I've Been Running Through the Valley: National Arboretum's Fern Valley

Since mom found a sweet little shortcut to the Arb, we've been spending a lot of time there.  It's one of the places I request most and we've been trying to check out different areas each visit.  Not too long ago we found ourselves faced with a gloomy day of rain (oh, February) and mom insisted that we were leaving the house in spite of it.  We ended up at Fern Valley and spent most of the morning under the cover of the trees playing "pirate princess" -- chasing her through the valley, negotiating with trolls for passage over fairytale bridges, and resting on woodland benches.

I am OBSESSED with the pirate princess (who is loosely based on a character from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and am constantly requesting made up stories about her from mom and dad.  I get to dictate the general story elements, but then I expect some real delivery.  Sometimes it's easy -- "she wants to go to the library today."  But I also like to mix it up -- "she's going to the dentist.  and she has an elephant.  and she's singing a song by 'Yoko Garcia'."  I especially love when daddy adds in characters with funny names - Gina Lollobrigida and Lola Falana are my favorites (apparently daddy has a thing for 1940s-50s stars of the stage and screen).  When Gina pops in, I always say "Are you kiddin me? I can hardly believe my ears."  And then laugh hysterically.

I decided the princess must have made her way over to the Capitol Columns and so we ran over there and played in the murky fountain (hey, we were already wet) for a while, too.  It clearly had been going too smoothly despite the rain, so Cam decided it would be a good time to go to the bathroom (she hadn't gone in a few days).  Mom had tucked one diaper in her bag and so Cam got a quick change on the wet ground.  And then Cam went again.  Let's just say there was a little creative diaper recycling.

Poop incidents included, it was the perfect way to pass a rainy day.