Ushering in the Vernal Equinox

Spring has sprung and what a great weekend it was! I couldn't have asked for more lovely weather or a greater day on that, the first day of spring. It all started mid week (pre-spring), when the beautiful weather was just kicking in...

I was standing in the kitchen, washing baby bottles, while looking out the window when it occurred to me what perfect weather it was for a picnic. So I put the plan in motion, texting Craig, telling him we should take advantage of such a blessing and plan a picnic for Saturday, the first day of spring. He was to pick the place and I would provide the sustenance.

Saturday rolled around and the weather was still gorgeous. I woke up to birds singing and sun shining, got ready and hit the store for some munchin's. Sandwiches, carrots, apples, trail mix, juice and water were on the menu. Then I headed back home to put it all together and pack it up. Soon after, Craig picked me up and we headed up to Great Falls for our date, driving along with windows down and music up, enjoying the perfectly pleasant air.

We arrived and set out to find a parking spot and then a place to picnic. After a quick trip back to the car to trade the picnic "basket" for backpacks, we headed for our little nature walk. First, it was a couple quick stops to overlook points for the Falls.

Next we made our way along the path to a more involved trail, like a little mini hike. I say mini hike because it wasn't full of huge hills to climb or anything, just a walk through brush and rocks. A couple times we'd branch off the trail to nearby rocky edges where we could check out the River again, and then continue on.


Near the end of our little hike, we checked out the ruins of the old Patowmack Canal and its locks. Then it was back to the car and head home.




But wait! There's more...

We're already up here near D.C. Why not check out the city and hit that Spy Museum you've wanted to go to, Craig? So we plugged it into the GPS and made our way to the city.


After hunting for a parking spot and paying, we hopped out and headed for the Museum. $20 bucks for a ticket? What? That's outrageous. So we skipped it, planning to return another day when we were more prepared. Still, we checked out the Museum shop, but what to do now? We've payed for an hour and a half of parking... Well, let's try the Crime and Punishment Museum, yeah? Same problem. Ok, next...?

As beautiful as a day as it is and the city is so pretty, we should probably just head home so we can get ready for Stake Conference. And it's a good thing we did, too! With waiting for a procession of government cars, police bikes, etc and the additional traffic on the freeway home, we made it just in time to clean up and head back out for church.

Now, on the way home from the city, I had a craving for some chocolate ice cream with peanut butter swirls. Sounds great, right? So we spread the word to our friends at Conference and we all headed over to the local Silver Diner, where our friend, Chris, works and ordered some shakes (food too, for some of us). It's so much fun being the huge party of 12+ at a diner, lol. Waitresses love that, right? As well as all the other nearby customers, listening to our rowdy conversations. Haha, it was a good time, for sure! As was the rest of the day...

In fact, it was a GREAT day! Darn near perfect. And this is one of the many reasons I love spring. Well, Sunday's weather was just as beautiful as Saturday's, and today... Today it's raining. Haha, but it's ok. The greatest weekend(s) ever more than make up for rainy weekday(s).