the kids have been working on their faces

gavin happy

gavin excited

gavin grumpy

gavin angry

i don’t remember what this was supposed to be, but what it actually is is gavin saying okay mom and dad, that’s enough now

similarly, i think this was intended to be grumpy but came across more confused…

lilah happy

lilah excited

lilah surprised

lilah grumpy

as per usual, the kids have been sick.  so imagine my surprise last night when, rather than unhappy wailing, i suddenly heard rambunctious giggling and laughter from the other room

the kids were exchanging tickets (puzzle pieces) for a chance to ride on the slide (large armchair)

this was being done as a solo activity (pictured above), or with gavin standing behind lilah and sliding down together

a few minutes later, the game changed, and one of them would get “stuck” and require the other’s help in rescuing them

gavin, of course, was the ringleader of this operation

last year on halloween, we got a monkey suit for gavin because he was really into monkeys.  but he wasn’t into the suit so much.  (at least, not on halloween.  later, he was more than happy to run around as a monkey.)  i wanted to get a gorilla suit to encourage him to jump in the monkey suit, but you’d be surprised how difficult it can be to find a gorilla suit (at least, when going to halloween stores in real life — this year i found plenty online).

gavin really likes pirates and pirate ships, so we decided to get a pirate costume for him this year.  and we got a bumblebee costume for lilah because they were so cute.  i decided that i could help encourage gavin to want to wear his pirate costume if i was a pirate, too (and that had absolutely nothing to do at all with wanting to dress up like a pirate myself.  nope.  not at all.)

here’s some of our dress-up adventures:

gavin tests out the bumblebee suit

once pirated, encouraging "arrr"'s are performed to get him in a piratey mood. instead, he has a look of "dad, what are you doing?"

but after further demonstrations, he starts to get the hang of it

lilah shows off her stinger

like pirate...

...like son

gavin shows off the broom he and mommy made at Red Butte Garden's Garden After Dark

...and starts practicing for the quidditch team

the day is topped off with the first annual pumpkin rolling contest

we took a camping trip to southern utah’s capitol reef last weekend.  i posted some pics to flickr and on my blog, but here’s the kids highlights.  it was great fun, and the campsite had a couple fruit orchards that the kids, especially gavin, loved.  also, the orchards were great for attracting a family of deer who would wander through the campground to the orchard and have breakfast on the fallen apples.  unfortunately, no deer shots here.

then there was lilah’s birthday when we got back…

lilah models her new birthday dress

gavin, of course, wants to pose, too

lilah (and gavin) had a great time with her new tea set from g-ma & g-pa reynolds.

later, lilah presided over the opening of her presents.  she allowed gavin to help, and even rewarded him by giving him a ride her her new baby doll’s stroller.

but then she reclaimed it for her baby doll.

what’s this for, mama?

lilah tests the juice to make sure it’s acceptable for her baby girl.

gavin doesn’t look nearly as nervous as we are!