Using the good camera

Dave threatened to sell my Canon so to prove that it was still useful, I dusted it off and used it exclusively today. It takes gorgeous pictures, I'd forgotten!

Theo found this form of picture-taking hilarious ;)

The big girls kept following me around and bike-posing.

I held down the rapid-shot button and 400 pictures later I had a few really good ones of Ellie swinging!

I got good pictures of Ellie and Theo today! Basically, the Canon is able to catch them as they do all their running around :)

At the pumpkin patch

We drove out to Carnation for pumpkins! It was the longest trip we've taken outside of our RV trip and it was encouragingly successful.

Snacking on the way...

Looking a bit like a pumpkin there Avy!

Ellie's getting her wiggles out.

Ellie and Avy's refrain: "I want the BIGGEST PUMPKIN."

We got one! Oh wait, that's Avy again.

I tried to photograph my two wiggliest kids at the same time. I wouldn't say I succeeded.

"Hey Lily, can I take a picture?" <immediately strikes pose>

"Hey Theo, can I take a picture?"  "MOM THIS PUMPKIN IS DIRTY! EVERYTHING IS DIRTY!"

Avy staking her pumpkin claim.

"Ellie, can you hold reeeeeally still for a second?" <Ellie freezes except for swinging arms>

"Mom, that one has dirt on it too!!"

A family picture! And everyone's eyes are open! Lily, the one time you're photographed with the rest of the family....

Oh sure, Lily, now you smile...

Theo's favorite part.

Definitely ;)

We'll wait a few weeks to carve them but that's an adventure the kids are already wiggly for. Exciting!

Destiny toys

Daddy brought home some blow-up swords/staves/shields from his game and the kids had a blast re-enacting what they've seen Daddy play.

It's been a full week

It was an eventful week, some good, some.. different. Here are the girls reading to each other:

Lily got out of time out and hid under her bed. Here she is, discovering that she didn't get away with it ;)

Our van battery died, and rather than cancel our plans for the week the kids helped me take the battery out, walk the 4.5 mile round trip to the local auto parts shop for a new one, then put it back in. Very few pictures of this time because we were all hot and exhausted, but the kids were troupers and we even stopped by the grocery store for oranges to eat at the park on our way home. Here we stopped at a local construction site to watch the bulldozer (being driven by a woman!).

With our van working again, we drove to a brand new park the following day!

Avy approved ;)

It also had a boardwalk hike that we spent some time snacking and traipsing on.

Back at home it was naps for the babies and school for the kids. We practiced graphing!

Theo helping with the laundry. He kept asking so I finally internally sighed and told him, "Sure! You can put away the big girls' stuff." He grabbed as much as he could possibly carry and carefully stuffed it all into one of the girls drawers. Who needs sorting anyway....

Lily likes to blow her nose. 'Nuff said.