Is it just me?

Or is spring taking its own sweet time in coming this year? I feel like by May I'm usually in capris and tees most days, but this year I'm still in a fleece jacket and cajoling the kids to put theirs on as well. M claims I say this every year, but I swear, this year it seems colder than usual. Or maybe I'm just getting old...

I'm not sure why I pay such attention to the seasons, except for the fact that in spring and summer I feel like a different person. I'm almost chipper. On the days I can actually gets both children resting at the same time I sit on the back stoop with a book and soak up the sun. Getting the kids dressed is less of a hassle, well, except for the sunblock factor. And once summer hits we always have the local pool as an afternoon activity.

In the spring and summer we can have picnics in the backyard, fingerpainting can take place on the patio instead of the kitchen floor, and bug hunts become a staple of our daily routine. Each morning we take a tour of the flower gardens to see which plants are popping up and which ones are getting ready to bloom. Armed with watering cans the kids make the rounds, bestowing water on the plants they deem worthy of a little extra care. The cats laze around on the picnic table, soaking up the sun, and stop whining at the door for me to let them in and out on a hourly basis.

Yes, this is my favorite time of year. No wonder I am spending hours pouring over weather maps, trying to determine when spring has finally arrived for good. Hopefully it will be soon. For now I'm off to let the cat in, as he's decided that spring has not yet sprung.