Beautiful Spring Day

SO THANKFUL FOR SPRING!

It's been a long, hard, snowy winter here in Minnesota and there's only so much a girl can take of snow and ice.  Also, I'm a big ol' wimp when it comes to cold.  I don't like being cold one little bit, so it says a lot that I was outdoors with no coat/jacket/hoody this afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day, I believe it was almost 60 degrees today?

The funny thing about this time of year though is that I still need to bundle up the kids during morning outdoor time because it was only about 30-40 degrees, but this afternoon we were playing coatless!

First of all, during naptime I opened the front door to hook the dog up outside and what was standing across the street, on the grass?  a bald eagle!  I've never seen one so close in the wild!  Right away it flew away and I was able to really get a good look at those magnificent feathers and that huge regal body!  I watched it fly to a tall tree down the street where it perched for a minute and then flew off.  I really wish this had happened when the kids were awake so they may have caught a glimpse of it before it was gone.  They would have loved that since we've been following two bald eagle families via Eagle Cams online. Links to those cameras can be found here and here.

This afternoon we played outside from 3:00 - 4:00, playing in the sandbox, hitting the wiffle ball off the tee, driving little cars around the yard, hopscotch on the patio, pulling some buckets and balls out of the shed, swinging, running, and enjoying the warmth.  Little Man had a great time running up and down the hill, especially since the last time there was no snow on the ground he was much less steady on his feet.  My daycare girl returned to her love of collecting things outdoors such as rocks, sticks, and now pinecones.  Babydoll and my daycare boy built an amazing sandcastle and re-learned how to hold a bat. 

I woke the baby up from her nap shortly before Sweet Pea got home from school and we all went on a walk down the nature trail.  We were able to get pretty close to the geese who were particularly fun to watch in the ponds today.  Because all the wetland plants and trees haven't sprouted up yet the kids could see all the geese and ducks in the ponds!  We found old cattails and played with those on our walk and after we got back home.

When we got home we played in the front yard collecting pinecones and turning eachother into geese with our magic wands until the daycare kids were picked up and my kids and I went in to start dinner.  After dinner SP went to play practice, LM went outside in the backyard to play, BD started a movie, and I bounced between the two of them. 

It was a wonderful day, I am so excited that Spring has finally arrived (for now anyway ;o) !