Spring firsts

So we had a week of unseasonably warm, make-you-forget-you're-in-northern-Minnesota-in-March, kind of weather. And then we had a week of still unseasonably warm, but depressingly dreary/foggy days. And then, all of a sudden Saturday afternoon, the clouds cleared and bright, glorious sun shined (shone?) down.

I saw my first robin Saturday.

And then eight short hours later I saw my first mosquito.

Yeah, whatever. In between these sure-sign-o-spring sightings, I decided to change dinner plans and soak up as much vitamin D as possible.

It wasn't really warm enough to go shirtless, but AJ had been goofing off with Gus by the hot tub and - big shock - managed to splash himself and drench his shirt.

It should be noted that this was all pre-mosquito sighting. I even thought to myself how nice it was to be able to go back and forth between the grill and kitchen without worrying about bugs. Silly, silly me for jinxing it.

Gus quickly adapted his mooching habits and joined us on the back patio.

Jeff had to work, and so it was up to me to light the grill and cook the burgers. I haven't necessarily had the best success with this, and the children apparently remember that fact. And so it came as a pleasant surprise to them that their cheeseburgers came out softer than hockey pucks.

"I think these turned out pretty good," I said, fishing for compliments.

"Yeah," said AJ. "The first couple bites weren't so good, but the rest is. And we're tough, so it's okay."

Who invited the food critic?

Sydney barely touched her cheeseburger. There was watermelon and pea pods on her plate. Why would you need anything else?

And then the first mosquito suddenly appeared, and the relaxing atmosphere ended just as quickly. I failed in my attempt to swat it, and so all Sydney wanted to do was go inside to finish her meal. I delayed the inevitable as long as I could, but then gray clouds started moving closer and AJ guessed that the UMD Bulldogs hockey game was starting, and so we gave up on the picnic and headed inside.

I'm tempted to use the cliche "It was nice while it lasted." But then I remind myself this spring-like weather is here one to two months sooner than usual. And so I'm doing my best to simply be grateful for the glimpses we've been given. That worked for about a half hour this morning... until I had to scrape the frost off my windshield. Wouldn't you know, the one night I'm too lazy to pull my car into the garage, the temperature has to drop into the 20s. Ahhh... the joy of whatever season it is right now in northern Minnesota.