FINALLY! We have arrived!! At least I'm hoping...for the last week, we have had temperatures ranging from 50 to 70! Yes, we actually hit 70!! I'm thrilled, the kids are thrilled, and the animals seem to be ecstatic! We hear birds chirping every day, and I love being able to sit at our dining room table and watch cardinals and robins flit from branch to branch on the large tree shown in this photo. Just yesterday, Alexa announced that a rabbit hopped through our front yard, Billy spotted a chipmunk out our side window, and after much Internet research, we determined that it was indeed a ground hog that emerged from underneath our shed! The squirrels still antagonize Chance, but despite their activity (or maybe because of it) our spoiled and pampered dog, who has preferred the house to the outdoors his entire life, NEVER wants to come inside! (And for that matter, neither do my kids...)
I realize these animals are considered 'garden pests' and our neighbors have shared how they shoot the rabbits from their back decks to keep them from destroying their landscaping, but right now, we love the wildlife! We love having the open park behind our house that encourages the animals to hang around! Even though we're in the midst of suburbia, it makes me feel like I'm back in Texas, watching the rabbits and squirrels the way I used to from my parent's front porch. Except I'm not sweating! ;) (I will always love and miss my home state, but not the heat and humidity)
West Des Moines has paved biking trails connecting parks and neighborhoods throughout the entire city. We haven't been able to explore much yet, but we have walked down to the closest park for a few picnics in the last two weeks. My commitment to enjoy such moments occurred a few weeks ago when Alexa wanted to do something, but I felt like I "needed" to do the dishes/clean the house/fold the laundry/pay the bills/etc. and after trying unsuccessfully to accomplish anything, I dropped it all, loaded the kids up in the double stroller and did something I WANTED to do - we took off to the park. After being stuck in the house for the previous three months, we spent about an hour breathing the fresh air and enjoying the sun's warmth! It was awesome, and it was during that moment that I had an epiphany (I love an excuse to use that word!) :). I realized that what I "wanted" to do had turned out to be exactly what I needed! We returned home, the kids rested, and feeling refreshed, I was able to be much more productive accomplishing my to-do list because I was no longer distracted by what waited outside my windows.
Anyway, in reading through my previous posts, I realized I forgot to mention that Brody won the local grocer's Easter coloring contest (in his age category). He won a HUGE Easter basket and an Easter ham! As you can see, the basket was literally bigger than he was!Here's another cute photo I snapped (with my phone) a few weeks ago when both kiddos fell asleep on the couch and Aero (one of our fat cats) decided to join them.
Lastly, on a random note, I just wanted to let everyone know what a great company Amazon.com seems to be! I've always had great luck ordering from them and love the fact that they waive the shipping on orders over $25.00. However, I tried ordering something before our flight to Columbia and paid for express shipping so it would arrive in time. I received a notice that it had been delayed and called customer service (and amazingly, I got to speak with a person instead of a recording!) They volunteered to refund my shipping costs since the item would not arrive on time. Upon returning from Columbia and seeing that the item still had not arrived, I canceled the order since it was no longer applicable - again, with no fuss. I realized the next day that, since the item had never shipped, I had never been charged, yet the refund for the shipping had already been credited to my account. I called to tell them that now I owed THEM money, and they told me to just keep it as a token of goodwill due to the delay of the order! You don't hear enough about companies truly willing to put their customer's first, so I thought I'd share!
