Spring has sprung here in England. The weather is warmer and flowers are blooming. The birds are eating from the feeders. Hooray! Winter is over!

This is good because my little guy wants to be outside all of the time. We spend a lot of time in our courtyard. It is times like now when I desperately wish we had a yard. It would be a fine space if it did not double as a parking space for the Camry. Most of our outdoor time is spent like this: Ben throws the ball on the hood of the car, it rolls under the car, Ben cries for me to get it, I crawl under the car or fish it out with a broom, repeat.

Sometimes, he likes to help me water the plants. Mainly this consists of him taking the watering can to the patch of dirt with no plants and dumping it out. Not very productive, but he does get quite excited.

Joe and I have been pretty busy lately. I wrapped up my first class at the end of April, and Joe is finishing his last two classes. Between school, work, etc., there hasn't been a lot of free time. This weekend is a three-day weekend so we are trying to make up for lost time. Friday, we ate junk food and watched a movie. Yesterday, we went to the Eel Day celebration. We watched a group of people carry a paper mache eel from the cathedral to the river. There was food stalls and a band. The whole thing was pretty silly, but it was a great excuse to get out and about.

On our way back, we discovered a new park. It had a giant swing, and spinning see-saw, and a zip line. Despite my cries that we would break th

e equipment, Joe and I played on everything. (It was fine.) It was so much fun! Ben did not enjoy it, but his parents sure did.