Spring.

Spring is here in AZ, with temperatures already swelling into the lower 80s. It's perfect weather, really, and I love the mix of balmy days with endless blue skies and gray afternoons with sweaters and a cup of tea.

Almost 2 weeks ago, we spent the good part of a cloudy, overcast day outside trimming our huge mesquite tree and doing other yardwork. Our neighbors loaned us an extension cord and a ladder, and helped us chainsaw the overgrown branches into sections small enough for the city to haul away.

The kids spent the entire morning outside with us, making mud puddles, moving branches, and feeding their babies picnic lunches of mud and stones.

My favorite little dude spent a long time figuring out how to conquer the little slide, repeatedly falling onto his face as he attempted to climb up to the top. Once he got it down, he did it over and over, each time arriving at the top and exclaiming, "I DID IT!" before venturing face-first back to ground level.

His enthusiasm was infectious.

At the end of it all, we had 4 piles that each looked like this:

The kids were overtired, so we ate lunch in the grass, then Rohan asked for a sandwich on the couch before sending them up for naps, and this silly boy entertained me with his faces. He knows damn well he is funny, and I adore his sense of humor.

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I was in D.C. for an annual conference for 4 nights this week, and it was rough. I talked to the kids every night, but nothing compares to having them in person, to hold and kiss and bestow affection upon freely. I got home around lunchtime today, and when I went to get Rohan from daycare, he ran up to me in his beanie, t-shirt, diaper and flip flops, smiling so wide it made my heart skip. It also made me laugh, since I'd left a cold D.C. morning behind, and here was my boy with no pants (a diaper mishap meant they had to be washed and were still wet) running to me in sandals.

I held him so much, letting him lounge on my lap all evening, kissing his cheeks over and over as he jokingly wiped away the kisses with the back of his hand then laughed and said, "More!". We picked up Luca, and she ran across the classroom to me, hugging my legs while her teachers told me she talked about me all week. She told them I was visiting Obama (a phone conversation with her my last night in D.C. included her asking me if I'd say hi to Obama for her, and suggesting maybe I should bring him a rainbow-colored popsicle) and I was going to take her for treats when I got home. Gotta love preschoolers and their eternal optimism.

We came home after stopping for a chocolate milk, and decided to take an impromptu picnic to a park near our house. I cut peanut butter sandwiches into heart shapes for the kids. Darrick and I laid out a blanket, taking turns either resting and staring at the sky as the sun luxuriously set itself to bed and following the kids around the huge playground helping them cross monkey bars or swing on swings. It was perfect and blissful and reminded me exactly why I love this crazy state we call home.

When he wants to be picked up now, he says, "Hold you?" and I always say yes.

They could spend hours playing in water fountains and with hoses, my little water babies.

PS: No idea why the spacing is so weird on this post.