One Very Nice Day

Yesterday, after I got home from work, we all went for a walk and enjoyed the very warm evening. Along the way, we enjoyed listening to the croaking frogs and quacking ducks, and chirping crickets. Life! After a long winter, the sounds filled our souls and captured our imaginations. The grass is starting to sprout, there are dandelions growing on the edges of some buildings, and tiny leaf buds are showing on the bushes and trees. By the time everything is finally green, we'll have about 6 weeks of spring left before summer starts! Even after all the years we've been in Alberta, I still am stunned by how short Spring is here.

We came across a frog sunning itself on the road. Evelyn was very interested in it. She crouched down and tried to coax it into hopping onto her hand. She refused to touch it on her own, so I think, if it had hopped on, she probably would have screamed and thrown it away. The Frog was wise, and stayed put.




Ethan stood about 3 feet behind Evelyn and continuously admonished her "Ella! Don't touch the Frog!" and "Ella don't touch it!". After a few minutes, the frog hopped into the grass and Ethan screeched and ran away.

Later in our walk, we came near a marsh at the side of the road. The cacophonous roar of many frogs was almost overwhelming. We saw a few hop into the water, but could not get a close look. Then, over about 3 seconds, they all stopped croaking. We had walked along the marsh a few feet and I guess we appeared to be a threat. The silence was stunning after so much noise. After we had gone a few more feet, and were not next to the water anymore, they all started again. I could imagine dozens of Froggie eyes carefully following our progress, then letting out a big sigh of relief before resuming their song.





Along the walk, the kids were very nice to each other and enjoyed holding hands with each other, and with Daddy. I love these pictures of their hands. I know that one day, I will look at their tiny size in wonder.





When we got home, the kids played on our swing set (newly freed from winters 2 ft high grip) and we enjoyed the warmth of the sun while Ryan made dinner.

A great shift at work, followed by a peaceful and entertaining walk made for one very nice day.