The first taste of spring

Clear, blue skies. 

Hardly any wind. 

Warm sunshine. 

Temperature in the mid-60's. 

Bliss.

Yesterday was such a gift. But also a tease. 

Its only the beginning of March so I know there's quite a bit of cold left, probably a couple more snow showers too. But yesterday we left all that behind and soaked up the first taste of spring. 

Goodale Park with Lianne, Heather, Mandy and Erin Flannigan. Ruby was in school, but between us mamas we had eight little ones to watch and they all got along so well together. The four older ones, all girls, played wonderfully for a couple of hours and Lianne snapped a couple pictures of them and sheer innocent cuteness. They wanted to pose - how cute are they in the third photo?!

Completely unprompted sweetness

After a while at the park we walked over to the North Market for lunch. The kids ate packed lunches, some of the moms bought lunch at the market. We took over a big table upstairs and enjoyed a fun lunch date out of the house. After lunch we headed back to the park for about an hour and left because as is usual with a bunch of kids, everyone seemed to start melting down at the same time. It was a wonderful morning. 

We rode home with all the windows down and the sunroof open. We didn't wear coats. We soaked up the sun with sunglasses and big smiles on our faces. We got home for quiet time and because dinner we doing its thing in the crock pot, we went to another park afterwards! This time Selby in Worthington. We were there for about 45 minutes and Jonathan discovered the tire swing. We sat on it while I held him up and Z moved it a bit, but he was really more interested in standing beside it and pushing it around. He got knocked over a few times, but found his way back up and tried again and again. Z ran crazily in the field that's part of the park and J and I watched her with delight. The setting sun made things get slightly chilly, but we didn't care. Still no coats, still riding home with the windows open, still a touch of spring that was so desperately needed for the soul. 

When Papa called to say he was on his way home, we headed out to the front porch/yard, like we do all summer long. We waited for him to pull up, to play outside with us for just a few minutes before going inside to eat his dinner. We walked along the neighborhood sidewalks and rejoiced over such a beautiful day. 

Today was gray and cold again, the rest of the week is up and down. Whatever. Ohio weather is ridiculous and unpredictable. Yesterday though, it was a gift and I am so thankful that I got to experience it!