Ready For a Little More of that Season after Winter and Before Summer

 


Today feels like spring. I was wondering if it had forgotten about us, seeing as we were playing in snow May 1st and then grumbling about near 90's temps what seemed like days later...
But today is sweatshirt weather at its best, warm in the sun, cool in the shade.
What better way to celebrate a Tuesday off than to explore one of the fantastic Natural Areas in Fort Collins- especially when a new entrance to Reservoir Ridge has opened nearly across the street from our house and it’s been reminding me at least twice a day every day that we haven’t checked it out yet.
The kiddo and I got moving and walked to the trail after birthday pancakes and after sending dad off to work. (Adults really should get their birthday off, but if not, at least arrange to have pancakes beforehand.)
Layla christened the bathroom at the trail-head and we walked just a short distance playing with all the dandelions along the way. The late snow and a few quality rainstorms have really transformed our typically brown foothills into a green pastoral landscape.
It doesn’t last long, spring, or a child’s deep appreciation for dandelions, so we’ll be sure to take advantage of the blue skies and green hills when we can and maybe next time I’ll grab the carrier and explore it even more. But for this morning our short excursion was the perfect dose of fresh air to start our day that included a very rare activity- a craft.
I feel her toddler needs for arts and crafts are sufficiently met at school so I go through life guilt-free about my craft free home. I’m not artistic, my brother got all those genes, so it is something I have zero desire to do. I like to write. I like to hike. I like to cook. I like to take pictures. Come on now, there are only so many hours in a day, week, year. But it being her dad’s birthday we decided to buy some paints and construction paper and make a card. It was fun! I don’t expect it to become a habit or anything- I think we even finger painted with the wrong kind of paint… so despite a novice attempt at being crafty, on a particularly gorgeous spring day, a card was made, pancakes were eaten and a new path in Fort Collins was traveled. Not too shabby.