Spring fever or cabin fever

Our children are behaving like they have been cooped up for too long. Or else they are so excited about the weather improving that they can’t focus. Either way, we are spending lots of time outside and it seems to be a good thing.

Today we went for a family bike ride where both Maren and Linden rode in the bike trailer pulled by Jeff, and I rode on my three wheel recumbent bike. It was fabulous to be outside without a ton of winter gear on — no hats, no gloves, just hoodies instead of jackets. But after the bike ride (which was Linden‘s first bike trailer ride), Linden could not nap. It’s possible that her mouth was hurting because she is finally pushing out a seventh tooth (I thought that she was teething on and off for the past three months with no new teeth).

A couple of days ago as we were adjusting to the transition from winter to spring we went out in the backyard way overdressed for the weather. Linden was immediately drawn to a giant puddle, and she spent about half an hour in it. I took a video of Maren trying to show Linden how to splash in puddles.

Thank goodness it is spring. I think things would have been a lot harder this past week if we couldn’t send Maren outside to play. She has figured out how to ride her balance bike really fast down the ramp leading up to our house. I am not sure how many hours in the past couple of days she has been going up and down the ramp but she is thoroughly enjoying it. Also, now that playgrounds have been closed I am extremely grateful for the swings in the backyard. We definitely have it better than a lot of families right now!