Let the bikes roll out.

Let the shorts be worn.

Let the convertibles lose their tops. 

It hit 70 degrees today, and life is good.

I could not wait to get off of work and pick up the kids.  I retrieved Mario first since he begged me to do so this morning and he is on the way to Maria’s school.  He has been discussing Superheros all week, and when I picked him up he had a red cardboard cylinder around his bicep.  I asked him what he was wearing.

“It is my superhero power shield. We all got to pick a superhero name and I picked GoldStar.  I have lightning that shoots out of my mouth and lasers that shoot out of my eyes.”

Awesome, dude.  He says goodbye to his friends and we head to the car.  On the way to Maria’s school, we talk about superheros.  He loves to talk about Wonder Woman since I loved her so much as a kid.  When we get to Maria’s school, he leads me to her classroom.  The room is quiet with kids studying until Mario barges in and yells “Ria, mom picked me up first!”  He always has to get one up on her and I am surprised she doesn’t just belt him some days.  This morning she wanted me to take her to school so badly but Jon had to take her to get to work on time.  She cried for me (she was having a “I need mommy” morning) as she walked downstairs.  Mario stood at the top of the stairs and yelled to Maria “Mom is taking me to school – not you, Ria.”  If she would have thrown her shoe at him, I could not have said much to her.  He is a complete stinker. 

We left Maria’s school with Maria on my iPad and Mario on my iPhone.  We got home and I let them sit on the front steps playing with the electronics while I put things away.  It is so refreshing to open the windows and feel the breeze run through the rooms.  Fresh air, finally!  We got the bikes out to time Mario’s dash up the street and back and to try to help Maria learn how to mount her bike without falling.  We cooked sausages.  Jon came home and Mario darted down the sidewalk to greet him.  

We stood outside and watched the kids play.  We admired our work from Sunday – the garden looks half way ready to go and the windows look good with their screens.  Walking in the house and smelling the fresh outdoor air is a godsend.  And hearing the kids playing outside on the back deck brings gratitude for the upcoming Spring.