Is it really spring?

All of us were thrilled with the prospect of a sunny, "warm" spring weekend in central PA.  It seems this winter has just drug on and on, and every time we get a little hint of warmer weather, we've been smacked back into reality with a blast of cold.  So when the weather man told us it was going to look and start to feel more like spring for a few days in a row, we all started making our plans for the outside activities we've been looking so forward to.

As soon as our jobs were done on Saturday, which were far too numerous for Joshua and Lauren's pleasure, we headed outside to play, and stayed until Mara couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.  The kids rode their bikes around the neighborhood more times than I can count, played golf in the front yard (narrowly missing Mr. Jerry's car window, which necessitated a lesson on aiming and pointing the OTHER direction from now on) and got out every outside toy we own.  Mara continues to be amazed by the outdoors and can be best described as a "wanderer".  She just seems so enamored with the fact that she's outside that she just walks all over the place, stopping to admire the grass and stones and dirt and every dog who barks at her from the neighbors' open front doors.  She seemed to love the wind blowing in her face and giggled most of the time that we were outside.  I threatened to install an invisible dog fence and make her wear the collar after she wandered into the street no less than a thousand times and got quite upset when I would redirect her.  (I'm kidding.  Not about the thousand redirects, but about the fence.)  After a few meltdowns, I got out the wagon and took the girls for a ride.  Lauren even seemed to enjoy a wagon ride, so we walked around the neighborhood at least 3 times before returning home.  Josh thought it would be funny to jump off of his bike and in between the girls'....until he realized he is a little too big and got stuck.  But I did get a picture...

I haven't posted about our search for a babysitter, but I can report major progress in this department today.  A few months ago, Jason and I finally reached the point where we knew we were in need of a regular sitter to give us a little bit of flexibility to go out and do things without the kids, or without a few of the kids when the need presents itself.  I should say, Jason was ready for this much sooner than I, but my own issues with letting go (I know you're shocked) made me a little slower to come around.  There was just something about the idea of having a complete stranger stay in our home with our children that I couldn't get comfortable with.  We had some luck getting interest from some super people on sittercity.com and Care.com, and through a lengthy interview process and a few visits in our home with us there, found two sitters that we really like.  So far, Jen has been our rock star, and the kids are really starting to like her.  A few weeks ago, she came to stay with Lauren and Mara while Jason and I took Joshua to his Upward end of the season event.  After spending the previous 8 Saturdays literally wrestling Mara during his games, I knew I didn't have it in me to do it in an auditorium with lots of people.  It was very liberating to be out with only one child, and I think Joshua appreciated the individual attention.  So, on Saturday night, we gave Jen a run at all three of the Dugan smalls, and by all accounts it was a huge success.  Lauren liked her so much from the last time she was there to play that she even made her a birthday party in our living room before she got there.  I think Jen was extremely surprised, considering it isn't anywhere close to her birthday.

Jason and I didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, but we headed out for a nice, quiet dinner at the Crestmont Inn in Eagles Mere in a bit of an early anniversary celebration.  We hadn't been there since a State Farm Christmas party when we first started dating, but we enjoyed the drive up there, time for conversation that didn't revolve around sippy cups or changing the DVD in the van.  We had a really good dinner, some drinnks (yes, me.....a nice glass of wine) and then enjoyed our ride back home to the kids.  I had fully expected that Mara would melt down at our departure, but Jen told me there hadn't been a single tear from her until she fell and hit her head off of Joshua's bed leaving quite a mark on her forehead.  They had been outside playing, had pizza for supper and played games inside.  We found the kids all happily in their pajamas when we returned.  And Jen was in one piece.  And not tied up in a closet somewhere.  And she didn't even run away quickly.  So we claim major victory and now need to start making some more plans for nights out.