Ride em' cowboy!!

Today we went to Zoe's 3rd birthday party at Casola Farms in Holmden, NJ. It was about an hour away from Hoboken. It was your all American pumpkin patch chock full of Hayrides, Pony rides and a petting zoo. As you can imagine, little Zoe had a "cowboy" theme.

Kids had a blast. It was well worth the no naps they took today.


I got my boots on mommy!


Mason, Zoe and Demi. (and Zoe's new Baby Alive.)


She even looks cute from behind.


And our little prince. Wasn't really into wearing any festive garb.


Cowgirls need a break sometimes.


Jacob warming to the cowboy attire.


Mason's first pony ride. She held on and screamed, "Hee haw!" (her version of yee-haw)


Jacob was an old pro. He may be scared of the merry-go-round but not a REAL pony.


He also fancied the girl next to the pony. (clearly).


Lieberman family farm photo.


Mason went into the petting zoo -- she just didn't wanna pet. But looking was fine.



This pumpkin is bigger than our apartment.


Hot.


I wonder wear the girl went who took me on my pony ride?


This is for grandma and grandpa and nana and papa.


And again.


And another...We procreate nicely, right?


Mason "tries" the cupcake. Jacob looks on in disgust. Mason tried it but no like it.


Buh-bye.

EN-GA-LAND Pics!!!

OK - so I managed to get it down to 25 pics for the blog. But this was no easy task. More videos to come. Enjoy!


Jacob's entertainment at the airport. Pushing the stroller.


Bad parents or wicked smaht?


Jacob and Auntie Mel...awww.


Cousin Lewis!!


Mason, I want to be a fairy too!


Mason's second favorite activity to eating snacks.


Bear hug.


Cousinly love.


Baby Sam. (he's big...right!!)


The Lieberman Clan


I think Jacob might have just tooted and he's trying to make an escape.


Nana and her little busy body.


Someone had fun at the park.


A weird, English roundabout ride. Wait for the video...it's so weird it's hilarious.


Eating "Brobee Spaghetti" with cousin Lewis. Boys are silly. And smelly.


Hangin' at the sandbox in Nana's garden.


Papa shows Mason how to make cakes. Mason likes to smash the cakes.


Party shot! Someone's wasted...on LOVE.


Pig pile on Auntie Mel. Mason is trying to save her. Ian is sleeping in the background.


His finger is permanently attached. Been there for 2 months now.


What do you want from my life?


Cousins...ahhh. Jacob, Sam, Mason, Ellie, Lewis.


I totally busted in on their private conversation.


Jacob has fun with Uncle Paul.


We pause for a brief picture before we watch Peppa Pig. Yay!

Happy Birthday Aunt Jennie

As a special treat to celebrate the date of your birth, today, October 21 - Mason got up at midnight and was up until 2AM. Then Jacob woke up at 5AM. And woke Mason. And Mommy got up with them for about 30 minutes and then bribed them back into bed with their milk.

But, the special part of the birthday celebration was when Mommy walked in Mason & Jacob's room at 7:30 and Mason said, "Mason made poo poo." And I'll tell you, the girl doesn't lie. It was absolutely everywhere. She still had her diaper on, but she had apparently scooped it out the back. It was all over the crib, sheets, bumper and Mason. All in her fingernails. Absolutely amazing. And Jacob had taken off his pants as well, which I found on the floor, wet. Poor Jacob. I took him out of his crib first and went to rip off his diaper as he was standing, and a huge poop fell out and onto the floor. Completely took me by surprise.

So here's to you, Aunt Jennie. Certainly a day I will not forget.

Back in the USA

We're baaaaaaaaack.

And yes, we're all in one piece. It was an amazing trip and everyone had oodles of fun. Sure, it had its ups and downs, but overall a success. These kids are seasoned travelers. I mean, it WAS their 3rd time to the UK. And they're only two so...yeah. Don't forget they're like totally bilingual.

According to IPhoto I took 271 photos. (including videos) So as you can imagine, it might take me a bit to go through them. But I wanted to let all our fans out there that we made it back state side.

Highlights of the trip:

EWR -> LHR
We took the overnight flight over which we thought would be good because the kids would sleep. Eh. Jacob slept. For a little. Mason slept for maybe 45 minutes. And watched Minnie Mouse cartoons the rest of the time. She was obsessed. And zombielike. All in all they were pretty good except for the desent into Heathrow. They were even good for the 3 hours we spent in Newark airport. They climbed on everything. And Jacob was perfectly happy pushing around the stroller.

LHR -> EWR
Pretty much the same. Except Heathrow was way more crowded than Newark airport and we couldn't allow Jacob to push around the stroller. He was not a happy camper. And it was a bit hard to let them run around because there were so many people I feared we would lose one. But we did manage to settle them down by putting them in the stroller and buying them each a bag of Frazzles. (Bacon flavored corn chips) Brilliant! The plane ride back was 7.5 hrs. And all in all they were pretty good. Except this time we busted out our DVD players and wore down the batteries with hours of Yo Gabba Gabba. Jacob slept. Mason didn't.

*One other note, between both airports Jacob got called a girl 4 times!! Another argument to give him a haircut I suppose. A couple comments I heard were, "Oh, this poor little girl thought she lost her mother." And on the plane someone asked me, "So how old are your girls?" Oy.

Mason tackles Jacob
Inside linebacker? No. Just a sweet, little angel who goes by the name of Mason. When we were in Newark waiting for our flight, Jacob was pushing the stroller around the airport. He was a little obsessed with it and Mason really wanted a turn. Really. Like really really. So she went over to Jacob, gave him a bear hug and then continued to push him and push him and push him until she tackled him to the ground. It was absolutely hilarious. Harvey and I watched in amazement as we'd never seen her do anything like that before. I think poor Jacob was in shock. But maybe he secretly liked it. The tackle. Not the fact that Mason had just stolen his stroller.

Nana & Papa and their new Yo Gabba Gabba bath time song
You will see the video of this later in the week. It's well worth the wait. And was definitely one of the highlights for Mason & Jacob.

English Yo Gabba Gabba
That's right. YGG was on in England every morning at 7:30. But it was the English version. Seriously, they dubbed over all the voices with English accents and even changed some of the words to reflect more englishisms. Like, after "The Super Music Friends Show" segment instead of DJ Lance saying, "Listening and dancing to music is AWESOME...he said, Listening and dancing to music is BRILLIANT!" Harvey and I thought it was pretty crap. But then again, we're biased. And half American.

Cousin Lewis and Baby Sam
Mase and Jake had an absolute BLAST with their cousins. Especially, big cousin Lewis (who's 4). I could see what it might be like if Jacob had a brother. Insanity!! Lewis educated us all on "Ben 10" and was a real inspiration around the dinner table. And baby Sam was as cute as can be and nearly walking. Although he's a baby, he's pretty big. I think. He easily weighs as much as the twins. And I think when we see him next year, he'll probably be looking down on us. But we'll see.

English Cheerios, Daddy Cheese, Brobee Spaghetti, Pretzels in a bag, Arthur Mac Cheese and Lami
I can't say the kids ate so great while at Nana and Papas. And not for lack of trying. My mother-in-law cooked them home made lavish meals and bent over backwards trying to feed my weird, picky, American babies. But they weren't biting. I think it was a little hard for them just because everything there is different..duh it's another country...even the Cheerios. But Mason "tried them. and she liked them." (as she'll tell you). For breakfast Mason would eat a few Cheerios. Jacob would sometimes have some "Daddy cheese" - which is really just cheddar. And for every other meal I think Mason at the box of "Arthur Mac and Cheese" that we brought over with us. Jacob was also obsessed with eating "Lami" (salami) and pretzels in a bag. Don't ask. One night, Sandra made home made spaghetti bolognese. It was delish. I know, cause I ate it for dinner. We told the kids it was called "Brobee Spaghetti" and Jacob LOVED it. So that was a winner dinner.

Socialized Medicine
I had my first experience with socialized medicine, and I have to say, it was pretty good. Jacob had a fever of 103 and it wasn't going down with the Motrin we brought over so naturally, I was a bit concerned. So we took him in. We met with a doctor who kind of checked him over. Well, she looked at his eyes, ears, and in his mouth for about 1/2 a second because he was screaming so loud. She said "his throat looked a little red" and prescribed an anti-biotic. We went to the pharmacy to pick it up and it was FREE. Yup. Free. No questions asked. Apparently, all medicine over there is free if you are under 16. Brilliant. (we never ended up giving it to him. and his fever broke the next day. so i worried over nothing. i'm jewish, what can i say?)

Kid's Kingdom
About 5 minutes away from my in-laws there was a place called "Kids Kingdom". It was an indoor playland with a huge bouncey thing called "Jelly Mountain" , ball pits everywhere, slides and all kinds of climby things. It was truly amazing. We took the kids there twice before it started to lose it's luster. But it was a great time.

Peppa Pig
Google it. The kids are obsessed. And thanks to Auntie Mel and Uncle Chris Mason and Jacob are now the proud owners of two life sized ones. And they managed to bring back some apparel as well. Like I said, if anyone is looking for Hannakah gifts - peppapig.com.

No Sleep til America
So the kids didn't really sleep. At all. Except for the one night that Harvey and I stayed out in London. (Nana and Papa said they slept through the night, but Papa snores. Loudly. And Nana has a bad ear. So you be the judge.) I'm not sure what it was -- if they weren't into their pack and plays or the 5 hour time change was just too much for them, but every night we were up with one of the kids if not both of them. And generally one or both ended up in our bed. Oh well. That's the price you pay when you're a rock star traveler.
*And yes, they are sleeping better now. Kind of. They are waking up at 4:00 AM the past 3 mornings. I'll put that down to the jet lag. It will get better. It has to.

So yeah...it was fun. Awesome to see everyone. Sure, it was a little bit strenuous on my aging body and mind but well worth it. A special shout out to everyone who made it to South End to see us - Michael, Tracey & Ellie, Julia & Paul, Gerry & Leora, Great Grandma Doris, Sean & Esther and Silvie & Geoff.

We'll be back...oh yes. If Mason and Jacob have anything to say about it.

Up up and Away!!!

So we're off to England in about an hour.

Our flight isn't until 9:00 but we are leaving Hoboken at 5:15. So hopefully we will get to the airport around 6. Which will leave us plenty of time to do all the stuff we need to do. And the kids will have fun rolling around the floors of Newark. Who wouldn't. The last time we went to England was about a year ago. So the kids are older now...should be interesting.

Mason and Jacob seem to be excited to go up in the air plane. Although Mason has requested the plane does not go to high. We'll see what we can do.

Stay tuned. And may the force be with us.

Scream!!!

This was from about a month and a half ago. A little late afternoon playdate at Addy & Jackson's house. Of course, craziness ensued.

Cowboy shirt! Naked Cell Phone Calls!!!

Hells yeah. It just keeps getting better.

In an attempt to persuade Jacob not to want to wear Mason's tutus my parents bought him a "Cowboy t-shirt" to dress up in. And again, it totally worked. Jacob actually enjoys dressing up sometimes a little more than Mason. But now, instead of running to the toy bin and pulling out Mason's tutus to wear, he'll pull out his "cowboy t-shirt" and a tutu for Mase. It's really cute actually.

And on another note, as you may or may not be aware of Jacob LOVES anything electronic that lights up or makes noise. Especially a cell phone. Especially especially a smart phone cell phone. One day while I was getting him dressed or undressed (I can't remember) he stole my phone and tried to make a call.

Here is the evidence of what I'm talkin' bout.


The proudest little cowboy in Hoboken.


Helllloooooooo.


Hello...Grandma? Nana? Burke? Gillian???

Harry Cat Balls

I've been meaning to write an entry on this for a while.

My parents have a cat named Harry. And he has lots of toy balls that he plays with. Do you see where this is going?

Mason and Jacob love the cat. And the cat's toy balls. AND on top of it they call the cat by it's name, Harry. So often when they are at grandma and grandpa's you'll hear them running around shouting, "Harry cat balls! Harry cat balls." "I like Harry cat balls. JJ likes Harry Cat balls too!"

Awesome, right?

Tutus and Holding Hands...Ahhh

Mason LOVES wearing tutus. And Jacob loves holding Mason's hand. Is that so wrong? See what I mean below.


She not only wears a tutu, but wears it with attitude.


All se to go to the park. Tutu, check. Handbag, check. Mum-Mum, check.


And from the rear.


The following are pics I took from my living room window. Sarah (our loving nanny who's been with us since the kids were 6 months old) are taking the kids to the park. They listen to her. But I couldn't resist snapping some shots. SO cute.


Jacob really wants to hold Mason's hand.


Mason will hold Jacob's hand because Sarah says to do it.


Seriously, this is the cutest thing ever.
For me, they run wild. And definitely do not follow directions.