard to do anymore. 

Anyway.. back to the original topic… So we were out on the town, and we decided to stop at our favorite local Teriyaki restaurant, Teriyaki Time. Of course, the second we get in the door, Monkey See starts off with “Mommy! I need to go potty!”… I take her to the potty, and sure enough, Monkey Do follows. Right now I should be really excited that they’re telling me they need to potty… No, I’m tired, exhausted, and really just annoyed at all the Mommy, I need to go potty’s that end up with nothing. I hurry them up and get them to try to potty, wash hands, and then meet daddy out at a table. Luckily he knew exactly what I wanted to eat, so everything was ordered and cooking when we got out. No sooner had the food been served than the girls decided again that they had to potty yet again. This time, they did. Thank goodness… Finally we could all sit down to eat… for about 5 minutes. Monkey See thought she’d have to go again. Monkey Do jumped up to follow. This happened a couple of times through dinner, turning a 20-30 minute dinner into nearly an hour. Daddy and I took turns taking the girls to the potty throughout dinner… 

One of the last times they had to go, Daddy comes out of the restroom just laughing… He tells me that Monkey See told him our phrase of the day… I just had to laugh. People in the restaurant just looked at me laughing my tail off… They wouldn’t understand. Well, maybe they would… Ahhh.. the joys of being a parent.. No, Really… I get the best laughs when I’m with my girls… Who wouldn’t!?!?!

On Saturday, 6 October, we just didn’t feel like cooking. We knew there was a new Panda Express just down the road on Del Paso Rd. and we were feeling like Chinese Food, so why not! We had to check it out.

We got there, and the parking spots were so small! I have a Honda Odyssey, so it’s not that large of a car to park. We were squished. I am actually saddened by the lack of space in this area. Things have just grown so much there isn’t much room for anything anymore.

Once we finally squeezed into a parking space, we walked over to the restaurant. We got in line, and thought about what we wanted. The selection was great. There was a lot to choose from.. even for the kids. They piled the food on our plates, and we moved on in the line to pay for everything. One of the entrées I ordered wasn’t ready yet, so they set aside a plate for me. They promised it’d be ready in about 9 minutes or so.

Once we paid for everything, we found a table that would comfortably seat the 4 of us. We had to pick a certain table or else the late afternoon sun would be right in our eyes. They didn’t have any window shades up to cut the light. We started eating and everything was ok until we started in on the Broccoli Beef. It was still COLD! I was so disappointed. That’s one of my favorite parts of Chinese food! I thought about taking it back up, but the line was so long, and they already had a couple of people waiting at the register for food that wasn’t done yet. I figured by the time, I got that resolved, the rest of my food would be cold.. so i set it aside. They did come out with my “missing” entrée (Sweet & Sour Pork) in about 10 minutes, and that was piping hot. The girls barely touched their chicken, or chow mein, which is VERY odd for them. They ended up asking for different food when we got home.

All in all, it was a little disappointing. We have decided that from now on.. we’ll stick with our favorite: The Dragon Palace Restaurant in South Natomas…

We were out and about the other evening shopping for books, and just hanging out around the Natomas area. We figured it was getting to be dinner time, and rather than worry about cooking, we’d just go across the parking lot to the Mimi’s Cafe at 3511 North Freeway Blvd, in North Natomas.

We were seated right away, and the girls got to use booster seats again. Our server came right away and took our drink order. He came back within a couple of minutes with our drinks and took our meal order. It was very fast service that evening! We were eating our meals within 20 minutes or so. The food was awesome! I ordered a Pan Seared Chicken Fettuccine, and it was delicious. We ordered Macaroni & Cheese and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich for the girls to share. They actually did quite well! When we were told our server we needed boxes for our leftovers, he brought out little treats for the girls. They were little “dirt cups” as he called them… They were cups with chocolate pudding, crushed oreos, and 2 gummy worms. The girls were so excited… and devoured the pudding. They didn’t know what to make of the gummy worms, so Mommy got to enjoy those…

All in all.. It was a very pleasant experience. The atmosphere was very nice… You could go dressed casually, as we did, or you could dress up a bit. The staff was friendly, and took care of us. I’d definitely recommend it for anyone with families!