The later of the title is a message to myself not to you. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will not have opportunity to be inside my house again until next fall. So, should you happen to stop by our place, chances are good we will entertain you outside and possibly make you pee in the woods. Not really.

This morning by 7:55 my son was in the newly constructed sandbox. This is exactly twelve hours from when he last played outside.

It is still cold here, but he is unstoppable and honestly I feel the same. We are EAGER to say the least to make outside home too. J and I lugged all the kids stuff up to what will soon be the kids area (it still needs to be organized).

In the background there is the old animal shed that we are converting to a play house for them. Owen and I also filled the bird feeder that Pappa Todd brought for us and little boy had to be held back from running back in the house to wake daddy (who was up all night with a sick baby girl) to hang the new bird houses and feeder.

We also hit the jack pot in regards to resourcing our adventures in being nature enthusiasts at the used bookstore yesterday. National Audubon Society guides to North American trees, bugs and wildflowers. My brother bought me the Field Guide to the Night Sky a few years ago so now I feel like we have a perfect little selection for up here! I couldn’t resist the bird book either as it was the same one I remember being around mom and dads when I was a girl. Happily I also got a great deal on the next book club selection!

We also started our nature guide. We are keeping track of all the plants we identify in it. So far, we’ve only identified a mullein and pussy willows.

O took his ‘big mullein’ to preschool for show and tell and thoroughly impressed his teacher. We picked the pussy willows for our Easter Tree.

Anyways…we better get back outside. We just came in to get E dressed and ready to rock the day. We don’t want to waste any sunshine because… gulp… gasp… the forecast looks a bit gross again for next week.

Happy trails friends!