Spring Fevah

God how I love spring in Maine.  It always comes out of nowhere, just when you were about ready to give up on it ever coming at all.  With it comes those familiar but forgotten sounds, smells, and colors that remind us of the new life around us.  And suddenly, everyone in Maine has a smile on his face, a spring in her step, a better mood.  The world awakens from hibernation and wants to get out and do things, see friends, get fresh air, and celebrate spring.  Even my diehard winter lover has fallen under spring's spell.  Throughout the month of March, Ethan dug his heels in the mud (or snow, actually), insisting that he HATES spring and that he LOVES winter.  Every time the rest of us jumped for joy at a forecast that included only rainshowers, he grumbled and wished for snow instead.  But right around the time we turned the calendar page to April, and spring suddenly decided to join us, Ethan hesitantly told me, "You know what, Mom?  I kind of like spring."  And then a day or two later, he came down and said "listen to that beautiful sound Mommy!  Listen to all those birds singing!".   And then my favorite, another couple of days later - my January baby stepped out into the blazing sunshine, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Spring smells SOOOO good!".  And so spring has this way of surprising us every year.  We Mainers wait for it all winter long, and somehow, it's always more than worth the wait.  That spring is an overachiever, consistently exceeding expectations.  Yes, there's the mud and the rain and the cold days and the gray days, but there's also the promise.

Maine Maple Sunday - the promise that spring has arrived...right?

A first trip to the beach with the promise of a fun summer ahead, filled with sand and surf and neighborhood cocktail hours on the beach.

 Baseball!  With all of the optimism that the start of the season brings.

Ethan replacing the "0" with a "1" - this guy is hopeful the Sox will have another great year.

More green (or brown) than white in our backyard, with the promise of a garden in the distance.
The ice cream man's return to our neighborhood, with the promise of a summer filled with god-awful, intestine-rotting, outrageously-priced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pops.

There ain't nothing natural about those pops.  Take a look at the stain around Adam's mouth.

 Our first walk in the woods this spring, with the promise of more mud and less ice on our next one.

Pretending to kayak

The annual kick-off to the road race season, with Race 2 the Point at Ethan's (and soon to be Adam's) school.

And kindergarten registration for our littlest guy, with the promise of a very exciting few months ahead.

Big brother giving little brother math homework to get him ready for school

Hooray for Spring!