Spring is in the air

We've had a wonderful week of weather, so we decided to spend some time outside this weekend.  Turns out it was a great excuse to get dirty and plant some Spring color out front.

Sam was a great helper.  He liked to bring us a new pot of flowers to plant.

He did a little digging too.  We really need to plan to prep these beds the next time we plant flowers.  They were mostly mulch, sand, and clay (and bricks, rocks and concrete).  We were in our last house for nine years, so I had almost forgotten how little effort home builders put in to the landscaping.

Popping the flowers out of the pot ...

and putting them in the ground.

We chose Alyssum for our annuals this Spring.  We were drawn in by their vibrant color and heavenly smell.  I would say the smell sorta like Jasmine and just as strong.

Close-up of white ...

lavender mix ...

and purple Alyssum.

Once they grow a little, we should have a nice carpet of flowers.

Shot of all the flowers.

Of course, what fun is getting dirty if you can't rinse off with the water hose?

Sam played out front with the water hose for a long time.  He mostly watered the sidewalk.  I couldn't quite convince him to water the plants.

Pops was on Spring Break last week and come out to visit.  Sam already misses him.  We were eating dinner tonight and Sam said, "Pops and Mimi aren't in their chairs.  They went back home, huh?"

We went out in the backyard to play one evening.

Here's Sam hitting the baseball ...

and throwing the baseball.

Mimi and Pops were throwing the football.  

They were at opposite ends of the yard, so we couldn't get them both in the same shot.

Sam had to get in on the action.

Here are a few pictures from when Sam spent the night at Mimi's ...

First they took a ride on the McKinney Street trolley.

They were the only passengers at this point, so the conductor let Sam wear his hat and ring the bell.  When Melanie took him to her apartment, he said, "Mimi!  You live in an up house!"

They had a picnic at the arboretum the next day.  Sam really liked the frog fountain.

They had treehouse exhibits modeled after children's books, so Sam got to explore.

Here are some random pictures over the last couple of weeks ...

Sam and I were playing with his alphabet puzzle.  Sam made me laugh with these ... "O, like a DVD" and "X, like on the computer" (you know the X in the top right to close the window).

We had to get new shoes for Sam last weekend.  He's in a size 9 now.  He was just in a size 8 at Christmas!  I think he's shot up a few inches to match.

We went to the mall today to get a new pair of jeans for Chris.  We stopped for a ride on the carousel while we were there.  Sam still likes to just sit on the bench.  He runs straight to it every time.  I always ask him if he'd rather ride on a horse, and he just says "nope."   We ran into the Vorndrans at the ice rink (Hagen's dad, Shawn, plays hockey). So Sam and Hagen got to play for a while and I got a chance to visit with Stephanie.  

One random funny with no picture ... Sam was in the office explaining how he needed to go get a haircut so he could go get Spencer (a train).  Cleo was nudging him and trying to get him to play with her.  He said, "No, no, Cleo!  You can't get Spencer!  You don't have hands to play with Spencer!  You just have feet!"