Signs of Spring

It has been fascinating this month watching the approach of spring.  Even more, I am really enjoying watching my children notice the changes.

It began with our bird watching tree in the backyard.  At the beginning of March, it was bare and brown.  Then, in the space of a day or two, white blossoms began budding all over the branches.  My children were so intrigued by the new flowers on the tree.  We talked about the coming of spring and Princess K was very excited about warmer weather.  She wants to go in the pool.  A few weeks later, the flowers were gone and the tree was full of bright green leaves.

Tree Transformation

We’ve been watching the birds fly in and out of our backyard, stopping a while for a snack from time to time.  This month, we began to notice that the sounds of birds singing and chirping has greatly increased.

After a rainy night, a walk in the park brought to our attention a couple of earthworms crawling across the sidewalk.  A few days later, we found an earthworm in the ground near our baby orange tree as I lifted up a rock that was nearby.  We looked up information about earthworms and drew them in our nature journal.  The kids were fascinated by the idea that earthworms eat dirt and cannot hear.

Investigating Earthworms

Speaking of the park, we also noticed the differences in the trees there.  They also went from bare brown branches  to fluffy white flowers.

Branches to Flowers at the Park

We also found one of the cherry blossom trees there- a gift to our city from our sister city in Japan- in full bloom.  I told Princess K as I spied it from a distance, “Oh sweetheart, I found your favorite tree!  Shall we go look at it?”  (She had not yet ever seen a cherry blossom tree.)  When we arrived at the tree, she exclaimed, “Oh Mommy, you are right!  This is my favorite tree!”  (I know my daughter all right- anything pink is her favorite.)  We looked up cherry blossom trees and read about how important they are to Japan.  They have been bred to bear no fruit, but they are absolutely lovely to look at.  They generally bloom in April.  I wonder why this one was in full bloom while all the other ones at the park were bare.

The Cherry Blossom Tree

We found some lesser periwinkles and tasted the honey flavor at the base of the flower.  This has become a favorite activity at the park for X-man.  He looks for those periwinkle flowers every time we walk there.

A honey taste in the periwinkles

We also began noticing other things in our yard changing and blooming and becoming fragrant.  The lemon tree has begun to bear fruit and roses are blooming on our rose bush again.  X-man was very excited to report that he found a beautiful yellow flower near the hose in our backyard.  We looked it up and discovered that it is called the Bermuda Buttercup.  On his journal, he titled this flower “The Mean Bermuda Buttercup.”  I am not sure why he did this- when I asked, he laughed.  That usually means that he thinks he is telling some funny joke.  In this case, however, it is appropriate since I learned that these are particularly stubborn weeds.  I don’t mind though, for now it is small and very pretty.  And my kids like it.

Our whole yard shows signs of spring

Finally, we’ve noticed that the weather is getting warmer and the bees have begun buzzing around the flowers and bushes.  Z-urchin enjoys playing in the dirt and he tried to get a look at those bees, but he is still a bit short to look over the fence.  I took pity on him and lifted him up.  We watched the bees at work among the flowers.  What lovely jobs they have to do!

Warmer weather and busy bees

We’ve added several pages to our nature journals this month.  My daughter informed me that she loves spring because it is beautiful.  I find myself in complete agreement.  Welcome, Spring, we are so glad you’re here!