What a weekend!

I wouldn't call myself a warm weather person....not even close. But there's something about the arrival of spring that just revives the spirit. As the world is bursting and budding and all of a sudden you realize that you once again can leave the confines of your own home without bundling up like an eskimo, there's just something refreshing about that. I especially love the part where we once again realize that we DO have neighbors. The development was alive this weekend with people walking and saying hello and working in their yards. Let's not forget to mention how well children rest when they crash out of sheer exhaustion.



Let's just say that if fun was measured in pounds of dirt collected from the children, we'd have been on the "WOAH!" end of the scale this weekend.

After a quick trip to the park in Lewisburg on Saturday afternoon where I thought I just might lose my mind, Joshua had the chance to go to Sydney's house and play with her. Darla and I have long talked about the time that would one day come when the kids would actually play together. We used to dream of that day when we were walking around the neighborhood with our big pregnant bellies thinking we had it all figured out. And we both sat in amazement on Saturday afternoon as we had more time to converse than we spent chasing or yelling at or rationing toys between Josh and Sydney. They had the most fun when they got the snakes/turtles/other extraneous creepy crawlies out and started digging in the dirt with them. Suffice it to say that although we had Jump Fest 2010 last week, this was Dirt Fest. Joshua went straight to the bathtub BEFORE supper on Saturday evening and I spent the better part of 15 minutes digging the dirt out from under his nails. When you're a three year old little boy, I'd say that's a pretty awesome Saturday afternoon!

And since I mentioned losing my mind at the park, let me expand on that (since I'm sure everyone is dying to know what nearly did me in this weekend). Joshua, Lauren and I were only three of the 17,000 people who had the same idea on Saturday early in the afternoon. Lewisburg has a gorgeous park.....the kind that would make you drool if you were a kid, seriously. There are bright colors and climbing thingies galore. More slides than you could ever want. A fire truck that you can drive. Literally just about every cool toy you can even dream up. Well, every single thing had a line about 6 children deep to use it. Add to that the fact that most of the equipment sits perched atop a contraption that the kids could very easily take a nose dive off of that would clearly result in a frantic call to 911. I make it my goal to avoid that during most days. Just saying. Add to that the fact that there were so many children that you could not keep your eye on your own child, and had to rely on the fact that somewhere on the other side of this mess was a mother who would not let your son fall to his death. And you just hoped that the people on the other side who you were counting on were also not kidnappers or child molesters who had ulterior motives. Perhaps I've watched too much Criminal Minds.....but really, it was a little much to take. With Lauren strapped to me in the sling, I was moving as quickly as I could. But I left there sweating and never was so happy to get an invitation to play at the Bingamans. The crazy part is that we'll go back to the park....likely a lot this spring/summer, but it won't be the first nice day of the year when every child in the greater Susquehanna Valley is blowing off the stink that they've had all winter long. Joshua was none the wiser to any of my stress, and said about 50 times on the 6 mile drive home that he had "so much fun at the park!" The things we do for our kids.

Sunday marked yet more time outside after church. Joshua helped Daddy clean out the cars and was even working with the Shop Vac in the back of the Highlander when Nana and Pap pulled into the driveway for a visit. We played ball, giggled a whole bunch, drank a juice box and ate Oreo cookies in the garage. It was a great afternoon.

During all of this, Lauren was right there with us, enjoying the fun. She's a trooper and seems to enjoy herself as long as I'm within reaching distance. I think the fresh air did us all a whole bunch of good.

Look who's sitting up!!! With some assistance from the Boppy pillow to keep her from toppling over, Lauren sat for a pretty long time this weekend playing with toys. I'm imagining that she's liking the independence from being held in our laps. She loved these little Taggies blocks that Santa had left for her at Christmastime.

We're about to beging our next round of "shopping" in Brooke's clothes as the next tub of treasure was delivered by Nana and Pap yesterday afternoon. I remember getting bags of clothes when I was a kid from Jeannine and feeling like I had won the lottery. And now being able to share clothes with Libby and Brooke really IS like winning the lottery when you add up the money saved. And I'm pretty sure I'll just want to melt with all of the adorable things that Brooke wore. 3 month pants are getting awfully short, and 3 month shirts are starting to get snug on our little cereal lover, so we'll be digging for the 6 month goodies in a hurry.

More fun to come, I'm sure!