A Visit With Aunt Robin & Uncle Mark

Over the weekend, our dear friends Mark and Robin came over for a visit. We had not seen them for awhile so it was awesome to get together. Even better, the kids had a blast with them! In the past, Gavin has not wanted much to do with his Uncle Mark. In fact, he would cry unless Mark was holding him facing OUT, so Gavin couldn't actually see him.

This time, all of that was forgotten. Check out Gavin playing with Mark outside:



Mark introduced Gavin to the joy of being tossed into the air. Get ready:



And away he goes!





Evie was a bit shy at first, but she couldn't resist Mark and Robin's silliness - it's contagious!






Sword fighting with pool noodles:


"Say what, Aunt Robin?"






Both kids had fun hitting Uncle Mark in the head:

Playing with their brand new Bristle block present - fun!

After the kids went to sleep, we went to dinner (thanks to Auntie Di for babysitting)! We had such a great day with our friends!

Doctor Gavin Will See You Now

Evie and Gavin received a "Lil' Doctor Kit" from Uncle David for their birthday. They have been having a great time giving check-ups to each other, me and Francis, and their stuffed toys. Here is Gavin giving Cookie Monster a complete physical:

Getting a syringe ready:




Next, a band-aid for Cookie's "owie:"




Listening to Cookie's heart:

Taking his temperature:

Checking the reflex in Cookie's knee:

All done! Dr. Gavin's diagnosis is that Cookie is in perfect health. Now it's time for a big hug!

Scarecrows At The Arboretum

Grandma Cordes told us that there was a neat scarecrow display at Morton Arboretum, so one day last week we went over there to check it out with Auntie Di. We saw some beautiful fall colors and the kids got to step in a lot of leaves. The scarecrows were very creative, too!

Here's one of our favorite scarecrows: "Miley Cypress!"

Gavin tried to pull Pinocchio's nose off, but Diana stopped him in time:

Some of the scarecrows weren't scarecrows at all. Here's a neat spider:

And here is the house that fell on the wicked witch:

Gavin was really interested in this little copse of trees. It had a thick canopy and lots of space to run around below the branches:

Gavin also wanted to hug the lamppost. A group of women walked by us and commented that they had heard of tree-hugging, but not lamppost-hugging! What can I say, Gavin loves to give hugs!

Evie and her Auntie:

Halloween Day

Halloween dawned bright and cold, and stayed that way! I planned how to bundle up the twins to take them trick-or-treating on our street, but alas. As we mentioned yesterday, Evie and Gavin refused to put on their costumes! I guess they had decided they were done with it all, since they had two days of dressing up already.

I pulled Evie's costume over her head as she protested, and once it was on she didn't complain too much. But Gavin wouldn't let me get near him with his costume, so that was that. We stayed inside and played!

Evie and Daddy read a story:



Gavin said, "I just didn't want to wear that costume anymore, Auntie Clare! I know you understand."



Coloring pictures with Nana:

Trick-Or-Treating At Daddy's Office

On the Friday before Halloween the twins visited Francis' office and and had their first ever trick-or-treating experience. Even though they are not yet saying "trick or treat," they quickly got the hang of holding out their little candy buckets for goodies! The kids were very well-behaved and were wiped out by the end. Everyone fussed over them and they collected a LOT of candy!

(remember that you can click on any picture to see a larger size)

Evie was Snow White and Gavin was Jedi-padawan Anakin Skywalker. This is the only time Gavin actually held his lightsaber. "You WILL hand over your candy!"



Starting out the morning; fresh and bright eyed!

Almost halfway done!

"Where else can I find some candy?"

Evie looks through her loot:

"Whew! All this trick-or-treating is hard work!" This was the first time Gavin actually sat down, (we had been there almost an hour) and you can tell by the look on his face that he is getting tired.

Evie is fading fast after an hour of trick or treating around the office.

Taking a rest in the big chair!

Gavin was more interested in this fax-phone than in candy:

Can you make a phone call on a mouse? Gavin will figure it out!

Ironically, the twins refused to put on their costumes the next day on Halloween! So it was a good thing we had such a great time at Daddy's office. We'd like to thank everyone for making the twins' first trick-or-treating very special!