Springtime

I've never been certain about which season is my favorite, I think there is something special about all of them. Spring is wonderful because it pulls you out of the doldrums of a winter that seemed to drag on too long. It's a promise of life as flowers start to bloom and grass and trees turn vibrant green. It's wonderful to shed the bulky winter coats and enjoy the warmth of the sun without the sweaty heat of the coming summer. It really is a beautiful, though unpredictable, time of year. We have been able to spend quite a bit of time enjoying the weather at my parents now that they are retired. I've been pulling weeds in the garden while the kids have been trying to learn the art of exploring and playing outside with nothing really to play with. Sometimes they struggle with what to do, often they do things they shouldn't and occasionally they engage in the fun of the outdoors with running, digging, and exploring. They've had fascinating finds such as a dead raccoon, a dead snake, the snapping turtle shell from last summer and a dead catfish. Lots of dead things followed by lots of conversations about how they died and why there are so many bugs on dead things and so on.

One afternoon the kids got to go fishing for the first time this year. The twins got poles for Christmas and were very excited to use them. I am certain one if not both of those poles will end up at the bottom of the lake before too long. They love dropping their rubber fish into the water and then reeling it back in like they've caught something fabulous. Last year Jack graduated from the rubber fish to an actual hook on the end of his line and he seemed to pick up right where he left off with his casting. Most of the time he can get it pretty far out there. His casting is great but he could use a little work in the patience department. Fishing is good at teaching that. He is quite determined to eat a fish from Papa's lake so that's the goal for the summer. 

 

This is Papa's Mountain. It's fun to climb and it's fun to explore. Though this picture is not that old the mountain already looks quite different. It is a breeding ground for thickly stalked weeds and now resembles a jungle with most of the vegetation taller than the twins.