Festival Time!

In lieu of doing the traditional Halloween activities (in part because I'm not too keen on celebrating Halloween and John is undecided), we opted to attend a fall festival at a local church. They had tons of games for kids to play in order to earn candy and small toys, bounce houses, and a Christian illusionist. They also had a cornbread cook-off, a chili cook-off, and a pie contest. I entered the pie contest with two pies, an apple and a chocolate chip (two of the three pies that I know how to make). For me, the best part of the night was discovering that my apple pie had won first prize out of 41 pies!

The award winner!

It was nice they were lenient with him when it came to the games. But he seemed to enjoy getting to play and then choose his prize.

He tried the bounce house for the first time and really enjoyed being in it.


Bouncing boy!

He wasn't too sure about the whole cotton candy thing, but feeding it to Daddy was great fun!

Brennan's First Haircut (if you don't count the ones done by Dad)

Before ... wild hair!

During ... why is this lady attacking me with scissors?

After ... such a handsome man!

Ten Apples Up on Top

We spent the morning out at Carter Mountain Orchard picking apples. We went out there last year and had a really good time, so we think this will become a yearly tradition. Brennan was able to be much more involved this year. His favorite activity was picking up the apples that had fallen on the ground and carrying them around as he made his way down the row. He wasn't quite so keen to try eating the apples, but we enjoyed the ones we sampled!

We finally convinced him to actually pick an apple and this was the result of his hard work.

A little too high for him!

Once he dropped the apples he was carrying, playing in the long grass and picking the flowers held much more allure.

So much hard work required a bit of a break...especially to gear up for heading back up the mountain.

Peter Panda

Brennan attended his very first birthday party today for his buddy Caleb. We went to Build-a-Bear and then to the food court for some lunch and birthday cupcakes decorated by Caleb's big brother, Manning. We had a really good time celebrating with friends!

He chose to build a panda bear, but wasn't really sure about the whole stuffing it thing.

He loved the finished product, which we ended up naming Peter Panda.

If I had a Homer Hanky...

...I'd be waving it proudly! Way to go, Twins! Ah, such a great time to be a Minnesota sports fan!

On Our Nightstand, Part 6

Here are some more books that the Downer family has been enjoying as of late:

1. "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith" by Rob Bell
2. "Your Boy: Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World" by Vicki Courtney
3. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
4. The Broadmoor Legacy series and the Brides of Gallatin County series by Tracie Peterson
5. "Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals" by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Pumpkin Picking

We went to the Hanover Vegetable Farm with our church's playgroup this afternoon for a fun outing. We enjoyed viewing the farm animals, playing in the giant box of corn, and racing rubber ducks. A tractor pulled a hay wagon out the pumpkin patch, where the kids got to explore and pick out their pumpkins. Then we got to enjoy roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a bonfire. The weather was perfect for October, making the day even more enjoyable!

He was excited to see the pumpkins and enjoyed patting them as he passed by them! He even tried carrying a couple that were just a little bit too big for him still, but he made a valiant effort.

The dirt road, rocks, and pumpkin leaves held more appeal than the actual pumpkins themselves.

Playing with new friends in the giant box of corn was a big hit!