Parties Parties and MORE Parties!!!!

Wow...it is truly amazing how fast time flies. These pictures are from the Children's Museum Member's Preview Party for the haunted house (this year's theme: Haunted train!!). We had so much fun at the festivities that we never made through the haunted house. We will plan on doing that tomorrow--during the "friendly hours" of course--lights on and happy gouls!!

Alex loves to dress in his costume as a train engineer, and he happily walks are around making choo choo noises. Noah is clueless about the whole Halloween thing, but he gets lots of giggles dressed as a railroad crossing signal! We entered the costume contest at the museum and did not even place!!! I think the whole thing is rigged since this little girl dressed as an ice cream cone (P-lease!!!!) won in TWO categories. Politics. Good thing I am not competitive (HA!).

This evening we went to ZOOBOO with Coici--what a blast! [we are getting a lot of use out of our costumes] Alex did his first official trick-or-treating through the zoo, although his "trick-or-treat" sounds a lot like "chicknchick"--whatever works!!!!

Noah had his speech evaluation yesterday, and we discovered that he actually has about 7 "words." His best word is probably "more" [wonder why!?] He may need a little speech therapy since at his age he is supposed to have 15-20 words.

We are gearing for a fab weekend--visit from Oma and Opa, haunted train, AND....The Willis Family Pumpkin Sacrifice Party. Technically it is a pumpkin CARVING party, but let's be honest....I have NO talent in this arena. Hopefully Opa will still be here and can help the boys carve a respectable pumpkin. Regardless, we are really looking forward to hanging out with our wonderful neighbors and friends. Alex just loves "Eddie" (the Willis' little man from Guat)--it is going to be so much fun having such good friends right across the street. We are truly blessed in our little house on Kenwood! Que lindo!!! (Ok, so I probably slaughtered that word in spanish--feel free to correct me!)

Con Amor,

Caren

Stoney Creek Farm

What a totally fun day we had today!! Opa came to see us so we decided to spend the morning at Stoney Creek Farm. We picked up Coici and off we went to Noblesville (we seem to be spending quite a bit of time up there lately!). Stoney Creek Farm has a LOT going on this time of year for their Fall Festival: outdoor games, a pumpkin choo choo, pony rides, hay ride, pumpkin patch, gift shops and a nursery.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, so we started with a hayride to the pumpkin patch where the boys "chose" their pumpkins.

After a romp through the HUGE hay pile, we played on the playground and then rode the pumpkin choo choo!! I think Alex like the the hayride the best, and Noah was a huge fan of just being able to run around unrestrained. I am proud of Alex--he rode the pumpkin choochoo all by himself, although he still had a worried look on his face if he could not see us. He is definitely becoming more adventurous and daring. Then there is Noah--no fear....none....he threw himself down the hay stack, threw himself down the slide and probably would have single handedly wrestled the cow calf in the animal barn if I would have let him.

After a nice long nap for all, we went to our favorite spot--Holliday Park and played on the playground and even took a little hike on the trails. Alex is truly amazing....the kid can walk, run, and climb and not get tired. We ended our day with dinner at Guatelinda--which meant TWO Famosa's for Mommy since Opa was driving!!!

The boys are now tucked in and sleeping like logs....and it's time for Mommy to do the same!!

Buenos Noches!

Choo choo

Well, it has been a busy few weeks. The boys are doing wonderfully! They both got a haircut today, which turned out to be quite a workout for all involved. By the time we were done, Ms. Robyn was sweating and seriously looking like she could use an adult beverage!!! BUT, they look totally fabulous, so I guess it was worth it!

Last weekend we had a great adventure on a REAL choochoo (hence the title of this entry)! We went to the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville and boarded a train to Atlanta (in Indiana; NOT in Georgia!!!) to a craft fair. While the craft fair was a bust (unless you were LOOKING for crap!), the train ride was awesome....especially for Alex. He LOVES "choochoos," so when he saw that we were going on a real train, he was just mesmerized.

As the warm weather starts to waiver, we have been making sure to get outside as much as possible. We had a lot of fun last week having a picnic dinner at HollidayPark--Noah was thrilled that he could play and eat at the same time!!

Apple Picking

Today we had an absolutely wonderful day at Anderson Orchards picking apples! When we got there, we were surprised to find Eduardo and his mami and papi and Jen and the girls there as well. After a quick snack, we headed off into the orchard with our trusty red wagon. Alex and Noah had a blast just wandering amongst the trees.

Imagine how thrilled Noah was when he found out he could actually EAT his way through the orchard!!!!

I think between the two of them, they consumed about 6 apples (should make for some interesting diapers tomorrow....). The weather was gorgeous, so we spent about 2 hours walking around. Alex walked the entire time and then even found enough energy to play in the straw and the playground. We got LOTS of Jonathan apples as well as a few Golden Delicious. I am hoping to "whip up" a few apple pies and even attempt to make some applesauce in the crock pot! After a quick lunch at "Donalds" [as Alex says] (McDonalds) we headed home for naps. This evening, the Willis family and Coici joined us for dinner at a local REAL Guatemalan restaurant---it was AWESOME!!! They even had Gallo (THE Guatemalan beer) which made Mommy very happy!!!!!! The boys devoured their dinner (as did their mother!).

Overall, a wonderful day spent outdoors--we will miss these outings during the winter, I am sure. So, in the meantime we will enjoy as many of these days as we can!

Caren

Casa de Geppert

I thought I would start this post with a picture of Alex at one of his favorite places--HollidayPark! We LOVE this park with its wonderful playgrounds, trails and large open areas in which to run. Alex has graduated from the baby playground to the "big kids" playground. He has truly become a little boy climbing all over the equipment and going down all the slides. Noah THINKS he has graduated from the baby playground, but as his mother, I am trying to hold him back! The child knows no fear and thinks nothing of hurling himself head-first down a slide. I see stitches in his near future!

In general, life in La Casa de Geppert has been going full force with "Hurricane Noah" on the loose! The boy is into EVERYTHING--he LOVES to splash in the dogs' water bowl and climb into their crates--truly embarassing. Big brother Alex is not so thrilled with this latest development because Noah is even more after his toys. For the most part, he "walks away" [like a good little Red Glider!], but he also does his fair share of pushing Noah down and then promptly sitting on him. Whatever works.

Big News: My dear friend Katie gave birth to her second child on September 15th!!! Caitlin came into the world around 9:40 am surrounded by familiy and friends--she is SO adorable, I just HAVE to put her picture on here. We are so excited for them, and I cannot wait to take the boys to meet her!!!

Noah is walking!!

Well, I think it is official...I am now the proud mommy of TWO TODDLERS!!! (Lord, help me!) Yes, Noah is now a mobile bi-ped, and I have to say, he seems a lot happier....I think he has been frustrated (probably since the day he was born) that he could not move that fast. Well, this whole walking thing is really suiting him. He still falls down a lot, but that certainly does not stop him. In fact, today he was walking and fell down hitting his nose on a sippy cup--he ended up with a massive bloody nose!!!!! Did this bother him? Not really. Within 5 minutes he was ready to go again. More later-just wanted to document this momentous milestone!
Caren

Labor Day Weekend

As much as we hate to see the summer end, we did still have little mini Labor Day celebrations. The weekend kicked off at the Oktoberfest--it was held indoors this year (WHAT!!!??), but we still managed to have good time. As predicted, Noah was a huge fan of the food while Alex wowed (or scared!!??) everyone with his dance moves. Then if that wasn't enough, while Noah danced with Mommy, Alex was off chasing the ladies.....

Another day was spent on the southside swimming with Oma and Opa and ....of course....eating. The boys had fun in the pool--even Alex started to relax and really enjoyed being the captain of his own "boat." Noah, of course, handled the whole thing like an old sailor...sitting back, soaking up the sun and watching the world pass by.