The Indianapolis Zoo

We had originally planned a trip to the Indianapolis Zoo at the end of the summer, but we were so busy preparing for school, remodeling, and enjoying the air conditioner that it didn't happen.  So, we went over fall break instead.  Best.  Decision.  Ever.  I've never seen so many animals out and close to the fence.  I guess cooler weather IS better to see the animals.  Audrey was in awe of most of the animals.  She was pretty serious that day, although we did get some smiles out of her occasionally.  I also liked going because she got to spend the whole day with her grandparents (Gary and Michele took off work to come) and it was pretty cute seeing the kids come to the zoo in their Halloween costumes.  Because it was so chilly and Audrey doesn't like wearing costumes (yet), we put her in regular clothes.

Here are some of the better pictures we got with my camera:

Petting the fake snake at the Reptile House

Orangutans.

Riding the carousel with Daddy.

Afraid for her life!

The giraffes were so close!

Once he realized we weren't going to feed him, though, he ambled away.

Rhinos!

Lioness.

Lion!  Audrey loved to see the "cat".

Cuddling cheetahs.

Elephants.

Flamingos. 

We found this cute little play area near the flamingos.  Audrey LOVED the slide!

Elsa (from the movie Frozen) was visiting the zoo!

This tiger was would pace around the rocks and logs and then come rub his head up against the glass.  Every time he came by the glass, all the little kids screamed.

Seeing the tiger up close after the bigger kids left.

Bears!

We even went to a dog show to see some amazing dog tricks.  Audrey liked to say "woof" when they were running around.

Note to self.  Only go to the zoo in the fall.  This is seriously the best time to go!

Trick-or-Treating at Grandma and Grandpa Knittles' House

Yesterday, we were finally able to get out to my mom and dad's house to trick-or-treat (which also means I'm finally able to blog about it and put up pictures and not ruin the surprise of Audrey's costume!).  This time, Audrey knew exactly what to do.  The last several days, Audrey has been allowed to have a small amount of Halloween candy, so she is starting to understand what's in the wrappers.  She also knew how to pick up candy piece by piece to put in her bag, although she did do some deliberating as to which would be most delectable.

After we took the bowls away (she would have emptied them if she could), she then wanted to pick each piece out of her bag and lay it on the floor to examine it.

My sweet nephew Calvin the Cow is going to be six months old in a few days!  Next year, Audrey's going to have some competition in that candy bowl...

Calvin wanted his costume OFF.

And since he was crying, Audrey wanted to get away from him!

I love these little munchkins!  I already can't wait to go trick-or-treating next year!

Trunk-or-Treating

Most years our ward has a trunk-or-treat party.  If you're not sure what that is, basically we trick-or-treat in the parking lot of our church out of the back of our trunks!  This way, we can all trick-or-treat together and it's less driving around or walking.  Last year we didn't take Audrey because she was only about a month old, so we felt a little weird about that.  This year, I think she did enjoy going from trunk to trunk with the other kids and learning that you get candy.  At the first couple of trunks she just stood there, then at the next couple I showed her how to put the candy in her bag, then the cars after that I put her hand in their buckets and made her drop it in her bag.  Finally, I thought she was ready to do it on her own, but she ended up trying to give the people at the trunk the candy from her bag that she'd already collected.  Well, at least she knows how to share!  By the end of the evening, she finally mastered it, and she LOVED pulling individual pieces of candy from the bowls to put in her Batman bag.

Kyle and I dressed up for this, too.  Since I was taking Audrey around, I made my outfit match hers.  I went as Catwoman.  Kyle stood by our trunk handing out candy to kids, and since there was a trunk decorating contest, he dressed up like Indiana Jones to match our Temple of Doom themed trunk.

Audrey and me leaving the church to begin trunk-or-treating.

Batgirl and Catwoman!  I had everything already except for the ears, gloves, and jacket.  The ears and gloves we bought, and the jacket is actually my sister-in-law's that Kyle took from the guest bedroom closet when we were last visiting (thanks, Kels!)

All Kyle's idea.  The palm leaves are actually something I had stuffed in my closet at school, and the skull is something I set out in my room at school, too.  Kyle painted cardboard to look like stone, set out a mask his dad brought us from Guatemala, and threw some fake webs all over the trunk.  The treasure chest is something Kyle's grandpa made him when he was a little boy, and that's where Kyle put the candy.  Also, did I mention he had the Indiana Jones soundtrack playing in the car as kids came?  We won the contest.

"You call him Dr. Jones, doll."

As Audrey was trick-or-treating, she ran after some of the bigger kids and tripped on a crack in the parking lot.  She got a little road rash on her nose and forehead.  Poor girl!

After we finished here, we went to campus since they were doing their dorm trick-or-treating the same night.  Everyone thought we looked great and gave us a whole bunch of candy.  We considered it a very successful night!

Trick-or-Treating at Grandma and Grandpa Byards' House

Over fall break we spent a night in Indianapolis with Kyle's parents.  A few hours before we left, we realized that this would be the last time Audrey got to see Kyle's parents before Halloween was over, so we figured we should pack up an outfit for Audrey to put on for her grandparents.  We got out the costume box (packed full of kid outfits I've been picking up for super-cheap at garage sales for the last several years) and determined that about five or so outfits would fit Audrey right now.  Once Kyle realized the Batgirl outfit would fit Audrey this year (the tag says 2T), he insisted that we stop looking at the rest of them.

So...not bad for throwing it together a few hours before we left the house!  We had everything already!  The dress, the gauntlets, and the cape were the actual outfit.  We dug out a long-sleeved gold shirt out of Audrey's closet, and she had the black tights and black boots.  The hairclip is thanks to our friends Kim and Phil Call, who gave them to us to stick on a headband for Audrey before she was born (we're still getting use out of them!).  The batarang is Kyle's toy and the bag held comic books that Kyle had purchased earlier in the month.  I was pretty impressed with us!

Waking up from her nap and getting out of the car...a little confused about where she was.

Audrey actually really hates being in costumes and started to cry.

All better now that Grandma has me!

We went trick-or-treating at the Gundersons' house, my in-laws' next door neighbors.  It was the first time Audrey solicited candy from someone who was NOT a relative. 

Mr. Gunderson left to go get the candy.  Audrey didn't really know what to do.

Still NOT thrilled about being dressed up, even after we came back.

After a half hour or so, she warms up to it!