In like a little tiny lamb...

March is here!  The snow is melting!  The sun is out! The perma-snow that has graced our fair city these past months is turning a messy shade of slushy brown and I love it.  I know there are a few more hard freezes in our future, but March this year has come in like a lamb and there is hope for spring yet.

Corydon and I snuck in a walk in the 45 degree sunshine today.  The lagoon is still frozen but no matter.  It was perfect out...

This weekend we celebrated the first signs of spring with a trip to the FarmPark, where we visited the sugar shack, oohed and aahhed at baby lambs and piglets, and had our fingers enthusiastically suckled by the world's cutest calf.

We have twin calves this year, which is apparently very rare.  Their names are Zig and Zag.  Zig didn't seem to care much about being visited, but Zag!  Friendliest cow you've ever met.  I was ready to take him home with us except I don't much want an adult cow in our yard.

This goat, though?  We'd take her in a heartbeat.

These lambs were born about 10 hours before our visit.

Ivy enjoyed a pony ride on Sunshine and wanted to look in every horse stall in the barn. I  think she is taking after her auntie with a love of horses!

Other happenings from March so far:

We've switched out our Thursdays from gymnastics (super fun but rather pricey) to swimming (free with our membership!).  This week Ivy has started to truly swim on her own, coming up to breath and then soldiering on.  She can make it to the wall from about halfway across the open swim area.  Feeling quite proud of my little fish.

This splashing blur is her, swimming unassisted.

The kids continue piano lessons and are improving!  Jack is moving into book two of his series.  Ivy doesn't seem to mind that she is playing the same 5 songs week after week, so that's good.  She is learning at her own speed and enjoying it, which is all that matters.

I simply love her earnest, off key count-singing.

This weekend, full as ever, has included a date night for Nat and I (thanks to our kiddos overnighting at a friend's house), in which we had a nice dinner out and then hung out at a grocery store.  A schnazzy, brand new downtown goracery store in a renovated bank building, that is.  There were beer and wine tastings and crowds of people and an extensive and fascinating selection of strange proiotic drinks.  We had a blast.

Yesterday we had a laid back evening of breakfast-for-dinner  (had to use our new maple syrup) and games with our friends.  Jack is happy to have gotten the twins into playing Super Smash Bros which leads to very noisy evenings and very strange commentaries.

  Last night the girls drifted back and forth between video games and Playmobil and for quite a while our living room looked like this, with everything happening at once.  The grownups sat in the other room and played Set and talked.   I can't believe how big and independent these children have become.

Tonight, our final Second Sunday Soup of the season.  Another marker of spring, a little bittersweet as I will miss our monthly gatherings greatly.  But I will not miss the cold and dark of winter, and I welcome the light and warmth of March with open arms..