Mr. Golden Sun

The best way I can think of to describe last week is with a familiar children’s song. It goes like this, “Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, hiding behind a tree….These little children are asking you, to please come out so we can play with you…Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me!” Around here we’ve been begging Mr. Sun to come out and play for quite some time and last week he finally answered our call. For the first time in the year 2011 we had enough consecutive days with temperatures above freezing to thaw the ice and melt the snow. So we shed our winter coats and ventured into the great outdoors.

Wednesday was rainy but the kids got to splash around in some slushy puddles. Rain may sound dreary to most of you, but we’re just thankful it’s not snow!

Thursday we spent the morning playing outside with some friends. They have a super long driveway which is perfect for ride-on toys. Check out Johnny getting in on the action…

Friday was a beautiful sunny day! After picking up Josie from preschool I refused to let the kids inside the house. The sandbox had just become exposed after a long winter beneath the snow so the kids were mesmerized by all the muddy possibilities it offered them. For lunch I grabbed a blanket and we sat in the driveway eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches picnic style.

As you can see, if you look closely at the left of the picture, Beast helped himself to a bite of our picnic too.

Sunday we took our first trip of the year to the park. As soon as the car doors opened, Josie and Jamie were sprinting towards the playground. Going an entire winter without a slide or a swing must seem like an eternity to a four and a two year old. The smiles never faded from their faces, even as the sun went down.

It is currently snowing and our front lawn that was exposed yesterday, taunting us with the hope of spring, is white today. Oh, Mr. Golden Sun, please come back so we can play with you!