Spring?

The trees are still bare but the air is warm, the cardinals are calling, and more bird species are making their presence known with their songs.

To think it looked like this a couple of weeks ago -

That picture was taken on the 12th of February. When The WSO and her babies arrived, a week ago, a lot of that snow was still on the ground. Enough so that on two separate days Little Bit and I were able to exchange snowball "fire" in the back yard. L'il Sweetie had the chance to play in the snow and while at first the coldness was something she didn't care for, after a while she was picking up the snow and attempting to fling it at grandpa, just like her big sister.

Being outnumbered didn't bother me until Little Bit decided that a close assault was in order. I took snow to the ear and staggered off to lick my wounds. So to speak.

Each day saw less and less snow until Friday it was all gone except for a few spots in parking lots where the local snow removal types had piled it, and piled it high. (True story, Worcester, up in the Bay State, tends to get a crap-ton of snow in the winter. After a while it gets piled very high. One May when we went to pick up The Naviguessor at the end of the school year, the snow pile in the parking lot near his frat house was still a good six feet high. Though by that point you'd be somewhat wrong to call it snow. More like a pile of ice and dirt. Not attractive at all!)

Other signs of spring are the cowbirds combing the grass for the insects who are starting to hatch. I tried to catch this flock on the ground, but they got airborne pretty quickly as the cell phone camera was brought to bear -

Friday was a grand day spent over at Colt State Park. Fast by the Bay.

L'il Sweetie enjoyed making piles of wood chips.

Whereas her big sister, Little Bit, was being all photogenic and stuff. (The girl loves the camera, it seems to return the affection.)

While we went to the beach, it wasn't quite warm enough to go in. Tide was out, exposing our rather rocky beach.

Fishermen were hard at work. Lobstermen? Quahoggers. (Thanks Tuffy and Patsy!)

A lot of folks were out. More than I expected. Well, it was a gorgeous day.

All too soon the week was over, up early on Saturday to get the tribe to the airport. Flight out of Providence left on time, big weather system kept The WSO and her babies on the ground in Philly for nearly two hours. But Little Bit had her iPad and a very nice lady moved to another seat so that the girls had the whole row to themselves.

No doubt the flight from LAX to Fresno will be missed due to the storm keeping them grounded in Philly. So hotel in L.A. and on to Fresno on Sunday. So much for having a day to recuperate from the long trip. (And yes, they spent that two hours on the plane, not in the airport. Which was apparently a good thing. The airport was sweltering and the air on the plane was much cooler.)

Still and all, a good visit. The kids had fun. I had fun. Hopefully we'll do it all again real soon. Either here in Little Rhody or out in California. Makes no never mind to me, as long as you're with family, you're home.

No Grandpa, I didn't pick this off the floor. Grandma gave it to me.

Stop eyeballing my cookie Grandpa!

Breakfast of champions. Doughnuts, apple slices, and juice. Also chocolate chip cookies. Apparently.

That smile would make Helen of Troy jealous!

While the robins don't leave the area during the winter, they tend to stay in the woods. Unless spring is close. Yup, robin in the front yard. Probably twenty of 'em Friday, but I neglected to snap a photo.

I circled him as he was hard to spot. Blends right in unless you can see his chest.

Monday is coming. Back to work.

But I won't complain, we're going to go see The Nuke next weekend. After that, it's back to "normal." (Whatever that means...)