Oktoberfest and Family!

Many people come into town now for my parents' annual Oktoberfest party. This year we had visitors from St. Louis (Aunt Marilyn) and Virginia (Aunt Jean and Uncle Joe). We certainly missed seeing the West Virginia contingent, but we hope they'll be back next year! Aunt Jean and Aunt Marilyn continue to delight the girls--Hannah loved the "bee hive" song that Aunt Jean would sing to her whenever she would start to get a little bit fussy. 

Keeping Hannah happy at a restaurant!

My brother's family decided to make an impromptu visit for their fall break. They arrived right after Oktoberfest, and of course Moira was especially delighted to be able to spend time with her cousins. The girls went on a trip with them to Dayton, OH so that they could visit one of their older cousins who is attending the University of Miami at Ohio.

The girls

Hannah loves stuffed animals

Claire loves watching out for Moira and Hannah

The next day, in true Luken fashion, we had a big excursion to both the Children's Museum and the Art Museum. Dave's children were adamant that no trip to Indy would be complete without visiting the museum, and I never really tire of visiting the museum. Plus, we had to pick Moira up from preschool.

The carousel is always a favorite
After lunch (and a nap in the car for Hannah), we went to the Art Museum. There is great exhibit there right now on Matisse. There is a hidden treasure at the museum as well--a large art studio for children! They can go into this studio and work on iPad art, photo art, paper art--you name it! A lovely assistant took all of the kids (and Aunt Kate) into a separate classroom and helped them to do shaving cream art. It was awesome.

Shaving cream art

The Lukens are all so crafty!

Displaying their beautiful artwork
While waiting to leave to go to the new 100-acre park at the Art Museum, Joe took care of Hannah. He was very sweet with her. I love the lobby of the IMA--it's just gorgeous.





Once we arrived at the 100-acre park, the kids had a blast climbing all over the basketball court installation. 




And the tree swingset was pretty amazing too!








Last but not least, everyone (including Aunt Marianne) had an amazing time racing against each other on the "bones" installation. The goal was to move from the feet to the hands as quickly as possible--whoever was first would win! 



We had so much fun together that day! After the park, we went back to Grandma's house for one of our favorite meals (mom says she likes to make it for Dave when he is in town). Baby back ribs and delicious sides. Yum! It was the perfect way to end the day.

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