Spring Is Coming!!!

A week or so ago, we saw the first flowers of the season - tiny little yellow ones in someone's yard, maybe crocuses - and the past few days, the temperatures have gotten up into the fifties, the sun is shining, the snow is melting and I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of pigeons doing what birds (and, they say, bees) do.

Yesterday, we all went for a walk, and Shrike worked on reinforcing our fence, to keep BigGaloot in.

(I don't know where he goes when he goes over, but he always knocks on the front door to be let back in.)

Saturday and last night, Peeper went to bed quite early (8:30 and 8, respectively) and Shrike was in bed not much later last night.

We all got up early this morning and went to coffee with the gals and kids from MOMS Club. This was Shrike's first official event since joining, and Peeper did a great job playing with the older kids.

Peeper dozed off in the car, but went back down in bed when we got home. She only slept about an hour though, so I figured we'd be in for another early night.

We all went for another walk, and this time we let Peeper get down and go adventuring on her own a bit.

Well, not exactly on her own, of course, but walking under her own power, picking up pinecones, poking at bits of remaining snow, and so on.

I'm pretty sure this is the first chance she's had to do that. We've not really spent a lot of time outdoors - other than zipping to and from the car - since she learned to walk in early December.

When we got home, she and Shrike played around in the yard, while I started a couple of steaks marinating, and this evening we grilled them - along with our standard veggie kabobs (which Peeper helped me make) and a couple of baked potatoes in the oven.

This was Peeper's first grilling experience, since we never managed to even attempt it last summer.

(The last time we grilled, I was pregnant, and we sat outside after dinner, feeling her kick.)

She seemed to enjoy herself. Of course, we didn't let her get very close to the grill, but we did hold her up to see what was going on - and she told us that it was "hhh-hhh" - and she did some more exploring around the backyard.

When you have as much as snow as we got a month ago, it takes a while for it all to melt.

Ditto, the ice.


Don't worry, that pool will be drained and stored upright, as soon as we can lift it.

But, most of the snow is gone, and here are just a few of the toys that we found underneath it.

Yes, those are all Peeper's toys.


The temperature had dropped a bit by then, so we move indoors to eat.


. . . which means there's a lot more to clean up.



It won't be long, though, before we're dining al fresco again!

Oh yeah, that early night thing? Not so much. She went to bed at 10:30.