Summer's Here!

Well, it may as well be. The temperature in the past few days has gone from the high-50's/low-60's to the mid-/high-90's. To say that the difference between the relatively cool weather and the relatively warm weather is dramatic is an understatement. There was no warning, no tentative increase over the space of a couple of weeks, to herald the approach of summer.

My car is covered in a thick coating of pollen. Normally blue, it is now a yellowish-green. Carpenter bees buzz as they fly clumsily around the patio, the stairs outside, and over the crowns of the verdant bushes along the walkway to the parking lot. The only thing missing is the cicadas, but I figure they're coming. Any day now, just wait.

March saw Stephen turn four years old. He's turned into such a big kid, it's amazing to me that he was ever as small as Madeline. Not to mention that Maddy is growing and growing and growing, too. She's huge! And the terrible twos? Let's just say that they've been a lot more interesting with Madeline (and not in a particularly good way) than they ever were with Stephen.

Welcome to Tantrum City, population: Us.

With that preamble out of the way, I suppose I'll post a few pictures for the fans out there (with appropriate commentary, of course). Sit back, relax, and witness the new faces of my pride and joy.

Stephen and Madeline at the Aerospace Museum
For Stephen's birthday, I took him and his sister to the Aerospace Museum to see the planes. They were both relatively well-behaved, but they ran me ragged. Literally. Video below to prove it:


Later on in the evening, we celebrated Stephen's special day with ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.

Stephen blows out his candle. I wonder what his wish was?
Since Stephen's birthday, we've been out a few times. I've taken the kids hiking at a nearby park. With one of them, it's manageable. With both of them, let's just say it's like herding cats. Madeline would rather play with dirt, and Stephen likes to fill his pockets with rocks. See below for a glimpse of our last expedition:

The kids, hiking. Me, behind the camera, saying, "Come on, guys!"
So that's our world in a nutshell. I'll try to get a picture of my pollen-laden car, because it's unreal. There's so much pollen on my car that it reduces my mileage. Well, not really. But still, it's disturbing.