Zoo Boo

This past weekend we met up with some of our friends at the Indianapolis Zoo for their annual "Boo at the Zoo" event.  Essentially, it's a big Halloween party at the Zoo, and let me tell you- it was PACKED!  However, we muscled our way through the crowds so the kids could see all of the animals, gave them their first tastes of Halloween candy (and maybe had a bite or two for ourselves!), and all about collapsed when it was over from sheer exhaustion!

Our little tiger- wouldn't keep the mask on for too long so he spent most of the night dressed up as Ben in a tiger's body. 

Lucky boy has a Daddy with sturdy shoulders for when his legs got tired! 

L-R:  Owen, Parker, Kate, and Ben (who is snuggling himself right up to Kate, he might even be sneaking an arm around her!!) 

Our little tiger, one lucky shot of the approximately 30 seconds that he had his mask on:) 

Ben and who else but his best buddy Owen.  Poor Owen seemed a little terrified of Ben's tiger costume that night, as you can see Ben looks pretty ferocious! 

A family picture- thanks to the Watts family for bringing the wagon that only our kid used for the night!

Special Vegas Visitors

It had been WAY too long since my Grandma and Grandpa Wuethrich came back from Vegas for a visit, so we were thrilled to be able to spend the day with them this past Sunday.  They are staying at my Mom's house for a week or two, and it has been packed every day with visitors.  The last time we saw them was over 2 years ago when Nick and I took a long weekend trip to Las Vegas, so they hadn't even had a chance to squeeze Ben yet!  Lucky for Ben- he got some much needed squeezes from his Great Grandma, and of course some classic love pats on the cheek from Great Grandpa.  We had a great time with you two and hope to see you again soon!

Thanks for visiting!  We love you!

Smart Boy

Caught on video- don't ask me how we got him to sit still for this long and pay attention- but I think this is pretty good footage!  So for some of you that haven't seen Ben in a while, he is talking up a storm, and as shown in the video below, naming and finding all of his body parts!

Daddy's little helper

Are you having trouble keeping up with all of the tasks and chores around the house?  For example, something as simple as washing the car?  Invite Ben over... he's a pretty good helper.  Just a fair warning though, he will spend much more time sloshing around in the sudsy bucket of water than actually scrubbing:)  

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes.  I did have to strip Ben down all the way to his diaper after this little project, peeling each soaking wet piece of clothing off one by one.  Even his socks were soaked clear through his tennis shoes!  Oh well- it's worth it when they are having so much fun!

Hensler's Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend Ben and I headed up to Momo and Ralph's house for the weekend (aka, my mom, known by her grandkids as Momo).  My sister Allison also came with her family and we spent time just hanging out, letting the kids play, and catching up with each other.  Saturday afternoon was beautiful, and in the spirit of getting the kids out of the house for a little while we decided to find the nearest pumpkin patch.  

Thanks to Google, we found Hensler's, which was only about a 30 minute drive away up near Hamlet, Indiana.  They had a horse drawn wagon ride upon arrival to take you back to the pumpkin patch, a big wooden train for the kids to crawl around and play in, little shops with knick knacks, and of course hot apple cider.  It was such a fun afternoon... here is my proof:)

Ben LOVES tractors and was very excited to get to sit on this one all on his own!

The big wooden train for kids to run around and play in.  

Ben poking his head out of the window of the train- he was having so much fun playing peek-a-boo!

My niece Anna (who is turning SIX on Wednesday... when did that happen?) and the "World's Biggest  Pumpkin"

Aunt Allison hanging on to a squirmy Ben, next to sweet Alexa and Anna on the hayride.

Mommy and Ben- less squirmy now that he has fruit snacks:)

Ben exploring the pumpkins- or "punkins" as he called them!

My sweet little boy- getting so big!  

Easily my favorite picture of the day.  Momo holding Alexa with the horse looking like he was about to take a crunch out of her leg!!  Ben only liked the horsey's from a distance... up close they were a little too huge for his liking!

Thanks Momo for a fun weekend and a great afternoon at the pumpkin patch!  See you next year Hensler's!

It's time for BIG news!!

Shhhh.... Ben has a secret to tell....

Can you guess it???

Ben's going to be a BIG BROTHER!!

Maybe to a little sister, maybe a little brother, we'll know in about 8 weeks!  So far everyone is healthy and very excited about the new addition to our family!  Help us welcome Baby Vollmer in April 2012!