Getting Some Fresh Air (and Snow!)

Despite Mother Nature's efforts to delve back into winter this week (highs in the 40s, snow, hail, sleet all week), we are hopeful that spring will find us again in May. As mentioned, it's been a roller coaster of weather, but there have been some signs of spring like these daffodils and hyacinth around the library.

The biggest news of the last couple of weeks is that we took Hadley's training wheels off her bike! I think she was probably ready at the end of summer, but we just never pushed it and then winter happened. Anyway, it just took an hour or two and for her to overcome her natural tendency to do the opposite of what we tell her to do... 

And voila! We have a bike rider!

Mostly, when we don't have this...

we try to maximize this! But don't let the sunshine fool you. Especially if there's a breeze! Brr... I just have to remind myself that a typical "spring" is usually not until June around here, and this is normal.

One escape from the weather is the kids' indoor swim lessons, needed to refresh their skills before summer. It's easy to forget how to swim when you don't go all winter, but they've already made progress. It's looking good for summer!

We also made it to the opening of the zoo. I have a lot of pictures on this tiger. I will have to find an earlier version to compare their growth!

Hiding next to the penguins and the macaws, we found these two beautifully painted rocks! (Courtesy of the same group responsible for our Easter rock hunt.) We re-hid them in the zoo for other kids to find, but they inspired us to make some of our own.

I think most of these will remain in our garden and flower beds, but hopefully we will make some more and send them out to the city this summer! It's pretty fun.

Easter

We kept it fairly simple this year and just did the Saturday Easter egg hunt at church. They divided kids up by ages, and Hadley rocked the 1-4 age group! Haha. But there were plenty of eggs to go around, so no harm done.

We also did another "find the bunny" hunt for small businesses downtown, which ended with the big guy and some pinwheels to take home. We got there just before he vanished!

Can't skip a traditional Easter morning picture with baskets. (In true Easter spirit, Owen has requested a bigger basket for next year, since H's has more volume.)

Gotta love the kids dressed up in their Easter best!

Easter afternoon actually warmed up for a near-perfect day. Perfect for bubble-gun wars, that is. I foresee us buying lots of jumbo refill bubble bottles this summer.

Finally, I'll leave you with an original HCP composition about Easter. (She's not reading a song, just looking at a page about the milestone days during Easter week.)

Roller Coaster Spring

I guess we can tentatively say we are now in spring! It's never really an obvious shift up here in Idaho. Winter does NOT like to relinquish its grip. But the snow has all melted (except for a weekly flurry that doesn't stick once the sun reappears), 

and we've just begun to see some daffodils and tulips emerging around town. I guess it's typical spring weather, but we alternate days of beautiful sunshine with those of the more windy, rainy, snowy, chilly persuasion. So when we do get a sunny day, out comes the sidewalk chalk, silliness, and sandbox. If we are forecast to get into the 60s, Owen's in shorts and T-shirts! (and a heavy coat for his morning bike commute in the upper 30s - Idaho kids!)

We even managed to plant a few cool-weather vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, and peas in the garden. I hope I didn't jump the gun on those! I had an eager helper.

When the weather is yucky, we figure out indoor alternatives. For Hadley, sometimes that's a movie! I was so excited to take her to the new Beauty and the Beast, since we had just introduced the animated version a few months ago. It wasn't her first movie theater experience (Dad took her to Moana a while back!), but I think she liked it!

The kids have been taking music classes all year, which they seem to enjoy and learn a lot in! Sadly, Hadley's teacher had to move, so her class finished up early.  However, she and Owen will continue next year in the same class where they introduce the keyboard, so we are excited for that!

Lastly, there's a new group in town that paints and hides rocks all over parks and public areas. You can keep them, rehide them for others, or make and hide your own. It's a pretty fun idea! They had an Easter Rock Hunt last weekend, and the kids were all over it! Good practice for the upcoming real deal. And we got in the car just before it hailed, snowed, and rained the rest of the afternoon!

Here are their favorite painted rocks. There are definitely some artists around town!