First day of spring

March 21st. When you live in the northern half of the US, you never do know quite what the weather will be like in March. I was born in March, and one year there might be a blizzard on my birthday, and the next year, it may be 70 degrees out. I have a very distinct memory of the weather on one of my birthdays. Chad and I were dating, and we went downtown to Chicago, ate a really nice dinner at the Chicago Chophouse, and we were walking around the lakefront with no coats. In Chicago! (This is probably a particularly distinct and sweet memory to me since we were young and in love and walking hand in hand through Chicago and everything was right with the world ... heck, it could've been 30 degrees out but I probably wouldn't have noticed ...) Anyhow, I digress.

All that to say - the first day of spring around here is usually met with rain and chilly temperatures.

But not this year! After living through over 70 inches of snow this past winter, needless to say we were all thrilled that the first day of spring brought with it 72 degree temperatures! So of course we spent a lot of time outside this weekend.

Chad did a lot of yard work - cleaning out the flower beds, trimming bushes, and preparing the vegetable garden.

Our little strawberry patch is starting to look green again.

The daffodils even decided to grace us with their lovely presence.

All the yuck from our flower beds after the long winter.

Chad gave the kids rides on the tarp after ditching the garden waste.

Carter has been playing round after round of baseball. (And could a father be more thrilled about this than Chad is? I think not.)

Audrey and Carter made a lot of mud pies ... and cakes, and puddings.
And I will be doing a lot of laundry.

Audrey and I pushed Chloe around the block.

Taking it all in.

All this fresh air is making someone a little tired. :)

We just ended the weekend with some wiffleball and ice cream at our friends' house.

Welcome Spring!
And PS: Please don't leave us. :)