10th Anniversary Surprise Get-a-Way!

 Roland had been super secretive over the last week and since my Mom and Tom offered to have the kids for a sleepover as our anniversary gift he decided to make it extra special and take me away for an overnight to a top secret destination. He told me what to pack, but nothing else. We headed towards Syracuse, jumped on the Thruway towards Albany and got off at Verona. He had planned an overnight at Turning Stone. Since we aren't gamblers at all I was wondering what he had up his sleeve. I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate 10 years. He had planned an early evening at the Skana Spa which included a couples massage as well as time in the mineral pool, steam room, sauna and hot tub. It was relaxation at its finest. After our wonderful time at the spa we got dressed up and headed to an extra special restaurant which was very reminiscent of one we had been to in NYC years ago.

 We went to a Brazilian Steakhouse where you are able to eat a gourmet salad bar which included sushi, assorted salads and soups. Then when we were ready we were able to try ten different meats. I only got through six, but Ro toughed it out and tried all ten. We were more than stuffed needless to say.

 The waiters came around with meat just like this until you turned your stone to red which means stop.

 After dinner we walked around and explored, but mostly tried to walk off all that food.

 Last, but not least we went to Club Lava and watched the crazy dancers and different people performing from the ceiling. It was quite an experience.

I can't thank my husband enough, it was truly an amazing getaway and I can't get over how much thought he put into the whole trip. I am truly one lucky lady.

Knoebel's Year 2

 This year we couldn't find a weekend to all head to PA together so Kristen and I decided to take the kids on our own...well sort of...we called in all the Smith sister's as reinforcements and headed to Knoebel's without the men. We had a total of 6 kids and 5 adults and at first I thought it might get a bit hectic with so many of us, but it was a BLAST! We stuck together for the most part, but also broke up when the need arose. Leah was much less timid this year and was up for any adventure. It was not too crowded and we ended up going on a total of 26 rides combined between the big kids and the littles.

 Not a bad self portrait!

 Little girls time out, way past nap time and right about to melt down, but Dipping Dots cured their issues real quick.

 All Leah wanted all day was to go on a train and we found the cutest tiny antique train for her to ride. It was priceless.

 Seth was all about the roller coaster and he even offered to sit alone. He has no fear of rides this summer.

 The last ride of the day was the super sized flume. Donna and I joined the big kids and then I booked out of there before the next flume came down and soaked the rest of them. They stood there for about ten minutes and laughed and laughed as they got more and more wet. Thank goodness we are smart mom's and brought extra clothes to change into.

 Seth, Jake, Sam and Abigail

We had the best day and we all agreed that Knoebel's is one of our most favorite parks. Until next year...

Little Entertainers

 During our 3 day trip to PA the boys tapped into their creative sides. They set up a stage with seating in The Smith's basement and created their own "show". We aren't quite sure what it was about, but we think it had something to do with Power Ranger's. They even gave the audience snacks for watching the show. It was truly priceless and we loved that they used their creativity. I see some future Stage Note kids!

 Way to go boys!

The Doodlebops

 Last Saturday (the HOTTEST day of the summer) Poppy and Grandma asked Miss Leah to go see The Doodlebops in concert. Seth decided that he would rather go to a birthday party and Roland wanted to clean the boat so I was Leah's date. She was very excited that we were doing something special with her for a change. Thank goodness the arena was air conditioned!

 Leah is so much more timid than Seth. She sat on my lap most of the concert, but at the very end she finally warmed up and started dancing.

 Love you Leah Bean!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

What can I say but WOW! Ten years has flown by so quickly. I got seriously teary eyed as I looked through all of these old pictures of us and our life before the kids. Roland and I have had such an amazing life together thus far and it can only get better as the years pass. I always think back to a Pre-Cana class that we had to take before getting married. They made us stand up and told us that every third person in the room would be divorced within five years of marriage. I always knew that would never ever happen to us. I always knew I was one of the lucky ones. I have a fantastic husband who supports me through thick and thin, who enjoys living life and experiencing new things as much as I do. In ten years of marriage we have bought a home, a dog, had two children, gone on fantastic vacations, bought a boat and four wheeler, spent time with our families, made amazing friends and have just been HAPPY. Plain and simple, happy. We love to spend time together in our family of four, but we also love to spend time with all of the people who love us and want to hang out with us. We are so lucky. Time is going by all too quickly and it needs to slow down so that we can enjoy it more. We look forward to the days and years ahead watching the kids grow, experiencing life with them and seeing where this family ends up. Will we ever find our dream home? What new life experiences will end up on our bucket lists? What else does the Pepsi world have in store for Roland? The possibilities are endless and we are excited to see what our future holds. 

 

 

 Our wedding was so fun to plan and to experience. We had a kick a@# wedding party who made it so special for us. Our bachelor and bachelorette parties rocked, we went white water rafting the week of the wedding and the actual wedding day went off without a hitch followed by an amazingly restful week in the Bahamas. It is just so hard to comprehend that is was ten.years.ago! Thank you to all of the special people in our life who were with us on 8/10/02 and who are now with us. We love you all. We are truly blessed.

10 years

This Friday Roland and I will celebrate our ten year anniversary so in honor of our ten years of marriage I dug out some old pictures to share. I have to warn you that some would not turn so that they are correct and after an hour of trying to get them to look right I give up. You will notice many different hair colors that I tried over the years, long and short and Roland doesn't seem to age at all. We have been married for ten years, but have been together for a grand total of 16 years!

 2002

 2003 (I must not have taken many pictures in 2003 because I couldn't find any of us alone, this was from a trip to Boston to visit our friends Nina and John)

 2004

 2005

 2006

 2006 ~ Seth's birth

 2007

 2008

 2009 

 2010

 2011

2012

August Updates

 It's been a while since I took the time to blog so here goes...our new niece Caydance was born a week ago. She is the cutest thing and we wish that she didn't live in Florida so we could smooch on her. Welcome to the family Caydance Joy Buckingham!

 The nakedness hasn't stopped. The kids love to be naked at any point possible in a given day. They especially like to swim naked while eating Popsicles.

 Seth finished his first week of camp and loved every minute of it. He had tons of friends he knew there and as you can see we helped transporting some of them when needed last week.

 I took Leah to story time at the library and she loved it. She loved picking out books to bring home even more. She loves to look at books and be read to, it's fantastic.

Leah is also in a puzzle phase. She is so focused on putting puzzles together and we love watching her little brain in action.

Next up...our 10th anniversary, shrimp boil and Beaver Camp week!

Parents Night Out

 We finally arranged it so that the weather cooperated and we all got sitters in order to go out on the boat without children and boy did we have a fantastic time. It was probably the hottest day of the summer and it wasn't any cooler on the lake. We went for a long ride and ended up catching up with some sort of old ship. It was so amazing to see it up close and personal.

 Kristen and Lee met up on their jet ski and we swam, ate and then tubed.

 All smiles and with no responsibilities for an evening.

 We all went tubing and Roland rocked at driving. We were off the wake a ton and there were tons of laughs.

We can't wait to get back out there as soon as possible, it was a truly memorable evening with great friends.