Summer Slips to Autumn

These past two weekends have given us plenty to do outside: Camping at Assateague (new tent!), the Alexandria Festival of the Arts (new print!), apple picking at Stribling Orchard (new favorite varietal, the Jonathan). Next weekend, Rory will take her extended family to her favorite event of the whole year, Maryland's Renaissance Festival.
As always, Rory makes everything so much more enjoyable. Whether she is showing off her super human strength (she can push the stroller entirely by herself! backwards!), waving to each new person that she meets and greeting them with "hi" and a big smile, insisting that she be placed on the ground so that she can run and growl on her own, or ...
...Or taming wild beasts with a gentle touch. Have I mentioned how much Rory loves animals?!... dogs, cats, ponies, donkeys, birds, goats. She loves them all, and upon spotting them, she will thrust out her arm and declare, "ohhhhh", as if to say "oh, daddy, there upon yonder is a helpless creature that needs my love and attention, take me there immediately."
Seated here, Rory enjoys a quite moment of contemplation amidst the apple trees and tall grass. For those keeping track of Rory's vocab ... Confirmed words: go, uh-oh, dada, mama, bird, hi. Possible words: ball, apple, chateauneuf de pape, bouillabaisse. In other news, Rory has her two, front, bottom teeth clearly visible and one, front, top tooth starting to poke through her gums.