5, 5*5, and more

It's been party season around here! First Kevin started finishing papers left and right so he suddenly had a lot more free time. Then things started warming up, with only the occasional polar vortex to drop things back down into the 40s.  Though it's been slow in coming, as Joseph says, "It's getting spring!" The grass has greened out, the trees have started to leaf and blossom, and I see gray less and less everyday.

Have I talked about how spring is my favorite season? It's hard to have a favorite season that can be so volatile weather-wise, so I get why people love fall. But oh, goodness, seeing pink blossoms and green grass and tulips sure is a great way to transition from winter to summer. In fact, as silly as it may sound, I cried one time when I realized I was going to be in Utah for the two weeks in Michigan that the spring colors peak, and I've sent out a few desperate and trying-to-mask-that-it's-desperate pleas for people to document it for me. That's how much I like spring.

Anyway, spring has been fun so far. For our 5th anniversary, we wanted to do something big, especially since we'll have a hard time getting out once the next baby comes. But, it was still too cold on our anniversary to go where we wanted, so we decided to delay a big trip until the next week. On the actual day, we went salsa dancing and went out to eat. I have to say, dancing through Braxton Hicks is a little uncomfortable, and by the end the baby was pushing on my right side so much that I looked lopsided. But it was fun anyway. And Indian food is always great.

The next day, we went to the Toledo Zoo to enjoy the nice weather and new aquarium. As always, we loved the penguins best. And I think they love us too.

And then . . . it was my birthday! It started out with a horrible sore throat and rain and 40 degrees and Joseph going to sleep late and waking up early, so I . . . well, I didn't start out as happy as I should have, and getting my frustrations out by driving to the church with my vacuum to use the extension cord there to vacuum the car and then driving around pretty neighborhoods with pretty trees didn't help as much as it should have. But food helped, and then Kevin and I were off to Holland, Michigan to see the tulips!

It was pretty. We had fun. Joseph was in good hands while we were gone.

At Windmill Gardens. There was a windmill, too.

Holland State Park at Lake Michigan. The waves were crazy!

We went to a Dutch-themed museum full of fun artifacts and art.

Next to the above picture, they had this fun re-creation. 

Centennial Park

Another park

Veldheer Gardens

It was fun roaming the cute downtown, admiring the delftware in the shops, and just being with Kevin. Here's to 5 more years, and many many more!