Friends

Stretch

Finally, the secret to Rory's rapid growth and 90th percentile height has been discovered! Her father submits her to his tortuous stretching exercises!

Unrelated note: Upon our return from Colorado, we were greeted with the good news that our house, which had only been on the market for a few days, had an interested buyer. We have since secured a ratified contract for a great price (especially given these tumultuous times), and we are set to close on October 24th.

Escape to Colorado

This little lady had two reasons to smile ...
... she was flying with "Silly Mommy" and Grover and ...
... she was headed to Colorado for a week of rest and relaxation!

Earlier this month, we spent time in Denver to visit with Nonna's extended family. Pictured here is Nonna's brother, Kenny, who treated Rory to her first delicatessen lunch and accompanied her on a trip to the Children's Museum of Denver.
At the museum, Rory practiced her ribbon dance. But the highlight was ...
...Rory's ability to take the wheel of a real fire truck! (Rory LOVES fire trucks.)
Next, we were off to the mountains for a lovely stay at the Broadmoor.
At the hotel, Rory enjoyed lazy mornings with Nonna and Mommy and ...
active afternoons with Pops!
On her hike, Rory practiced her smile. (It still needs work.)
Rory enjoyed several "firsts" on the trip. Her first solo performance on the "big girl" swing.
And her first movie! (A 15-minute science flick at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.)
A cute pic from the lens of Pops.
All good things come to an end. On Rory's last day, she dutifully dragged her essentials down the hotel hallway. :)

If I Had a Goat

"Hi, Rory here. I want to introduce you to my friend, Goat. We met at the fair."
"Sometimes, Goat has to do things that she would rather not do. Like, here, she's being milked. Hmmm, I like milk."
"But, mostly, Goat has a good life. Goat likes to tell lots of jokes, that's why she's always laughing ... neh, neh, neh!"
"The cows were pretty boring. Not as fun as Goat."
"Look! The bunnies are for sale! Daddy, myyyyyyy bun-nnnnnn-yyyyyy!"
"Rooster scared me when he hollered, cock-a-doodle-doooooooo!"
"Daddy thought I'd look especially cute riding the cat on the merry-go-round."
"I had to get Mommy to take me a second time so that I could ride Horsey. Get-eeeeee-up!"
"Have you tried these corn dogs?!!!! They are AMAZING!"
"I just wish I could get a bigger bite into my tiny mouth!"

Mommy & Rory

On the occasion of her Mommy's 34th birthday, Rory flashed a huge grin for the camera.
Don't they look cute! (Historical note: On this night, Rory's Uncle Allen babysat his niece so that Daddy could take Mommy to a nice birthday dinner. Allen has become quite the babysitter! Last weekend, he even had a slumber party with Rory so that her parents could have the whole night to themselves!... Lion King, Restaurent 600, and the River Inn!)

Strange Behavior?

One particular trait that Rory has displayed during her toddler years has been the propensity to line-up her toys in straight lines (with no prompting or modeling from either of her parents). Sometimes, she'll take puzzle pieces and place one in each of the tiles that lines our bath tub. As you can see in this picture, Rory was moved to take each of her toys from her "toy shelf" and line them up in a quite inconvenient place.

A little odd if you ask me.