Spring adventures

 It has been a busy spring around here. There has been tennis, of course, and I ran the Little Rock half marathon for the third year in a row (it was cold and wet and not my best day, but I finished).

In March I completed the requirements to become a Notary Public. At the library, we get a lot of people seeking a notary, and we only had one other librarian certified, and he is often off on other business, so I figured it would be a good idea to get certified myself. So far, it has been a good investment - I've notarized something every day I have been at the office since I got my stamp.

Malcolm and his award certificates

Malcolm has been enjoying kindergarten and is learning so much. Every day I am impressed by how much he has grown in the last year. He is beginning to read (which means we can no longer spell in front of him to hide what we are saying!) and add and subtract. But the most exciting thing has been watching him on his new bike. At the beginning of spring break we bought new bikes for him and for me, to replace his outgrown balance bike and my old, heavy mountain bike. Hands down the best purchase we have made in a long while. Thanks to all his experience on the balance bike, Malcolm didn't need training wheels and was riding without any assistance after just a few minutes. It took a few more practice rides to get the hang of starting by himself, but now he is riding like a pro.

Family bike ride!

 It has been wonderful to have a new outdoor activity to do together. And again, I am so impressed with Malcolm. He has had a couple of crashes, but always gets back on the bike and keeps going. And he has stamina! For my birthday, he and I went on a bike ride together on the River Trail, and ended up going SEVEN miles in an hour. It was cold and windy that day, and I hadn't planned to go that far, but every time I suggested heading back to the car, he wanted to keep going. So we did. He was tired by the end, but he never complained or gave up. It was a great birthday gift.

Birthday bike ride!

Grandma Candi came to visit over spring break, and one day we took a family trip down to Garvan Gardens to see the tulips. So many tulips! Unlike the tulip fields in Washington or the Netherlands, the tulips at the gardens are planted among the trees, so you don't get huge stretches of colors, but you do get some lovely groupings and an idyllic stroll through a blooming forest.

It was a lovely day and the flowers were at their peak. We spent several hours just wandering, taking pictures and admiring the flowers.

Malcolm is skeptical about the paparazzi

Weather-wise, this has been an odd spring, with freezing temperatures followed by an 80 degree day, followed by rain and more rain. On repeat. But it is finally feeling like real spring (and the pollen is coating everything in yellow), and it is lovely.

Blackberry blossom

Spring at the Bellevue Botanical Garden

In my (pitiful) attempts to keep this from becoming an all-Malcolm blog, I am going to share some of the nature pictures I took on our trip to Bellevue at the beginning of March. Since it is almost Easter, I thought I would lead off with this lovely hellebore, otherwise known as a lenten rose (since they typically bloom during the Lenten season). This one was in a pot at a garden center, but my mother does have some in her yard. I love the delicate pink petals and the subtle green center on this one. 

I've mentioned before how much I love the Bellevue Botanical Garden - every season has something to offer. This time it was a bank of mini-irises and a new feature - the Ravine Experience.

They have built an amazing suspension bridge over a small ravine at the edge of the garden, so you can walk in the canopy. It isn't really that much in the canopy, since the trees in the ravine are huge, but you do get to look down into the ravine. And the bridge is pretty cool.

See - the trees are all around the bridge, but Western Red Cedars are pretty darn tall, and it would take a deeper ravine than this one to pull you into their canopies.

I imagine it will be a lovely, cool and refreshing spot to visit come summer.

In the more formal section of the garden is this happy little stream. I probably should have played around with my camera settings and tried to capture the water in motion better, but at least I stopped to look at all, I guess.

And I will admit that I was less than attentive to what this flower was, but I love the tightly bunched circle and the tiny individual flowers. The yellow really stood out against the browns and greys of the leafless branches.

You have to love the various textures on this branch. The flowers, the almost fluffy moss, and the harder, crinkly lichen.

I haven't had many opportunities to take pictures of anything other than Malcolm lately, but now that it is spring again, I hope to make time. Not that I have a problem taking lots of pictures of him, but I miss looking more closely at things.