I’m beyond excited by the spring we’ve been having. To celebrate the last day of April, we had ice cream cones, climbed a tree (or watched the boy climb one) and then got rained on by the flower petals as Mommy shook said tree, and had a sword fight in the front yard.
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And played with dandelions. Love the spring evenings, although I wish there were more hours at my disposal. Still, even a half hour outside goofing around is good for the soul. I need to do more goofing around. I need a remedy for some of the stress and tension that have whittled their way inside of me. Outdoor time with Devin is a great place to start. We just need to get Scott out there with us too!
Spring break has come and gone. I’m back to work tomorrow. I’ve been very neglectful of my online pursuits over the past week, but I made sure I got in some cooking pursuits this weekend while I had some extra time. Yesterday I made mac ‘n cheese with roasted tomatoes. Today it was whole wheat banana pancakes for breakfast, a fuzzy navel smoothie for a snack and a family teamwork dinner with Scott manning the grill for the turkey burgers, Devin putting together a kick-butt spinach salad and me cooking up some stovetop baked beans. Dev and I also made a whole-wheat chocolate blueberry cake. Yumma-yumma. It’s all about the food, you know!
I’m so happy that Dev likes to help in the kitchen. I don’t have to twist his arm. In fact, when he heard me rattling around with the pancake gear this morning, he grabbed his stool and was ready for flipping. (I let him handle the second flip from the pan to the plate.) And he put the salad together all by himself. He decided on ingredients (spinach, strawberries, carrots, celery, feta and goat cheese, pine nuts and sunflower seeds) and layered it all the way he wanted. It turned out great. He’s dubbed me a smoothie expert and he has the crown of salad pro.
There’s still snow on the ground, but it’s fading fast. The past few days have been delicious. Sunny and hopeful.
Yesterday we all went down to the river and hung out at the playground (where Scott was confronted by a gaggle of kids who forced him to play tag with them). Today I took Dev to the Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies and walk run around and check out the sculptures outside. We had a great time. The weather is supposed to be lovely for the next couple of days so we’ll be outside every chance we get.
Lemons being February in Michigan.
The lemonade being a kite festival on Reeds Lake.
We happened upon the event when we visited the library and took a trip out on the back deck to watch the crazy people walking around on the ice. (Crazy, yes, because it gives me the heebie jeebies to even think about walking on ice. I don’t care if it’s 12 inches thick. I’m not going to be the one dropping like a stone, clad in my winter layers, to the bottom of the lake.)
The sun and the blue skies certainly were a grand backdrop to the event. Although we lasted only a couple of minutes as spectators. T’was cold and the kiddo left his gloves in the car.
We had a lovely visit at Hart Tree Farm on Saturday. The only bad part was when Scott hopped off the wagon onto the ground, thinking it was just packed snow. But it was icy. And he went boom. (Did I mention he had the saw in his hand when he fell?)
It was a great day for it. Snowflakes falling and fluffy whiteness clinging to the trees. Picture perfect, as they say. Not a family to mess around, we found a tree in exactly .34 seconds and Scott was down on the ground sawing away. It’s a nice tree. A bit on the plump side, but not too tall. Tonight we made a glitter star out of cardboard and we’ll put it on tomorrow after it dries.
Now I just have to find time for all of the other holiday fun-fare I’d wanted to engage in with Devin. Baking cookies. Making crafts. Reading Christmas stories instead of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which he prefers. I’ll just conjure up some magic of my own and make that happen.
Yes, it’s been a while, but it’s not December yet. I promise. Early holiday party at Frederik Meijer Gardens. I honestly didn’t think he’d be too keen on Santa, but he did start talking to him behind those hands. He managed to tell him he wanted some Star Wars Legos and a Bakugan. Santa had no idea what a Bakugan was, of course. We think this is the same Santa we handed him to when he was nine months old, which resulted in shrieks of terror. So he’s made quite a bit of progress in the last five years!
We finally got a chance, on the last day, to walk around ArtPrize one more time. Dev and I spent a couple of hours downtown the second day, and Scott took him down for a few hours, but the rain had really washed out our plans to make a family trip to see more of the artwork. (Trying to avoid complaining about the un-fall weather again.) Dev’s always been pretty up for viewing art at our museums and the like, but this took the art-viewing to a cooler level for him. He was pretty engaged with the installations. It was all pretty amazing. I’m excited to see what they come up with for next year. It was great to see so many people trooping through downtown GR.
*My “mature” husband had to start the predictable FartPrize jokes while we were strolling, of course. Boys.
Dev and I took a trip to Chicago last weekend. (We missed Scott, but I know he appreciated a little time to himself.) And I’m just now getting around to posting about it. We had a nice time. The weather was mostly cooperative. And even when it rained it wasn’t that cold. So we sloshed around the wet streets for a bit Friday night as we rode north and south on the train. (What could be more exciting for a 5-year-old?) I explained to him that the next trip would not involve the Lego store, though, since he only wants to head back to the hotel and assemble them for the rest of the day.
We visited Renee and Dan, which was another highlight. Usually visiting a house with grown-ups who have no children wouldn’t be high on his list, but these particular grown-ups happened to have a lot of very cool things with wheels. Big trucks and motorcycles to be precise. I think Dev now has a slight crush on Dan. And Renee got a tip about an awesome playground, which scored her some points too. I’ve never seen so many play structures! He didn’t even know where to begin when we got there.
We went to the beach this weekend. Only the second time this year. Summer just breezed on by and the weekends tripped along with it. There’s no way to do everything, of course, but I want to give my kid more of these experiences. If you could have seen him shuffling through the rocks to add to his collection and flirting with the chilly waves, you’d agree. We came home with sand in our hair and on our legs (and later in the sheets) and the smell of the end of summer all around us.
The boys started something new a couple of weeks ago. Kickball in the street. (With shouts of “Car!” at appropriate times.) I joined in with them last night, although joining wouldn’t be all that accurate of a word since Devin basically took over the game. He would kick the ball, then run after it to get to it before it got to mom or dad. So he was running around like crazy while the two of us just stood there, watching him work up a sweat. Whatever expends the energy of a 5-year-old, right?
…and I love them for it.
Me at Posterous- Working hard: volunteer shift prepping for #artprize September 1, 2011
- Beachy August 21, 2011
- Sunning herself August 6, 2011
- Green August 5, 2011
- Dessert! July 26, 2011
- Me at Tumblr
- Happy that my new Epiphanie bag arrived May 11, 2011
- Happy that my son’s teachers put together craft projects... May 10, 2011
- Happy the husband is home March 7, 2011
- Happy that Nancy was spontaneous March 5, 2011
- Happy that I broke the dog bowl instead of one of my cute white ones March 4, 2011