May 1: Playing Outside

This is what I tried to post yesterday, but Blogger wasn't letting me upload any pictures.  It still wasn't working very well tonight, but I finally got my pictures uploaded after trying off and on all evening.

I posted three weeks ago about how spring weather had finally arrived.  Then after that, we had a LOT of cold, rainy days, and it felt like winter all over again.  Finally, the weather warmed up again and we have had three amazingly nice days in a row.  It's supposed to be rainy and cooler again for the next few days, but at least I have hope now that it won't be cold forever.

We were stuck inside for most of today, as Isla is kind of sick.  She has had a low grade fever off and on today, along with a horrible sounding cough.  But the past two days, we spent a lot of time outside.  Here are some of our favorite things to do outside.

Sidewalk chalk!

Yesterday, Audrey and I worked to draw a road all the way down the sidewalk in our backyard so she could ride her bike on it.

Then there are bubbles.  Both of my girls LOVE bubbles.  But bubbles are not nearly as much fun as the girls think they are.  Audrey has finally gotten to an age where she can blow bubbles by herself without tears.  So bubbles aren't so bad with her anymore.

Isla, on the other hand, thinks she can blow bubbles by herself.  But in reality she can't.   So it is a frustrating process of Isla trying to blow bubbles then getting mad because she can't blow bubbles.  Then while she is trying to blow the bubbles, she dumps out all the liquid in her bottle (because she insists on holding it herself), then gets mad again because she just spilled all the bubbles.  It is not fun, and I try to discourage playing with bubbles as much as possible.  Yet despite all the frustrations, Isla still thinks bubbles are the best thing ever!  I don't get it.

Another fun game to play in the backyard is opening and closing the garage door.  It goes like this:  the girls go in the garage and close the door, I knock on the door, the girls open the door, everyone laughs and then we do it again.  It never gets old.  At least not for them!

We also have been going on walks around the block, with Audrey riding her bike and the rest of us walking.  Monday night, Daniel and the girls walked (rode) down to church so Audrey could ride her bike around the empty church parking lot.  She is really a pro at riding that Big Wheel.  I'm thinking we need to get her a real bike for this summer.

The girls and I spent some time walking/riding around the block yesterday afternoon too.  I just loved watching Isla walk down the sidewalk in her cute little outfit!

All the rain we have had recently is making our grass grow like crazy.  Audrey is so excited that our yard is filled with all these beautiful flowers.

Both girls are fans of picking dandelions, and I am constantly finding dead, wilted dandelions that the girls have picked all over our house.