Spring has arrived!

Yesterday, Ethan and I shirked all responsibility and spent the morning and early afternoon simply loving the great outdoors--sunshine, soft breezes, and uncharacteristically balmy warm weather. We first went on a hike at the Nordic Trails with our friends Jaime and her little boy Isaac. The boys simply ran and ran and ran--and of course, tripped a few times and played in dirt. And we let them. Later on, we picked up Isaac's big sister and went to the park for a picnic. Perfect.

Today--yet another warm day--Colin and Mike had the day off. We packed another picnic and headed out to Rice Lake. After our picnic, we did the small trail with the boys. Official nature viewing is as follows:

• 22 painted turtles
• 1 black duck (our first sighting)
• 7 fish (5 alive and 2 dead)
• 1 "of those Geese from Canada"

All was undramatic, until Ethan managed to miss the trail and put his foot right into what turned out to be a very deep hole. He was in muck up to his thighs.... and loved every minute of it.