Dennis earned his second Junior Ranger badge today, this time at Great Smoky Mountains National Park (my favorite park). He completed some activities in his workbook, hiked a short trail, and had to do two other tasks to earn his badge. He picked up a bag of litter from the trail to Cataract Falls and then we attended a ranger program called "Whose Poop?". We saw examples (actual poop examples) of scat from bear, elk, fox, otter, and deer, learned how to identify their tracks (by footprints and footprint patterns), and saw several animal pelts. We even sang two "poop" songs. Dennis had a good time and didn't want to leave!
Tonight, we had a Pajama Party at the cabin, playing card games (tonight was Memory Match), and baking cookies. Dennis loved every minute of it! He was a bit wound up before we took the time to play with him, telling me that if I didn't do what he said, he was going to "whack me with my broom!". Earlier today, we pointed out one of the Gatlinburg Trolleys to him and he said "you mean it's a trolley BUS, right?". He wasn't fooled by its fancy appearance--he knew that was a bus under there.
He really did some rangering this morning, leading us to the falls, greeting the other hikers we passed, welcoming people to the Smokies. Every time someone commented on what a cutie he was or called him "precious" (because he was super cute in his uniform), he got frustrated and said "call me RANGER!". He got out a map and directed us, pointing out where we were on the map (map was upside down), and telling us to stay out of the mud. I think he feels like he did some good work today, and when we got in the van to come back up to the cabin, he asked "so when can we go to another ranger program, Mommy?". We will see!
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