Our Trip to Syracuse

We were so excited to meet our new nephew and cousin that we couldn't wait until Thanksgiving! He's already five weeks old and little babies change too fast to not see him now!

Here's Wes and Phil meeting Jake just after we arrived.The youngest Liberman boys in their comfy seats.

Wes enjoyed pretending he was a baby--anything for a bouncy seat that vibrates and plays music!

Wes is thinking, "I don't know what Dad and Uncle Greg are doing standing around talking; there's a BALL right here!"

Jake's quality time with his favorite uncle :).

We brought the new parents a few small gifts, but I really just wanted to show Greg's amazing ability to multi-task!

The Liberman fathers and sons first thing in the morning--don't they look spiffy?

Do you see Jake's tuft of hair on the top of his head? And Phil's matching bed head :)Jake showing Uncle Phil his cranky side (he was hungry).

Quality time with Uncle Greg.

Wes found the perfect little book nook.

Once the adults were showered and the babies were ready to start their day (please think about what a major feat this is! :), we went out to lunch--a treat from Mary Lou. Thank You!Jake slept through most of lunch,

until he decided he was hungry too!I was trying to get Wes to kiss Jake, but I think he was feeling a little jealous and preferred to ignore the fact that his Dad was holding another baby.

After lunch we went to a great fall place--apples, pumpkins, cider, music, hay rides, farm animals, and

a helicopter? Wes was fascinated by the little helicopter that was giving people rides.

Wes and I loved looking at the bee hive

and feeling the wide variety of gourds.

This one looks good enough to eat!

Jake, however, was not so excited about the fall festivities.Just chillin' in the pile of pumpkins.

The bees, gourds and pumpkins were fun and all, but the ANIMALS were the best!

Wes was particularly fond of the goats,

and wanted to show his affection with big hugs!

Success!

We preferred to walk the short distance to the pumpkin patch, but just watching the hay ride was fun for Wes.

Wes didn't like that this pumpkin had dirt on it, and tried for a bit to get it off. Hmmm, I wonder where he gets this from?

This is Wes telling us that the pumpkins are very big. What a cutie pie!

On our way out, we picked up a few mini cider doughnuts. This was a big milestone for Wes--his first (and likely last for a long time) doughnut! He, of course, asked for more shortly after eating it and Dad was very proud.

Back at the house, we had some time to chill out.

We also visited the park just down the street from Greg and Jan'Ann's house.

Wes really liked the slide,

but throwing the rocks was far more exciting!

Then we watched the playoff game,

drank some fine beverages,

and ate pizza. Wes had already eaten dinner, but I was giving him small pieces of my pizza. I put my slice down for a second, turned to talk to Phil, and when I looked back at my plate, it was empty and this is what I saw of Wes:

He ran away with my slice of pizza and ate the whole thing! ;)

The only issue was that he would only eat it cheese side down, so it all fell off.

Before bed we had a little photo shoot...

The next morning, we had to say good-bye. Wes gave Jake a big kiss!

We spent most of the day at Syracuse. It was nice to be back on campus!

Our main reason for going to campus was so that Phil could meet with his advisor. Here's Phil and Wes in the Geography Department.

And with his advisor, Anne Mosher.

Then we went to the Geology building, where I had all of my Science Ed classes and was a TA for Elementary Science Methods. Here's Wes next to a beautiful fossil tree!

We spent most of our time waiting for Phil out on the quad running around--what a great space!It was also at this point that I realized that it was Wesley's 18 month birthday! A year and a half already! How did that happen? Happy Birthday little man!

Wes, telling me that the rock was really big.

And then he enjoyed banging on it and singing.

This is Wes (if you can find him) in front of the Maxwell Building, where the Geography Dept. is. He liked trying to walk up on the wall.

Okay, so it's really a curb, but don't tell Wesley that. Getting up was a challenge.

So was staying up.

But after many failed attempts, he did it!

He even managed to take a few steps, very carefully, with one foot in front of the other.

There's always something new to learn on a college campus! :)

I even won a T-shirt from the Trojan tour. Being a Health Educator helped :)

Phil and I were really excited to go to our favorite little lunch spot, Syrajuice. Once we arrived, we realized that Wes had fallen fast asleep! It looks like Wes is in the storeroom, but no, this is part of the ambiance.

We made one stop on our way back home to visit Leanna and little Arianna. She is already 9 weeks old!