More Outdoor Fun

Here's Daddy teaching Gabriela gymnast skills. Can you see the Washington Monument in the background above her head?

On Sunday we were ready to enjoy another beautiful spring day at the National Zoo when our friends invited us to the National Arboretum instead.

checking out the view

There was so much room for Gabriela to run around exploring.

We brought the carrier, but she wanted to walk instead. She's quite the little hiker. Here we are walking with our *pregnant* friend, Alex. We're so excited for Alex and Matt!

We spent some time watching the koi and this bully of a duck. She would plop down into the water right on top of a bunch of fish, and then start pecking at them! She even grabbed one by the tail! Ruthless! I love the patch of bright blue feathers on her side though.

Here, Gabriela is doing the sign for bird. She would just name everything she saw while we were out walking - "airplane! bicycle! dog! two dogs. baby stroller! bird!" You get the idea. Gabriela ran around so much, that she was sound asleep minutes after I finally put her in the carrier. More impressive though, was that she slept through the transfer from carrier to car seat, the whole car ride home, from car seat to daddy's arms, and from daddy's arms to her crib, where she continued to sleep for at least an hour more.

The arboretum was very serene, spacious, and not at all crowded. The zoo would have been crazy. We're glad we went to the arboretum instead, and can't wait to return when all the flowers and trees are in bloom.