We Made It Outside!

The snow melted. We got the bikes out. The children got the flu. Nobody went outside. And we needed to be outside. My perennials started coming up and they needed a little nurturing. They only attention they were getting was from the moose and that is not the kind of attention that a plant wants. I could write two or three or four blog entries on how vile moose are, but Kara would disapprove. What do moose have to do with the children she'd ask? Not a lot since the children don't yet garden. They don't care that the moose have annihilated our shrubs. The darn creatures even ate the thorny rosebushes! Nothing is safe from them except the rhubarb. Somehow they know it's poisonous.

Back to the children...Jake and Bentley and I went outside Thursday morning and watered my perennials. There are buds on the pansies that wintered over and one daffodil has a bud, too. The boys watered with me for a while but then left to play soccer and badminton. They raked a little, too. I watered and watered and watered and, of course, talked encouragingly to all my plants that had bravely made it through the wicked winter. The peonies are up! The troillus has a few leaves. The columbine is doing great. The irises are coming in thick. The blue poppy is phenomenal. Two out the three bleeding hearts have made an appearance. The oriental poppies are back! The delphinium looks good. I think most of my plants made it through the winter.

We need to spend more time outside. The children need to practice their biking. This session of swim lessons just ended, so that frees up two afternoons. Soon ballet and gymnastics will be over, too, and then we will have more free time. YEAH! Lincoln needs to learn to walk, so he can go outside with us. He's not going to be happy confined to the house. Bring on the summer! Bring on the endless hours of daylight! Let the good times roll. Summer in Alaska is the best. THE BEST.