Busy Fall

We've had a very busy fall, but there's not a lot of news to report, so I'll let the pictures tell the story.

September
In September we took Claire to her first movie - "Toy Story 3."

She'll tell you she didn't like it if you ask, but she was absolutely captivated the whole time and really got into the story.

We went to the first ever Great Midwest Balloon Fest in Overland Park and arrived just as all the balloons were inflating and taking off. She loved the balloons but didn't want to get too close and DEFINITELY didn't want to ride in one. (Not that we could've.)

The Kansas City Zoo Run this year was to benefit the new Polar Bear - Claire still liked riding the carousel the best.

October
We thought it high time we went to a pumpkin patch, and found one just 15 minutes from our house.

Claire had a great time throwing footballs through a tire with Daddy...

...and riding in a "Cool Bus" with him.

This is also the first time she had her face painted, and she asked for a kitty (of course - she ADORES kitties). She really enjoyed milking the fake cow, and wanted to see real ones but this particular farm didn't have any.

After getting her face painted, Graham told Claire about Cats: The Musical with their painted kitty faces and I sang what little I could remember from a couple of songs. A couple of days later she sang the little song snippets back to me and then said, "Mommy, can we listen to Jellicle Cats?" She's been absolutely captivated ever since and loves to listen to the CD (the picture is her first time hearing it). We even watched the DVD, and she was VERY upset that it didn't include "Growltiger's Last Stand," which is one of her favorite songs. (Cats is actually coming to Kansas City, but I think live it might be a bit overwhelming for her at this age, plus for two of us it would be $150. Not at age 3. Maybe later.) Her memory for music (no pun intended) astounds us...

Another new favorite - self-serve frozen yogurt. YUM. Luckily it's not super close to our house or we'd go more often...

We also got our act together and finally went to the KC Renaissance Festival. There was a lot to see! Claire enjoyed her first pony ride/authentic carousel experience as long as Daddy stayed right there. I actually got pulled by Bob the Incredible Juggler to be his stage volunteer (I didn't volunteer) to have a piece of Styrofoam whipped out of my mouth while he balanced on a ball. (Again, NOT my idea.) You may not see pictures. Claire wasn't quite sure what to think of THAT.

Her favorite part of the Festival was actually this stone pig, which we thought was too cute.

A couple of weeks ago we took her to the Weston-Bend State Park and the town of Weston. She went on her first hike and got to see some old fashioned organ grinding during an Organ Rally that happened to be going on while we were there. She liked the fake monkeys the best.

Claire recently discovered swings - she's always been a slide and climbing kind of girl, but recently she really got into swinging. Love the joy...

For Halloween she was a bumblebee and enjoyed stinging Daddy with her little stinger (better view of the stinger below).

First we went to our neighborhood Halloween party (cupcake - yum!)...

...then Graham took Claire trick-or-treating on our little block...

...then she came home and handed out candy, which she enjoyed just as much as trick-or-treating. "Here you go! Here you go! Happy Halloween! Thank you!" Way too cute.

Happy Halloween from the Formans!