Silvermans Farm

I cannot believe that every time we try to pick fruit in the orchard, we always miss the chance. Today, we were too late to catch the last tractor up, so we went to the farm instead - which made up for the lack of apples. The farm is deceiving from the road, but ends up being huge, clean and fun!

Only true Dora fans would understand Kambree's new obsession with Llamas (Lucy Llama to be precise). After reading several Dora books with Lucy the Llama, she was crazy excited to see the real thing at the farm. She was only disappointed that Lucy didn't want to eat out of her hand.
The funny part of this picture, is that for the entire time Dominick was too scared to feed the animals while Kambree might as well have been in the cages with them. But, as we were on our way out, Dominick scraped (literally) the food dispenser and finally decided to be brave. Unfortunately it looks like Kambree didn't do anything - but she was awesome! I am very proud of Dominick for being brave too!

And, better luck to us next time we attempt to get some apples!

Princess with Attitude

I couldn't pass up this one last shot of my princess (that's a lie, I can't imagine this being the last princess picture -and for sure it is not the last shot of my pricess with attitude)! Look out world!

Happy Birthday Kambree

Kambree had her birthday party!!!! She was so so so excited about her party, and besides the rain falling outside, it was a hit (for her at least). If I had to describe Kambree on this day with one word, I would say SPOILED. And the worst part about it - she totally knows. Crazy how girls are so quick to know what the want and how to get it. Either way, we love her so much and are so glad that she had fun. Dominick went to a friends house during the party, but came home to help Kambree dig into her gifts - and dig he did!
This is my princess! Kambree got some real princess gear for her birthday, and this was just after her party. I love this picture so much. The only thing I don't love so much is that now she feels like she needs to take her baby for a walk around the neighborhood every morning - and refuses to leave the house without wearing her princess shoes - it is crazy!
Here is the little princess outfit she got for her birthday also, and a wand that makes magic sounds. She loves to call herself a princess, and walk around in her crown. The funny thing, is that after all of the drama surrounding Halloween last year - I decided that I wanted her to be a chicken this year, but it looks like it would have been the knock-out year for a princess. Oh well.

More Zoo!!!

Last week Dominick was out of school for a couple of days. My friend Shauna and I took our kids down to the Bronx Zoo - and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day (and by that I mean weather exclusively)!

The kids all had fun, but because of how much there is to see and the amount of time in an actual day, there are bound to be tantrums and whining (which was not the nice part of the day) but still livable!

My absolute favorite were the gorillas - this zoo has an awesome gorilla exhibit with tons of windows to observe and so many gorillas to watch. I could have watched them forever, because they are so cute. This is the alpha male - the one who didn't really do too much, but the look is still awesome.
These were the cutest little guys (or girls - who knows?) Either way, they were totally playful and if you look closely, the little one to the left is actually nibbling the ear of the other, subsequently getting the other to wrestle with him.


Kambree was trying as hard as she could to spot the butterflies in the flowers. Dominick absolutely loves the butterfly garden. On a busy day like this one though, it is tough to get a good look at them.

We were also lucky enough to get a real close look at my all time favorite animal. He decided to cool off in the pond next to the window - it was awesome!
This was the kids favorite! And, I wouldn't complain at all if I were able to see all animals in the zoo from the monorail - talk about relaxing!

Old Classic Re-Born

We have had this 4-wheeler since Dominick was 10 months old. We bought it at a garage sale, and since we did, Aaron has begged to get rid of it. And finally - all of my hard work to keep it around has payed off.

We did pull it out in Indiana when Dominick was two, but after an accident between Dominick and our car, he wouldn't even look at it.

So, I finally charged up the battery, taped the back wheels for the umpteen-billionth time and wiped off all the cob-webs. It was awesome. The kids have had so much fun and I hope we have a long, long fall season so we can get lots of use out of it!



Check out the video of Kambree on her first solo ride of her life - it's funny!

Many many words of Kambree

I just put another picture of us in Boston, but I can't upload pictures again - because Aaron says that I simply take too many pictures. So sorry, because I don't believe there is such a thing as too many pictures of your kids.

Anyway, I have other funny things to blog about anyway - like my little Kambree. We have had lots of time to spend together since Dominick started school. It is awesome, because I am learning so much about her. The things your kids say can make you laugh, cry, scream and just about anything. I need to do a better job of recording some of the funny things Kambree and Dominick say. I will start with Kambree, who is super super opinionated! Yea, whatever she says goes around here (mostly because I am too sick of hearing her screeching voice tell me "no").

She frequently will copy what I am saying to Dominick. So, the other day I was telling Dominick to obey me - he was taking his sweet time as usual, so I said sternly (that's the way we mothers describe it) to come in now. Kambree quickly repeated what I said in an even more stern voice. I was tired of her doing this and told her that "I'm the Mom." Just as quickly as she could she turned and looked right at me and scolded back "no, I'm the Mom!" With no idea what to say, I just chuckled a little and came inside.

The other day I could have screamed at her though - and it shouldn't be my fault, but I blame myself anyway. Once again, I decided to potty train her (even though she is totally capable of doing it all by herself - and will a lot of the time). Either way, she was wearing her Dora panties, and had gone to the potty all morning long. Nap time came around and I told her that she needed to wear a diaper for nap. She didn't even argue and laid down for her nap. Well, about two and a half hours later I went in to get her - but was surprised to see that she had taken her pants, and diaper off and set them on the side of the bed. She then stood up, started jumping and happily said "Oh mom, look, I pee on my bed - I want candy." (She gets a piece of candy when she goes pee-pee on the potty). I was more mad, because I had literally just put the last batch of wash in the washer. So, I grabbed her off the bed and spanked her little bum-bum. I said "no - no! No candy, you go to time-out!" Even more infuriating, she just looked at me and said "o-tay" and went straight to time-out with no panties on and sat down. Arghhhh I don't even know why I try!

To end with a super sweet sentence out of her mouth, this morning we were down at the beach exercising. After I was done running, we went down by the water to play. When we were on our way back she said "I run with you." She was running for so long, I was shocked. When she finally pooped out, breathing hard she looked at me and said "mom, I adorable!" It just melted my heart. I think she is just the most adorable little girl ever. I couldn't imagine a day without her (unless I was on vacation with Aaron at the beach :))!

Boston over Labor Day

Two days before the weekend, Aaron (I know, you wouldn't guess him to be the spontaniouse one) said that he wanted to go to Boston over the weekend. Obviously he didn't get an argument from me and we booked a hotel and went. It was so much fun to spend so much time together as a family.

We left super early in the morning on Sunday - which means that I drove the entire way (ha ha) and Aaron slept in shot-gun. The kids unfortunately stayed awake the entire drive up, making for a melt-down of epic proportions at lunch time, and then again at dinner time and then, yes again at bed time. The nice thing, was that we could trick them by closing the curtains (you know those black-0ut hotel curtains) and having bed time at 6:30 - ha ha!

Anyway, we saw so many awesome things that I don't even want to begin to write all of them down. We took a trolly tour and also walked the freedom trail. On Monday our friends Chris and Robyn, who are in school in Boston (with the other 280,000 students) met us in the afternoon and we were able to convince them to watch our kids for us - suckers!! No, really it was so much fun to see them and catch up with them again. The kids really did love hanging out with them too, especially when we went over to their apartment in the evening and Dominick played Wii with us.

It was just about the most perfect weekend ever - weather, location, company, everything! We can't wait to go back up and see/do more!
This teddy bear was just outside of our hotel (at the Tufts Children's Hospital). Everyday, Kambree's favorite thing was to say hi to, and bye to the teddy bear.
The kids on the famous Swan Boats
Aaron: Isn't it ironic how the government can be so efficient in some things and grossly negligent in others...

Monica: And for the simple (non-political) minded - make up your own funny comment!


Water, track, sun and most importantly the red shoes - he could be happy here all day.

Fist Day of Kindergarten

Because I have waited so long to put this picture up, I can actually say that these were the good old days - or at least day.

This was Dominick's first day of school, which was just a three hour block with parents in meetings as well. Dominick was totally happy, and didn't even notice that I was there. The next day was a full day and Dominick did a little better, and was most excited about riding the bus home all by himself.

Come Monday, I was so excited to have three days (we had Thursday and Friday off for Rosh Hashanah) with Dominick in school. When he came home from school though, Dominick told me that he cried because he wanted to come home. I asked him why, and he just said he wanted to stay at home and play with me and Kambree.

Long story short, it is so painful to take Dominick to school everyday - he cries every time we get to his class room, and all morning long he is tearing up telling me that he doesn't want to stay at school a long time. It is so so so hard to see your son like this. It goes against everything my motherly instincts are telling me to just turn around and walk away every morning. The only reason I can still do it, is because I know how important school is, I just wish he knew that.

He is such a bright kid, and I'm sure he will adjust soon - until then, all prayers are welcome in his behalf!

Lighthouse Point Park

After my family left in August, I needed to get the kids out to a park so that we (Dominick) didn't cry all day long. So, we went with our friends the Anderson's to an awesome park up the coast about 45 minutes. This park is the first park I have found in the whole state with a public water park (it is not what you think - there is actually no pool, just a splash pad. But, we will take what we can get)!

Anyway, the kids had a blast as you can see. Dominick was a wild man as expected, and Kambree was pretty brave too. You would never believe it by these pictures, but the kids were actually suffering from "overactive bowls" this day - and no I didn't know this until after we were home. I wouldn't have taken my poor kids if I knew their stomachs were so sick. Despite a little bit of "fast poo-poo," we all had a blast!

Big Helpers

It is no surprise to me that Dominick is helping me wash dishes, because he loves playing in the water no matter how he does it. The surprise is Kambree actually helping wash the dishes instead of drinking the water, spashing the water on Dominick, dumping the water on the floor, etc... It is so great to see her turning into a big girl!
Yea!!!! Here it is - the first bed we have gotten for our kids (besides Kambree's crib which isn't really a bed). They love it so much, mostly because they each got to pick their own set of sheets to go on their bed. Dominick choose Transformers and Kambree choose Dora (surprise, surprise)!

Roundy Family Vacation!!!

Well, despite taking a month to finally blog about this vacation - here it is!! I originally was going to split it up into each day's activities, but now I am just going to attach a huge list of my favorite pictures, with explanations attached.

I must first say how grateful I am to my parents for their generosity for this vacation - it simply wouldn't have happened without you - THANK YOU!!! It has got to be my most memorable vacation ever, just awesome!

We did so many fun things. First, we went up for a nice day in Mystic, CT. We spent the day at the aquarium and then the rest of the afternoon at a local park. We had a funny trip up there, because it was only supposed to take 1 hour - but because of an accident took us 21/2 hours! The funny part was that all the boys (the little boys) had to take a bathroom break on the side of I-95, and not everyone can claim to that!

On Thursday, we went to one of my favorite places on the entire coast - Tod's Point (a private beach in Greenwich, CT). This was just about the most perfect beach day ever. Perfect weather, perfect company and warm water. This was a special beach day for all of the kids, because this is on the Long Island Sound - protecting it from huge crashing waves (perfect for little ones). The kids were in heaven - most of them could barely pull themselves away from the sand, water, and crabs to eat or drink anything. So fun!

The next day was a crazy, crazy day. It was in the 60's and rainy! (I should have know this was coming, because before my family flew out I stressed many times that you do NOT want to bring long pants or jackets to NY in August). They were also thrown off a bit, because a couple days before, it was 85 degrees with just about 99% humidity - like I said, crazy. The day wasn't a complete wash, because 1) we all got a lot of new umbrellas 2) we went to the Museum of Natural History and 3) my personal favorite - we ate at Carnegie Deli.

On Saturday, we decided to brave the city again - and this time the weather was nice to us. We took the train into the city this day, which was so fun for the kids - but a little stressful for the adults. The whole day we had to maneuver 10 adults, 9 kids that are 6 years and younger, three double strollers, and two umbrella strollers - all through Manhattan! We saw all of the traditional NY tourist sights and a couple off the beaten path. It was an awesome day!
The only funny thing that happened that day was Dominick getting his eye hurt in the city. We went back to the hotel to eat at a restaurant across the street. The funny thing, was that Dominick ate something really really spicy, and when I was taken him back to the hotel an ambulance was outside on another call - a EMT looked at Dominick's face funny, and told me that it was swelling. Long story short, we narrowly escaped a trip to the hospital and he can't eat spicy food anymore.

Sunday, we came to our humble (to say the least) home. We had a BBQ out on the island and went crazy trying to accommodate more than the four people this place was made to hold!

Monday was another awesome day - we took the family to a "real" beach. This one was for the big kids (all of us parents, who still act like kids). Down at Jones Beach we are on the Atlantic Ocean where there are big waves crashing down and waiting to be body surfed. Nobody (besides me) wasted any time jumping in and having fun. The kids were in heaven again with awesome sand and beautiful weather.

Tuesday we took it easy and came back to our place after check out. Our family was so nice to us, they fixed our broken car - THANK YOU! The kids played in a really small pool and had a blast! Good-bye is so hard to say, especially for Dominick and Grandma. We all miss everyone so much and can't wait to come see you soon.
This is the awesome Grandma - who knew she was such a wild woman! That is her out in the Atlantic waving her arms. Believe it or not, but she was the hardest to get to come out of the ocean and leave. Way to go Grandma!
Awesome family picture at Jones Beach, Long Island.

Dominick at his happiest!
The four girlies - (from left) Brynn, Kambree, McKenzi and Abby
Grandma and Spencer - she had to pick him up, because I'm sure he was shoveling sand into his mouth (don't you love that age at the beach :))!
This was at our place, and Dominick was talking to Spencer. Dominick just fell in love with that little (well, not that little) boy!
Everyone again, only this was really late at night after returning from an awesome Yankee's game.

Grandpa Roundy - he get's a bye from getting in the ocean. He wasted his feet on the previous days. So sorry dad!
It just doesn't feel like a baseball game without peanuts!

Kambree burying Brynn.
Don't you love our new umbrellas? This was that crazy cold day in August in NYC!?! You can see that the kids were less than thrilled - and for some reason the cheesecake at Carnegie Deli didn't warm them up like it did me.
This is Dominick, Karson and Braden at our local beach. And, if you are wondering - yes Dominick takes off his pants when we get to the beach without being asked anymore (not sure if that is a good or a bad thing).
Aaron and I are showing off the crabs that we found while at Tod's Point. The kids were so funny around them.
The kids had a blast at Tod's Point in the little tide pools. They were even creative enough to dam it off and make a hot tub!
This was one of my favorite pictures of little Spencer! We just pulled up to the beach at Tod's Point and he jumped up and started this funny grunting. He knew what he wanted!
Kambree was having a hard time parting with her precious baby at the beach. She quickly realized that it was not that easy to keep her dry (which I didn't even think she cared about:))!
These three girls were so much fun together. McKenzi, Kambree and Brynn are three peas in a pod. I can't remember how many times we were asked who had the triplets!
"One of these things is not like the other..." :)
Up at Mystic Aquarium, the kids were only interested in getting some of the cold spring water on their bodies to cool off with.
Inside of the aquarium the kids were hard to keep track of. Such an awesome aquarium! Here, All but Brynn and the babies are sitting in front of the leopard shark.
Here, at the Museum of Natural History the kids were excited number one to be dry and warm and number two to see all of the awesome animals!