What kid doesn’t love costumes? Noah LOVES to dress up! For a Halloween treat, I wanted to take you on a tour down a very SPOOKY memory lane to see the many faces of Noah…
Halloween 2008
Halloween 2009
Halloween 2010
Also Halloween 2010
Just a random February day, playing Dress Up with Ella Rae 
Halloween 2011
When we went to Jaemor a couple weeks ago, we picked out pumpkins to carve. Noah wanted his to be a happy pumpkin, so when it came time to carve it, this is the design he picked for “US” to do together. He wanted to scoop out the goo, but when he touched it, he decided it was a better job for mommy. Come to think of it, when I was a kid, it was always a good job for my mommy, too 
Happy Halloween!
On Thursday Noah’s school had a big Halloween party. They had a hay ride, pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating and a yummy lunch planned for the kids. For this party, Noah wore his second costume, a Pirate (thanks, Gramma Nancy)! It looks like it could also double as Paul Revere or even a peasant – depending on which accessories you add or omit (ideas for next year 
)
Argh!
Our little pea pod slept through the entire party!
Say “CANDY CORN!!”
Noah and Daddy on the hay ride
After the hay ride, every child got to pick a pumpkin from the patch:
Noah found the perfect pumpkin, as well as the perfect use for his hat!
Trick-or-treating with his school friends
After lunch, Daddy read a story to the class: “The Pumpkin Patch Parable”
What a great time – and the best part – it’s not even Halloween yet! Which means MORE FUN TO COME 
Last Saturday, as part of our church’s semi-annual “Faith in Action” day, Greg and Noah went to a local nursing home with a group to bring cheer to the residents. They sang, visited, passed out goodies to the residents, and the kids trick-or-treated. One of Noah’s costumes for this Halloween is the “Cowardly Lion” – he wasn’t so much ‘cowardly’ as ‘shy’, although he did warm up after being there a little while…maybe he’ll crack a smile on our next visit 
Our local library runs a special with Zoo Atlanta where you can watch a 25 minute video about the Zoo’s history, and then they give you 4 free passes to go to the zoo. So, Greg took off work on Monday, and we took our new family of four to the zoo! It was perfect weather, and maybe there were 100 people in the whole zoo that day! We couldn’t have asked for a better visit. Of course Garrett slept the whole time, so I’m not sure he’s going to remember his first trip to the zoo 
The zoo was decorated for Halloween
The giraffes, including a 3 month old baby!
(Her name is Lily, and she was 6 feet tall at birth!!)
Noah and his “pride”
With Willie B., a legend at Zoo Atlanta. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 41. He was kept in isolation for 27 years with only a television and a tire swing to occupy his time until 1988 when he was moved to an outside exhibit where he could socialize and raise a family. He was named after Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield (Hartsfield-Jackson airport, anyone??) – see, watching that video paid off!!
I loved seeing the mama just hang out with her baby
(Incidentally, two other gorillas came up to antagonize her while she was swinging…she got up, baby still attached, and fought them off! Don’t mess with mama!)
Noah takes a break to check out the map and see where the pandas are
Aha! There was also a baby panda, but he was sleeping up in a tree, and I couldn’t get a good picture.
Daddy and Noah at the petting zoo
Noah rode the carousel probably 6 times
And he rode the train 4 times!
What a great day!! See you again soon, zoo friends!
Saturday was one busy day. We went to the fair in the morning and then Greg took Noah to a Balloon Festival in a nearby neighborhood after dinner. Because the sun had set already, the balloons were very pretty when lit up.
And this is what we saw outside our front door the next morning:
Something pretty to look at AND a physics lesson! Noah learned that hot air rises 
On Saturday, we took Noah and Garrett to their first fair. Greg and I both have memories of going to the fair when we were kids, and although they were different fairs, the memories were very similar – rides, games and FAIR FOOD! The Cumming Country Fair had a special on Saturday morning where admission was free, and the rides were free for an hour. It took Noah a little while to warm up to the rides, but once he did, he had a lot of fun!
All aboard! Of course, a train was the first ride Noah chose!
Noah called this a “pony ride” until he realized later there were real ponies!
Garrett and I walked across the fairgrounds while Noah and Daddy rode above us!
Fast slide!
The real pony ride!
This was Noah’s first funnel cake – he gobbled it up (with the help of Daddy and Mommy). The wind was blowing so we were all covered with powdered sugar by the time we were done 
I think the fair wore him out! We can’t wait to come back next year!
Garrett, you are two months old already – it’s so hard to believe! Where does the time go? You are holding your head up and sometimes even sharing voluntary smiles (which melt our hearts!). Your are sleeping all night except to wake up once to eat (I think this was a silver lining of being premature – you just slept so much from the start that you learned nighttime is for sleeping!). You LOVE your brother, Noah, and we have even joked that Noah is the “Baby Whisperer” – You can be crying about anything, and when you hear Noah’s voice, you instantly relax. You’re not crazy about tummy-time, but you put your time in like a champ, and it’s definitely paying off. You love to eat, and it shows! In just two months, you have doubled your birth weight and now weigh 10 lb. 4 oz. !! These past two months have been so special, and we just can’t wait to see what’s ahead 
Last Tuesday was picture day at Noah’s school. Since we were all dressed and ready a little early, we took the extra time we had to snap a couple pictures before walking out the door.
Let’s hope he smiled this nicely for the school photographer 
He was trying to get Baby Garrett to smile 
If you saw our Christmas card last year, we used the same “camera on self-timer, rested on a box on top of a bar stool” method. I really should look into getting a tripod!
