Sunday, April 10, 2011

Springtime in Louisiana!

Ok, so spring has officially sprung! And a small miracle occured where Ellie let me dress she and Gabbi Girl somewhat alike.
We were going to church, and I preferred them in dresses, but when Ellie ok'd that simple pink dress over some white pants, I went with it!
And Gabbi Lou. Well that precious baby goes along with anything!!
Short sleeves to church. White pants and bows.

White between the toe sandals.
All signs that spring is HERE in Louisiana!!
As a matter of fact, we all went swimming (and all have sunburns) here today! The water was a little chilly, but didn't keep us out of the pool... for HOURS!! So, that made me think...
with so many of you who read the blog from all over, tell me how you know it is spring where you are! I always think of that... what it'd be like in South Dakota in April or in California?! I watched the national news this week where at the "top" of the Mississippi River, big ol' ice chunks are breaking loose and creaming people iron docks as it makes its way, glacierlike, down the river. That blows my mind! We are also near the Mississippi River, where, if we were fishing, we'd have on cutoffs and be barefoot! So many different experiences.


So, tell me what it is like where you are! What is a sign of spring there? Just curious!

MO

34 comments:

tracy said...

Spring in Maine, well let's see. The snow melts, the mud appears, Buds appear, birds appear, and the best part, flowers start peeping out of the ground!! Yellow daffodils!!

Kai said...

In Southern California, poppies! But it has been unusually cold and wet this year so the poppies are late.

Amy K said...

The first signs of spring here in Wisconsin are the snow melting, the kids coming in all muddy, the pollen making us itchy & sneezy, the grass greening up, and my husband starting his field prep for planting this year's crops.
I love this time of year!
Yesterday we finally hit our first 60 degrees, but we still have a couple of big piles of snow left to melt, and today we're supposed to be getting some severe storms.
Your girls' outfits are adorable.

Kelli from Illinois said...

In St. Louis it's crazy. Short sleeves one day and snow showers the next. Finally we've turned the springtime corner. Trees are blooming and tulips are starting. Just cut the grass for the first time yesterday and it was 88 degrees.

Lisa O. said...

In South Dakota you just never know what you are going to get. We were still get a snow at the end of March. We finally have had nice temps in the 50s and 60s this past week. The snow if finally all melted, but now the flooding is a big issue in many areas. My kids are so happy to finally be able to get outside and play, ride bikes, etc. Soon everyone will be getting out in their yards getting it raked and mowed for the first time.

Kris said...

Well we are in Chicago so give me a few more weeks. Love the girls pic and how Gabbi strikes a pose too.

Becky said...

Here in Minnesota, the snow has finally melted! (still find some snow where it was piled high!) It has been in the 50's this week and it is soooo nice!! The tulips are popping up and the birds are chirping away. We put our trampoline back up and my daughter is wanting to be outside ALL THE TIME!!!! And, I've been hanging clothes on the line all week!! I love that!!

melanie, aka Mo said...

So many northerners!! Wow! SO where are the rest of you?! Come on. Tell me about your Spring.

MO

tricia said...

Here in St Louis it was in the 80's yesterday;more summerlike but going to chill down a bit during the week. Some years we have no spring....goes right to summer. For now the tulips have sprung among the beautiful flowering trees,grass is green and you see your neighbors walking. Its a fun time to socialize after a long cold winter. A walk around my neighborhood yesterday morning took me two hours with all the talking I did!

Marcia said...

In Iowa, the grass starts to turn green toward the last week of March. The next week, the crocus, daffodils and tulips jusssst start to peek through. This week,the hostas are about 1" tall and the lilacs and fruit trees are budding. A few more weeks and the redbud trees and magnolias will be beautiful! Sometimes the magnolias start to bloom, it re-freezes and the blooms all fall off...I think we are right on the line as far as where those trees can grow.

You know it's spring when your house is invaded by lady beetles, mud gets tracked in instead of snow and sand, and it's super windy!

melanie, aka Mo said...

I thought the snow would be melting, but I have never thought of the MUD! Ugh. SO not cool. Especially on my new white-ish carpet! I suppose if I lived in the north, I'd have built a totally different house! One with a big mudroom, and TILE! The kind of tile you can just hose out! And definitely not white carpet. Maybe not carpet at all. If my memory serves me, Todd's relatives in Wisconsin mostly have wood floors with big area rugs. Makes sense now! MO

Auntie Mip said...

Morning lady...Spring is desperately trying to, well, "sprung" here in the Pacific Northwest. i love outside Seattle and it is slowly starting to get better. What that means is that is is in the upper 50's in the daytim instead of 40's. The real sign of Spring for me is the blossoming and ornamental cherry tress in bloom. There are quite a few of them in these parts because they are fairly hearty and like wet weather...good thing huh? Also they have a very simple sweet scent...yum! Anyway, when I was little I called them "Lent Tress" because they always bloomed during Lent. We went to church every day during Lent which probably sounds like torture but actually as an adult I look back on those warmer evenings walking to mass hand in hand with my mama or grandma and remember the west smell of those trees and am thankful for traditions family an the really wonderful childhood I had. So yes, it is still a little on the cool side, but my Lent trees are in bloom and later today I am walking to my mama's to celebrate my nephew's Spring-time sweet 16!


Happy Spring Groves clan!

Ronda said...

Spring in Indy: Mud, warmth one day, cold the next, sniffles, racecars popping up, tired kids, really tan people (who went to the beach over spring break), really pale people (me...who stayed home), puddles, bikes, ice cream stands open again, green grass, flowering trees, happiness.

Auntie Mip said...

Sorry about the typos...sometimes this darn iPad has a mind of it's own...Lordy, that is embarrassing!

Stacey said...

Mo,
springtime in Fargo ND. Today it is raining and we still have some snow on the ground. The Red River that is out of it's banks flows North and is flooding big time. We have 3 million sandbags trying to hold back the water and we will know today if it will work or if the river will win. I think we will win! In about three weeks we should see the trees wake up! My favorite time of the year.

melanie, aka Mo said...

Auntie Mip. I typo all the time. I usually don't feel like skipping back, so I just let it be. Whatev!

I was in Washington DC once and couldn't BELIEVE all the cherry trees in bloom! It was so grand! We have cherry trees, but I'd say the predominant "ornamental" tree here is the crepe myrtle. In just about everyone's landscape! I have a cherry tree at my old house. I visited there this week, and it is in full bloom. :( One of the ones I couldn't take with me. But I did take LOTS! And my poor allergies KNOW it! Gabbi, Ellie, and I are all stricken with green snot syndrome. It may mean a doc trip tomorrow. And believe me, we have to be S-I-C-K to go the the doc. ESPECIALLY on my scheduled day off (which never happens!) Mo

Oh, and as for the ice cream stands. We do the snow cone thing here, and they are open for biz-ness!

snekcip said...

Warm breezy afternoons, springtime annual fair, laughter of children outside my window, watching a "momma bird" build a nest in the eaves of my roof, my little one squealing w/delight as she pedals her new bike, my grandsons visiting for spring break and catching bugs in their "bug catcher", and the oh so beautiful flowers blooming on every corner. That what springtime in my neck of the woods are like. I love SOUTHEAST TEXAS!

Anonymous said...

In Eastern Washington, we have daffodils blooming, trees leafing out, winter wheat fields are green, my son mowed our lawn for the first time yesterday. And hubby is out working the fields! Yes, it's spring!

Martha from NC said...

Well, here in North Carolina the grass is beautifully green, the camellias are blooming, the yellow bells have bloomed and gone, the hostas are coming up and the rose bushes are sprouting all over the place. The temperatures are up and down but it's okay. Spring has definitely sprung here in the Tarheel State! Come on down and have a glass of sweet tea, ya'll!

Martha from NC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rohrbachs said...

Here in Reading pa and it almost feels like spring today . Although yestarday I was wearing a jacket .

melanie, aka Mo said...

I'm gonna have to say that North Carolina and East Texas sound the most like Louisiana. But DANG! It is HOT today! I don't even want to go work in the yard! It's like dead of summer hot here!

Rhonda said...

These are some of my favorite pictures EVER of your little dolls!!!

Ali said...

Spring in Colorado means beautiful, sunny, 60- 70 degree days followed by a snow day (April is our third snowiest month!). Luckily the snow here usually melts within a day because we get so much sun. I love the snow, but by May I'm ready for summer. This year we've had such a mild, snow-less winter I'm afraid summer will bring lots of fires. I hope I'm wrong.

Unknown said...

In East TN, the Dogwood trees and tulips are just beautiful. Worked in the yard all weekend. Planted more herbs. Near record high today, 88 degrees, with wild weather to follow tomorrow as a cold spell moves in for more seasonable weather, 78 degrees. Love the spring!!

Mary said...

In MN, it's crazy to see all of your neighbors come out of their houses that you haven't seen for months! It's almost shocking to be back outside. Went to a birthday party at a park by the lake-much of the lake was still frozen so even though weather was in the 60s, the cold air off the lake made it much colder.

Maggie said...

Funny, a friend and I were just talking about this last night. I joined them at their Ski house in NH this weekend(about 2 hours north of us in Mass). We knew it was spring because her kids were able to ski and snowboard (which they do each weekend) in just their snow pants and light jackets. No neck warmers/facemasks/pocket warmers until next winter... and of course, we were able to enjoy the nice weather on the deck of the lodge at the end of the day, instead of inside by the fire.

Also, I know it's spring because I've been able to open my sunroof a few times (when it breaks 55!)

Nobody is even LOOKING at their pools up here yet!!

Anonymous said...

Nebraska and we are freezing

jenny said...

tiny little wild violets and forsythia bursting forth and daffodils springing up - that's spring here in Idaho at the foot of the Rockies
Spring is my most FAVORITE time of year!

Theresa Shirley said...

I think our weather here in Georgia is a lot like yours Mel! It was soooo hot today--the reading on my car said 91 when I went to the store! And my son & his cousins went swimming this weekend when we went out to Lake Weiss (in Alabama)...even though the water temp was in the 60's...The Bradford pear trees have already bloomed and gone, the daffodils & yellowbells bloomed in early March. My weeping cherry tree has already quit blooming. Azaleas are in bloom now. Grass is already having to be cut. I for one am glad that the winter is over...even though we did get an unusual lot of snow to play in last winter!

jneman said...

Here in MN, I know it is spring when the last of the snow is gone and my little dog has daily baths from walking through every mud puddle...

MaryH said...

Missed my opportunity but posting anyway - St. Louis, along the muddy Mississippi - we go from springlike weather - 60's and 70's with flowers blooming - to downright summer temps - 90's with flowers wilting - and then back to chilly 40's and 50's with rain and wind and flowers blowing off their stems and branches of blooming trees - all of this can happen within 48 hours - Like Mark Twain said, if you don't like the weather in St. Louis, wait a couple of hours, it will change to a different season. I think that is a somewhat accurate quote or what my mom and dad always told me.

coolgirl2011 said...

Were getting the summer time humidity already down here in New Orleans.Love the girls outfits.

Colorado Marj said...

Well, in NW Colorado - we get SNOW! Yep, April is one of our snowiest months. Just when it starts to melt out of the yard ... it snows again. But, in some places that clear early - we can see the beginnings of Spring. Love that you are swimming already. Just not ready to trade the cool mountain air for the HEAT of May, June, July, August, September, October and November of Louisiana!! HA