Goodbye Spring Break; Hello Spring!

excerpt from the watershed map etched into the ground at the Arboretum. 

Well, not quite yet, but almost. Tonight we set the clocks ahead! I'm ready for more sunlight, how about you? (Oma & Opa and Grandma, you are not allowed to respond to this question.)

We had a rare 50 degree day today, and we're all itching to get outside more, so we headed over to the Arboretum--first time since the fall--to see what there might be to see.

Crocus!

And we were not disappointed! Little green stalks poking up from the ground all over the place and even some actual blooms. We let the kids run around and we snapped pictures.

Rudy loves to run at me full speed and try to knock me over. I dug in hard and stayed upright this time.

Doesn't he look exceptionally....long here?

The ground was cold under the Pavilion

This is a rare shot of an authentically smiling Rudy. He did not pose for it. I caught it quite by accident.

Gadgetry with Papa (these photos were taken with iPhones!)

Paul caught some of this dancing on video. They are such hams. Both of them.

Bouncing curls! (she needs a trim)

Not to be outdone, Jose does pretty much whatever Rudy does. In the car on the way home it was a chorus of "STOP COPYING ME!" 

I like Paul in glasses, don't you? 

After the Arboretum, we went to warm up at Starbucks, where the kids had these cake lollipops. Brilliant! Josephine, of course, insisted on the pink one. (Full disclosure: I think Rudy's had an espresso bean on top....)

Last stop was the library where we checked out a ton of books and movies, plus some of the Magic Treehouse books on cd for Rudy. They are fun books about time travel, history, and literacy, but pretty formulaic, too. So formulaic, in fact, that every time I read one, I think, "Why am I not making a million dollars writing children's books?"

It was a fun afternoon, and now I'm about to take my first walk outside since the fall. Goodbye, stinky gym!