Mohonk Mountain House

It was such an old hotel room there was no TV in the rooms. Yet, there was an indoor pool. Go figure! There were long stair cases and old stairs I could run down. The cafeteria was a mad house, with all you can eat ice cream, and all you can eat M n M toppings. There were spooky fireplace and the board game concentration. A strange man did a magic show, blowing up white balloons for the kids who I picked to volunteer. He didn't pick me, so I didn't get a balloon. I had a rocking chair on my fifth floor balcony. My dad wouldn't let me rock to much because he was scared I'd some how fall out and go over the railing into the lake. My mom, dad, me and Maddy all sleept in the same room but I had my own bed. Even though there was so much food I mostly snacked on Granola bars my dad bought at the Shop Rite on the way up. I'm serious. I endorse the Mohonk Mountain House.

Daddy: "If you cut off your left hand, your right is what you have left."
That was what I learned from the Magician at the Mohonk Mountain House. Instead of watching television you get to see a live magician. "I picked up this book on levitation. I couldn't put it down."
There was one moment I want to remember. I was walking out of the cafeteria with my lovely Emma and Maddy and they burst out into this song, "We walk behind Da-ddy. We walk behind Da-ddy." It was a catchy song and I started to sing-a-long.

Local commerce supports young childrens' need for sugar

Emma: Trick or Treating is a wild adrenaline rush that knows no boundaries.

Maddy: New York City is fast, friendly and unforgiving. So, no matter how tall you are you have to get your candy bucket up in the air and demand to be seen. Your attitude has to be, "I may be 3, but acknowledging my power is the smart thing to do."

Daddy: In a haze, my brave children approached our local merchants and saw which ones were pro youth, and which were pro corporate greed. Citibank, Chipotle, 5 Guys and the Vitaminne Shoppe had no candy for kids. The local shoe repair shop did. The kids sugar rush peaked, spinning around, yelling "Sugar, sugar, sugar."

Tennis Dad

My dad really wants me to play tennis. I mean, I really like tennis. I'm serious. I like hitting the ball and I am ready to play points on a real court. My dad keeps repeating the same thing over and over again. "Bring the racket, down and low. Bring it back, turn, down and low. Follow through to the shoulder."
You don't have to repeat everything. I tell him. Sometimes it seems like his head is going to explode, which is also fun.

Daddy: Now I have a taste of what Richard Williams and Peter Graf went through. I want my girls to climb to the top of the tennis world, and this desire came on so suddenly. Since I couldn't be a great champion it would be awesome if my girls were great champions. I can teach them. I can. I can guide them.

Yes. I need to relax. In deed. Maddy was on the court for the first time. They don't have to be champions. They just have to have fun and maybe one day play with silly dad on the courts. But if they want me to be a tennis dad, I am willing to go there. Oh boy.

Also, Emma has her first catch phrase. She likes to say, "I'm serious." She says it after obvious statements, like, "I like Pink Berry. I'm serious." Today Maddy said, "Serious dude." It's unsettling, but I am not going to squash her catch phrase. Not now.

Rainbow wand with a heart

Maddy: We went to the street fair. I jumped in bouncy house, fun. Went down the big slide, scary. We got Dunkin munchkins and balloons. I even drew on the balloons with markers when we got home.

Daddy: Props the balloon guys. He made exactly what Maddy asked for, "A rainbow wand with a heart." I even got it back to the apartment on the 1 train without popping the rainbow.

Disney Disney Disney

I went to Disneyland! I had lunch with all the Princesses: Ariel, Bell, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella. They all came over and chatted with me about school, goals and dreams. Sleeping Beauty encouraged me to sleep as much as I possibly can while still getting good grades. I told her at my school they don't have grades and she said, "Even better. More sleep." Snow White told me to be friends with all kinds of people at school: Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, Bashful and even Doctors!


Snow White said I was doing a great job raising two little perfect princesses. I lightly tipped my tiara and gave Snow a smile. My wife shot me an angry glare but all was forgiven.

What happens in Disney stays in Disney.

Painting with no hesitation, no fear, no doubt

A show: the set, the stage, the dancing, the songs. You have to make everything and then you have a show. It was rainy today, so I went to my father's studio and made this painting for my show. It's a giant heart that is growing out of the ground. Maddy painted some pink unicorns, which was OK.

Daddy: Emma attacked the paper like a young Jackson Pollack. It was humbling. I am going to paint without my shirt on from now on. Lesson learned.

Baby Bakers

Emma: I wanted cupcakes and cake so I told my baby sitter Sharda, "Let's bake some cupcakes." We went shopping for ingredients. We alraady had Vanilla Exact. We found frosting the was already made and sprinkles. I am a great baker. It's not even hard.

Daddy: Those darn cupcakes are so delicious. And the cake, that darn cake is like a lake of goodness I just want to suck up.
No! eating your kids cake is like any other cake, filled with calories that make you chubby. It's not fair. There should be some free, your kids made it, no calories foods.

Percy

Grand Ma Annie got a new dog, PERCY He jumps and bites me. Grand Ma told me not to run away. "Just stand still and shoo him away. He's nine pounds." She said. At first I was scared of the crazy puppy but now I'm not. Puppies are fun! He's teething just the way I used to chew on toys when I was a baby.

Daddy: Hooray for Percy.

Roller Booggie time warp girl is 6

I love roller skating. You can feel the music in your body, which is jiggling because you're on wheels!

Daddy: I've been putting off this day for so long: putting my little girl, the baby I raised for six years, putting her on 8 little wheels to roll wherever fate takes her. NO! But, she skated about like a strong Young Frankenstein and in the picture you can see her skating away from me. We were at Skate World, the last remaining roller rink in San Diego, Today we are having a Princess Party at Grand-Ma Renees house. Even Grand-Pa Charles will have some Princess cake.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Emma was the Mayor of Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz


Flag Pole day was a frenzied class dance, in the gym because of rain


What a year! I made new friends, learned how to read and can cross the monkey bars. I'd like the thank my parents for making the effort to wake up in the morning, get me dressed and make me lunch! It's already super hot, so I am looking forward to my Birthday, summer camp and swimming. Hooray!

Daddy: I give myself a C plus as a up and coming class parent. I got up, woke Emma up, no TV in the morning. Areas to improve: I would just give a bowl of plain cereal without milk for breakfast. At first she was a little late for school but on the last day she was the first one there! I rose to the challenge. Next years goal, be one of the popular parents.

Running across Route 4

Emma: We took the 171 bus up Route 4. That's a highway with gas stations and stores, grease and grime. It's a lot of fun. We were left on the side of the road and my dad showed me this special bridge just for people. If you tried to drive your car over it wouldn't fit and your car would get stuck. If you want to cross over by car you have to find a place to make a U-turn! Drive over a car bridge.
I saw all the cars from all the world racing back and forth.We, my sister and I, ran to the outlet center and believe or not we discovered a Disney store!

Dad: It was an awesome day for all. I love walking over the highway. It gives me a feeling of wisdom and freedom and omniscient power. I wanted my girls to experience that.

I am a big believer in Juicing

Hi. My name is Madeleine Sofia Dermansky. Call me Maddy. To start off my day I like a nice glass of vegetable juice. Don't you? The key to juicing is pushing raw vegetables into the machine. So get up and do it.

Daddy: Some mornings I don't want to get out of bed, much less juice. But Maddy demands action and I respond. Soon she'll be three and will demand to move out of her crib into a bed. Adina fears she will jump out of bed and start organization projects in the middle of the night. I say, if she wants to organize our house, let her.

Spring Sprung Homespun

Here I am in sunny San Diego for Grand-ma Renee and Grand-pa Charles' 50th Wedding Anniversary Party. There was a Rabbi and a Mariachi band and chocolate strawberries and Fajitas. When I get married I want a Mariachi band to follow me around for my entire honeymoon. That way when I want to dance I'll have a band ready to go!

I am ready for spring. I've been super busy! I bought a Scholastic Children's Dictionary. It's a giant book but I only paid a dollar because it was a used book sale.

Michael: I agree with everything Emma says. The other day she started up the computer and clicked on the date program to check the date. I didn't teach her how to do either of those computer steps. She picked out a dictionary and today looked up the words, VINE, FISH and THE. Plus she is recommending vacation locations. Soon she'll be 6 and be ready to take over the Blog completely.

COMING SOON: MADDY SOFIA DERMANSKY WILL GET SOME BLOG ENTRIES OF HER OWN!