It's Spring!

Although we've been a bit remiss about updating the blog, our days have been filled with lots of activities. Spring has arrived!
Today, it was 78 degrees outside, and we biked to the beach both in the morning and afternoon. Tybee's beaches are expansive, especially at low tide, and there's often a gigantic hole or sandcastle left behind from a previous beach goer. We move in and Mathieu has a lot of FUN. Dave and I have written this numerous times before, but we feel very grateful to live on this beautiful island and have access to the Atlantic ocean with such ease. It's 4 1/2 years since we moved to Tybee, and those beaches and that ocean have not lost their wonder!
Other Evidence of Spring:
Mathieu notices the yellow dust that covers everything, especially the car, during this beautiful season. Pollen. He also notices on the ground the vessel that holds the pollen. Vessel? Well, that was my problem. I didn't know what that thing carrying pollen was called. I knew it came from the pine trees. Luckily, my husband has many of those field guide books so I promptly opened the one entitled Eastern Trees, excited about being able to share a new word with Mathieu. I discover that these are actually the male cones which are, "small pollen-producing organs." I decided to keep this knowledge to myself. (The organs are on the stoop next to Mathieu)Because we haven't written in a month, I'm choosing to write one long entry instead of many separate ones. Hang on. Two more events to go.
Two weeks ago, we drove to South Carolina to visit my friend Heidi, her husband, Jeremy, and their little boy, Jacob. (This family was featured in a blog entry in April, 2009.) They live on Heidi's parent's land, and among much else, they help daily with tending to the chickens and maintaining massive organic vegetable gardens. It rained the whole visit, which didn't stop us from being outside, but it did stop us from photographing Mathieu feeding the chickens.Dave's sister, Maria, and Bro-in-law, Seth, came to see us at the end of Feb. Mathieu always enjoys visitors, and kept asking, "Where's Uncle Seth? Where's Aunt Maria."