Ahhhh, spring. At last we can open up a window or two in the house. We can go outside without winter coats (and hats and gloves). This morning, when I put a short-sleeved shirt on Jeremy, he looked at his arms, cried, and tried pulling down the sleeves saying, “I want it closed!” Yes, it has been a loooong winter.

On the bright side, a long winter does cause me to appreciate a day like today all the more. I mean, think about it…if we enjoyed San Diego climate all year, we wouldn’t really appreciate warm, sunny weather, right? Right??

We seized the day by visiting our favorite field trip spot in the Chicagoland area–the arboretum. We met some friends (with three boys, for a total of seven boys :)) for an early morning hike. Jake and Derek finished their Botany science book this week, so they came armed with nature journals and colored pencils. As it turned out, we were a bit ambitious in our expectations. They quickly ditched the nature journals and opted to run around, play hide-and-seek, and roll down hills instead.

I can hardly blame them.

Peter brought along his camera and took some pictures of tree buds and ducks. Like father like son.

Jeremy managed to do a little journaling, though I don’t think it had anything to do with nature, as he described his picture as a fire truck putting out a fire.

Then the running around commenced.

Time to refuel:

Yes, those are winter boots on Jeremy’s feet. He claimed he couldn’t find his shoes this morning when it was time to leave. It’s hard to say good-bye to the familiar.