I have never, never been so excited for spring. As of this week, all the snow has melted out of our yard. You can still find snow piles here and there around Minot, but not in our yard.
Every day I go outside and check for shoots in a small flower bed that I was able to stick a few perennials and bulbs in last fall. I have them all counted and am excited for each new one that pops up; we are now up to more than one a day. Sure beats counting tumbleweeds.


It's just in this last week that the kids have been able to play outside. Of course, all they do is play in the driveway, still, because they were so used to not being allowed in the "yard" last year. First, because it was mostly mud for almost the first year we lived here; then, for a short time, because the sod needed to take root; then because there was snow on the ground for at least a solid 6 months.
Today was a nice, low-key day. It was great. It was still pretty chilly. I mean; the high was 38 degrees, so most of you in the rest of the country wouldn't even have ventured outside, but it's spring!
